Founder’s Field Guide
Episode 14 The Growing Importance of Design
Founder’s Field Guide

Episode 14: The Growing Importance of Design

The Growing Importance of Design

Dylan is the co-founder and CEO of Figma, a collaborative online design tool. We cover the principles that Figma is built upon, the growing importance of design as the world moves from consumption to creation, and what it takes to recruit effectively.

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[00:02:04] – [First question] – His decision to and application for the Thiel Fellowship

[00:03:23] – What makes his co-founder Evan so good

[00:04:15] – The Thiel Fellowship interview process

[00:05:26] – Creating better opportunities for open ended learning in education

[00:07:48] – Importance and types of independent thought as they built Figma

[00:10:00] – Early stages of forming Figma

[00:12:03] – The market of designers and what Figma does

[00:15:57] – His principles of good design

[00:18:12] – Future of design tools

[00:19:45] – Design as a multiplayer concept and surprises that have come from it

[00:21:40] – Threshold to know when product-market fit occurred

[00:24:11] – Lessons for pricing something effectively

[00:25:48] – Biggest challenge of growing the business

[00:26:58] – What he’s learned as a manager since starting Figma

[00:28:38] – Lessons in effective recruiting

[00:31:49] – Payoff of hiring the right partner

[00:33:01] – The chapters/stages of Figma

[00:34:38] – What has led to success in terms of the distribution of Figma

[00:35:56] – Hardest thing to copy about Figma

[00:36:47] – Dealing with customer support and unhappy users

[00:38:08] – Their Communities platform and why it’s important for the business

[00:39:02] – Learning about and from their competitors

[00:41:50] – The landscape of software design tools

[00:43:43] – Interesting creator tools

[00:44:31] – What are the key levers that would lead to explosive growth for Figma

[00:45:57] – Global trends he is most curious in

[00:47:21] – Creating a more private digital world

[00:49:33] – Thoughts or advice for people building something new

[00:50:57] – Kindest thing anyone has done for him

The Growing Importance of Design

Introduction

Patrick
My guest today is Dylan Field, the co-founder, and CEO of Figma, a collaborative online design tool which has taken the world by storm. With the most recent valuation of more than $2 billion and backers like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, and Greylock, Figma has become one of the most successful companies building tools for creators. In our conversation, we dive deep into the principles Figma is built on, describe how they created multiplayer for design tools, and the growing importance of design in all businesses. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Dylan Field.

The Thiel Fellowship and Founding Figma

So, Dylan, I thought a fun place to begin this conversation would be with your application to the Thiel Fellowship back in 2011, I had a lot of fun reading that application just earlier today, I saved it for this morning in preparation for our chat. My first question is what it felt like to apply, what was your impression of the fellowship, and the emotional decision to apply to something very distinct and unique like that?

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