When Figma went public at the end of July, it signaled a resurgence in the tech IPO market after a three-year hiatus.
Terrence Rohan, an early investor and Figma’s first board director, recognized the company’s potential long before its impressive launch. “You could have easily crafted an MBA-style case study arguing why Figma wouldn’t succeed,” he shared with Business Insider. Concerns included a perceived small market, fierce competition, and challenging profit margins. Yet, Rohan was drawn to the vision and capabilities of the founders, Dylan Field and Evan Wallace.
“Dylan and Evan were exceptional and had a clear vision for the future,” Rohan recalled of the cofounders he first encountered during their seed pitch in 2013 while he was at Index Ventures. Index led Figma’s $3.87 million seed round and continued to support the company through various funding stages. Although Rohan no longer sits on Figma’s board, he remains connected to the company and has attended its IPO celebration at the New York Stock Exchange.
Figma is a digital design tool enabling users to create and collaborate on projects such as websites, apps, and logos. When it introduced its first tool in 2015, the concept of real-time, collaborative online design was controversial. Field noted in a 2020 blog that it challenged traditional, siloed decision-making within the design community, prompting some professionals to consider switching careers if this was the new direction for design.
By 2022, Figma had amassed over 4 million users and drew interest from Adobe, which planned to acquire the company. However, regulatory challenges caused that $20 billion deal to fall through.
Figma’s recent IPO was met with overwhelming demand, being more than 40 times oversubscribed, with its stock price more than tripling on its first trading day.
Reflecting on his journey with Figma, Rohan emphasized the authenticity and self-awareness of Field and Wallace as key traits he seeks in potential founders. “There is often a deeper narrative to what they are building,” he noted, highlighting that self-aware founders understand their strengths and weaknesses.
In recent months, Figma has introduced numerous new features, including tools for ideation, prototyping, and website design. Watching Figma’s growth has enhanced Rohan’s confidence in seed investing, and he now manages the Otherwise Fund, with notable investments in companies like Hugging Face, Notion, Robinhood, and Vanta.