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Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

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Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#601

Post by ulyssesgrant »

FredPret wrote: post #295

Photographers: is Adobe Photoshop still the king of photo editing? I strongly dislike Adobe’s “subscription only” business model, but it seems the market is telling them that subscriptions are a-OK: Adobe’s profits are very steady and are up 70+% in five years. [ https://valustox.com/ADBE ]

I like Capture One as an alternative to lightroom for a fujifilm camera, it has great integrations with the camera’s film styles feature. It doesn’t offer the more powerful image manipulation features of photoshop though. It can be one-time purchased for the yearly release or subscribed for continual updates

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#602

Post by corkscrew »

lewisjoe wrote: post #525

I'm wondering why is there zero competition for Figma? I understand their app is basically a browser-like engine running inside the browser - which is cutting-edge tech, tough to copy, etc. But given enough interest in this space and the valuation Figma has now - I'm wondering why isn't other big tech companies not building their own Figma alternatives.

Sketch

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#603

Post by Gooblebrai »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #497
sowbug wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with selling goods and services for more than they cost?

I think this is my favorite comment of the year. We've all become so inured to the idea, especially in startup land, that the purpose of building a business is just the exit (and hopefully we can get out soon enough with someone else "holding the bag"). As you point out, if Figma can build a growing, profitable business, there is no reason they can't IPO at some point. But still, this shows how even the purpose of an…

Totally agree with you. It feels like nowadays businesses are not really about making a profitable business. But about vanity metrics and get a huge exit ASAP even if the business doesn't really survive without VC injections.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#604

Post by ceejayoz »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #532
ceejayoz wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The definition isn't hard to find. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurship https://www.google.com/search?q=define+entrepreneur You're confused.

"Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value" Exactly! But sure, I'll entertain you... Person 1 is a so called solopreneur. Works hard. Pays bills. But eventually burns out and because no one want her/his "shares", she/he closes shop. "Damn I wish they told me about exit and the value there of...," she/he thinks. A hobby that produces revenue is not the same as producing value. Person 2 is also s…

> Person 1 is a so called solopreneur. Works hard. Pays bills. But eventually burns out and because no one want her/his "shares", she/he closes shop. "Damn I wish they told me about exit and the value there of...," she/he thinks. A hobby that produces revenue is not the same as producing value.

My old boss closed shop. Didn't want to fuss with selling to someone. He'd generated plenty of economic value to retire on and travel around the world for his retirement years. Nice big house, boat, no debt, lots in the bank. Profits for his clients, salaries for his workers, revenue to his selected vendors.

No acquisition. Plenty of economic value generated.

You can continue to be aggressively wrong and watch your comments descend into the grey and get flagged as a result, but I'm out. Constructive debate requires a shared reality and set of facts.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#605

Post by sensanaty »

lvl102 wrote: post #229
airstrike wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's still a better long term outcome than selling to Adobe

Agree 100%. Microsoft would actually make the product a lot better and add useful AI elements to it. I just don’t trust Adobe.

Depressing to see people trusting M$ over literally anything else...

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#607

Post by karaterobot »

rosywoozlechan wrote: post #527
lewisjoe wrote: post #525

I'm wondering why is there zero competition for Figma? I understand their app is basically a browser-like engine running inside the browser - which is cutting-edge tech, tough to copy, etc. But given enough interest in this space and the valuation Figma has now - I'm wondering why isn't other big tech companies not building their own Figma alternatives.

Isn't Zeplin a competitor?

Zeplin doesn't do what Figma does, but Figma does what Zeplin does, if that makes sense. You wouldn't stop using Figma and use Zeplin instead, you'd only supplement your Figma license with Zeplin if you thought Zeplin did design handoff better than Figma (maybe it does, I haven't used it in years, but that wasn't the case a few years ago).

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#608

Post by whimsicalism »

todd-davies wrote: post #501
heyoni wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the issue is that when you buy up your competition there’s nothing stopping you from charging obscene prices in either direction. Charge low to wipe out potential competitors then high when there’s no one left. It very clearly stifles innovation and god knows we don’t regulate monopolies anymore.

Dropping prices below cost to wipe out competitors is predatory pricing which is prohibited under the antitrust laws. It's not always easy to prosecute, but it against the law nevertheless.

Genius, just make it illegal to be unprofitable.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#609

Post by jzb »

fairity wrote: post #392

> Fifteen months into the regulatory review process, Figma and Adobe no longer see a path toward regulatory approval How in the world did it take fifteen months for regulators to reject this? That’s an absurdly long time to be operating a business in limbo, and I have to assume it’s the regulators dragging their feet since the companies have every incentive to move quickly. I don’t have an opinion on whether or not t…

"I have to assume" -- you do? Why?

The DOJ already signaled it wanted to block this on antitrust grounds almost a year ago. If "regulators" had immediately rejected the deal, there'd be a similar "oh, this will have a chilling effect" complaint because they slapped it down without adequate due diligence.

This is one M&A deal out of many. The vast majority -- even some that shouldn't be approved IMO -- sail through or squeak through due to persistence. I just can't find it within myself to feel bad for Adobe in this, since the most likely outcome was to just solidify Adobe's grip on the market and reduce competition. I know quite a few people who use Figma who were absolutely dreading this merger.

Re: Figma and Adobe abandon proposed merger

#610

Post by fauigerzigerk »

ThomPete wrote: post #246
barnabee wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no way a company Adobe's size should ever be allowed to grow by acquisition. At a certain point that route needs to be cut off forever.

You don't measure this on the size of the company but on market share. By that definition of course it should be allowed. There are many powerful competitors in this space Canva being just one of them.

Depending on how exactly you segment the market, Adobe's market share is somewhere between 33% and 75%. The runner-up is in the single digits.

In my view, the case for blocking this acquisition couldn't be any clearer. If Adobe wants to grow in this space, it should make better software or cut prices or both.

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