Figma
Design in the browser — from a Thiel Fellowship bet to a blocked $20B deal to an IPO.
▶ Founder shortScalingAI & creator toolsDesignDev toolsAIUSA
In 2012 Peter Thiel paid 19-year-old Dylan Field $100,000 to drop out of Brown. With Evan Wallace he bet that a serious design tool could run inside a browser — designers scoffed — and built for four years in stealth. Figma became the default for product design, Adobe agreed to buy it for $20B, regulators blocked the deal, and in 2025 it went public at around $19B anyway. Figma Make now turns designs into working apps, putting it squarely in the vibe-coding stack.
Why it's indexed
- IPO'd in 2025 at ~$19B after the $20B Adobe deal was blocked.
- Started with a $100K Thiel Fellowship and a four-year stealth build.
- Figma Make bridges design files and shipped vibe-coded apps.
Coverage
Founder short: Dylan Field & FigmaFounder short
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