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Masters of Scale

Design dominance sparks a blockbuster IPO, with Figma’s Dylan Field

Masters of Scale

WaitWhat

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management, Reid Hoffman, Mindset, Diversity & Inclusion, Jeff Berman, Bob Safian, Startups

4.64.4K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Figma burst into the public eye in 2022 after Adobe was blocked from buying the design startup for $20 billion. This chapter set the stage for an even bigger milestone at Figma: a splashy IPO this summer at nearly double that valuation. Dylan Field, Figma’s co-founder and CEO, joins Rapid Response to share what distinguishes Figma from competitors, and why design is increasingly at the center of every industry in today’s software-driven economy. Field also reflects on the pressures and opportunities of leading as a next-generation, tech-native CEO, and offers practical advice on upskilling in an AI-powered world.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Scaling a business in the US can feel like a maze. Each state has its own payroll, benefits, and compliance rules, pulling your focus away from growth, which is why founders use Deal.

0:11.4

Deal is the professional employer organization, or a PEO, that gives you a dedicated HR expert, plus Fortune 500 level benefits for your team.

0:20.3

The National Association of PEOs says

0:23.1

businesses can grow twice as fast if they use one. So if you're scaling, make it simple with deal.

0:29.4

Go to D-EEL.com slash MOS and get up to three months free.

0:35.4

AI agents can make your teams more productive,

0:37.8

but if they aren't connected to other agents

0:39.4

or your data or your existing workflows,

0:42.0

they can only take you so far.

0:43.8

Any business can add AI agents,

0:46.2

but IBM connects your agents across your company

0:48.9

to change how you do business.

0:50.9

Let's create smarter business, IBM.

1:01.1

I think that designers have for a long time had a mentality of almost like this imposter syndrome. Then we kind of got into the Apple era and Steve Jobs

1:09.0

really championing design. When we started Figma, we didn't know if

1:14.3

Figma design was a big enough market because the Bureau Labor Cystics said that there were

1:19.9

250,000 designers or something like that in the United States. Well, now design has to see the

1:24.3

table. What we had hanging from the walls of the New York Stock Exchange

1:27.6

was signage that had the words, design is everyone's business.

1:38.2

That's Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma, the collaborative design platform.

1:46.3

Figma burst into the public eye in 2022 after Adobe made a $20 billion bid to buy the company that was then derailed amid regulatory issues.

1:54.9

Dylan hasn't looked back. He engineered a splashy IPO this summer at nearly twice that valuation.

...

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