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Figma files for proposed IPO

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Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#31

Post by CSMastermind »

cluckindan wrote: post #17
colesantiago wrote: post #13

So now that Figma will be owned by Wall Street, it will only get considerably worse from here. It is now time consider and find and fund open source alternatives. I know of excalidraw and perhaps penpot are there anymore?

I agree. If they’re so profitable already, why take the company public at all?

Because there are likely many employees and investors who want to cash out.

Going public makes their shares liquid. It's (probably) not reasonable for the company to repurchase that equity or to pay employees pure cash comp.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#32

Post by Animats »

There's a president-for-life clause:

"Immediately following the completion of this offering, and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, Dylan Field, our Chair of our Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, and President will hold or have the ability to control approximately % of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock, including % of the voting power pursuant to the Wallace Proxy. As a result, following this offering, Mr. Field will have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of our directors and the approval of any change of control transaction."

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#33

Post by granzymes »

VoidWhisperer wrote: post #30
granzymes wrote: post #27

Headline financials: FY Ended December 31, in millions except percentage | 2023 | 2024 | YoY ---------------|--------|--------|------- revenue | $505 | $749 | 48% gross profit | $460 | $661 | 44% op ex | $534 | $1,539 | 118% net income | $738 | $(732) | (199)% free cash flow | $1,041 | $68 | (93)%

What happened in 2024 that caused their operating expenses to increase so much?

Mostly a 356% increase in R&D:

  FY Ended December 31, in millions except percentage

                             | 2023 | 2024 | YoY  
  ---------------------------|------|------|------
  research and development   | $165 | $751 | 356%   
  sales and marketing        | $201 | $472 | 134%   
  general and administrative | $168 | $316 | 88%
And most of that increase came from a one-time charge from allowing employees to sell their RSUs. While not a cash cost for Figma, it was booked as an expense and allocated as follows:

                             | 2024   
  ---------------------------|------
  cost of revenue            | $25    
  research and development   | $463   
  sales and marketing        | $187   
  general and administrative | $184   
  total                      | $858
If you subtract the one-time charge, you get:

                             | 2023 | 2024 (adj.) | YoY  
  ---------------------------|------|-------------|------
  research and development   | $165 | $288        |  75%  
  sales and marketing        | $201 | $285        |  42%  
  general and administrative | $168 | $132        | (21)% 
  total                      | $534 | $705        |  32%

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#35

Post by drexlspivey »

VoidWhisperer wrote: post #30
granzymes wrote: post #27

Headline financials: FY Ended December 31, in millions except percentage | 2023 | 2024 | YoY ---------------|--------|--------|------- revenue | $505 | $749 | 48% gross profit | $460 | $661 | 44% op ex | $534 | $1,539 | 118% net income | $738 | $(732) | (199)% free cash flow | $1,041 | $68 | (93)%

What happened in 2024 that caused their operating expenses to increase so much?

They received a $1B termination fee in 2023 when their acquisition by Adobe collapsed. They would be losing money in 2023 otherwise

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#36

Post by drexlspivey »

cluckindan wrote: post #18
giacaglia wrote: post #6

Its S-1 shows $70M held in Bitcoin ETFs, and board approval for another $30M BTC purchase via USDC! https://x.com/tier10k/status/1940133141546770454

Oh, so that’s why they’re taking it public: they are turning the company into a crypto investment fund which just happens to provide a SaaS design tool.

It’s the other way around, they bought some bitcoin because they are going public for the meme stock value.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#37

Post by rglover »

pixxel wrote: post #3

If you’re tired of it all, and the inevitable, and you have agency, try penpot.app

Also Sketch [1]. Everyone abandoned it when Figma became the pOpUlAr tool, but I still use it every day, nearly 15 years later and it's continued to improve.

[1] https://sketch.com

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#38

Post by Kye »

What Figma did in this era of anticompetitive buyouts is admirable but my mind will always think figma balls even after they IPO freely.

Anyway, congratulations to everyone at Figma and good luck.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#39

Post by mattmaroon »

Animats wrote: post #32

There's a president-for-life clause: "Immediately following the completion of this offering, and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, Dylan Field, our Chair of our Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, and President will hold or have the ability to control approximately % of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock, including % of the voting power pursuant to the Wallace Pr…

That generally makes me more inclined to invest as I find that the biggest problem with a lot of public companies is they manage to Wall Street which means putting the short term over the long term, and those are often at odds with each other.

Re: Figma files for proposed IPO

#40

Post by F7F7F7 »

VoidWhisperer wrote: post #30
granzymes wrote: post #27

Headline financials: FY Ended December 31, in millions except percentage | 2023 | 2024 | YoY ---------------|--------|--------|------- revenue | $505 | $749 | 48% gross profit | $460 | $661 | 44% op ex | $534 | $1,539 | 118% net income | $738 | $(732) | (199)% free cash flow | $1,041 | $68 | (93)%

What happened in 2024 that caused their operating expenses to increase so much?

Initially Tepid about AI. Didn’t want to upset their base like Adobe was (seemingly) doing. Look at that year’s Figcon for evidence. The keynote led with the new Figma, front loaded anything. He quickly moved past it and spent 90% of the rest of the time on non-consequential features.

Then that AI feature they highlighted was pulled off production because it was cloning iOS.

The AI heavy product dump we just got are lessons from that time.

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