Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger • Hacker News Board

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#41

Post by joshstrange » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:31 PM UTC

scarface_74 wrote: post #17

hallway_monitor wrote: post #7

It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.

The entire purpose of starting a company is to get acquired. Of the literally hundreds of companies that YC has invested in, only 5 have gone public. The VC market will dry up even more if they see their chances of an exit diminishing because of an overzealous government.

I think the state of “build to be acquired” is actually pretty gross and I wouldn’t mind it being pruned back a bit. To call this “overzealous government” is a bit ridiculous. Figma being acquired by Adobe was not good for customers, in most cases the government just allows shit like this to happen, this is the exception, not the rule.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#42

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:31 PM UTC

dkyc wrote: post #13

madeofpalk wrote: post #6

Excellent news. I think there should be more products, more companies, and more competition. Adobe just buying up it's competition will only ever directly hurt consumers. See also, "Adobe says the FTC is looking into its subscription cancellation practices." https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/15/24003532/adobe-says-the-...

Except outlawing acquisitions by larger tech companies will absolutely reduce funding and incentives to start companies, and result in less products, less companies, and less competition.

[deleted]

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#43

Post by pavlov » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:31 PM UTC

Figma is VC-funded. Now that they’re not going to be part of Adobe, they’ll just more slowly turn into another Adobe because the investors want the exit.

Prices will creep up, product segmentation will be introduced, pop-ups pushing expensive service add-ons will eventually appear. And when the revenue number is pumped enough, it goes public or is sold to private equity which has no trouble with antitrust regulators.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#44

Post by layer8 » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:31 PM UTC

scarface_74 wrote: post #17

hallway_monitor wrote: post #7

It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.

The entire purpose of starting a company is to get acquired. Of the literally hundreds of companies that YC has invested in, only 5 have gone public. The VC market will dry up even more if they see their chances of an exit diminishing because of an overzealous government.

Luckily, successful companies can also be started without VC money.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#45

Post by mushufasa » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:31 PM UTC

earthnail wrote: post #23

scarface_74 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire purpose of starting a company is to get acquired. Of the literally hundreds of companies that YC has invested in, only 5 have gone public. The VC market will dry up even more if they see their chances of an exit diminishing because of an overzealous government.

Or we’ll see more IPOs. It might change valuations as expectations might be lower but it won’t dry up the VC market.

declining frequency of IPOs is mostly driven by regulatory requirements that keep getting harder over time; the 90s were before sarbanes-oxley. I don't see any reason to believe fewer acquisitions will cause more IPOs.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#46

Post by WillAdams » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:32 PM UTC

Given how Adobe's last purchase of a drawing program (buying Macromedia ten years after being told to wait a decade after buying Aldus and it being split off to be acquired by Macromedia and then off-shoring Freehand/MX to India and then burying it), good.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#47

Post by hliyan » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:32 PM UTC

hallway_monitor wrote: post #7

It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.

Public approval like this is a good signal to send to the regulators (and disapproval when they fail to do their job) -- it helps counterbalance the pressure from lobbyists and politicians aligned with industries.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#48

Post by capableweb » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:32 PM UTC

endisneigh wrote: post #24

scarface_74 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire purpose of starting a company is to get acquired. Of the literally hundreds of companies that YC has invested in, only 5 have gone public. The VC market will dry up even more if they see their chances of an exit diminishing because of an overzealous government.

The purpose of a for profit company is to provide a good or service and profit from doing so. You don’t need to be acquired to accomplish that.

> provide a good or service

> profit from doing so

Is the first actually a requirement? I can think of plenty of companies that do the second part well, but have nothing to do with the first one.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#49

Post by epolanski » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:33 PM UTC

scarface_74 wrote: post #17

hallway_monitor wrote: post #7

It looks like regulators are actually doing their job. I would love to see more of this, along with breaking up companies that have gotten too big for their britches.

The entire purpose of starting a company is to get acquired. Of the literally hundreds of companies that YC has invested in, only 5 have gone public. The VC market will dry up even more if they see their chances of an exit diminishing because of an overzealous government.

You should send this memo to Musk, Zuck and many other entrepeneurs telling them they doing everything wrong.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#50

Post by dkyc » Mon, Dec 18, 2023, 1:33 PM UTC

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #30

dkyc wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except outlawing acquisitions by larger tech companies will absolutely reduce funding and incentives to start companies, and result in less products, less companies, and less competition.

I'm fine with some other company buying-up Figma, just not Adobe. Microsoft could buy them (and hopefully not repeat what happened to Expression Blend) - or maybe Alludo could resurrect the Corel brand and launch Figma under that title?

The reality is that for extremely high-growth companies such as Figma, only companies with an extremely strong existing business and strategic fit can afford to acquire them. Corel, for example, was valued at $1bn in their 2019 acquisition. There's absolutely no way they could acquire Figma. At the same time, VCs are betting on Figma-like outsized exits for their model work.

I get people are dying to stick it to the big tech cos, but the reality is that the long-term effect of actions like this is reduced funding and less new, disruptive companies – and strengthening the situation for the cash-rich behemoths like Microsoft, Google, etc.