Dylan Field is co-founder and CEO of Figma, a beloved tool used by every modern product team. Founded in 2012, Figma has expanded from a single design tool to a comprehensive platform including FigJam, Slides, Dev Mode, and, most recently, Figma Make. After a $20 billion acquisition by Adobe fell through due to regulatory pushback, Dylan led the company to a successful IPO in 2025.
What you’ll learn:
• How Dylan kept internal morale up after the Adobe acquisition fell through
• His approach to maintaining pace and a sense of urgency 13 years in
• How to systematically develop taste
• How Figma decides which product lines to add
• Why Dylan obsesses over “time to value”
• How AI is making design more valuable
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Brought to you by:
Stripe—Helping companies of all sizes grow revenue
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Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/why-ai-makes-design-craft-and-quality-the-new-moat
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My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/175569466/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation
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Where to find Dylan Field:
• X: https://x.com/zoink
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanfield/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction to Dylan Field
(03:58) The Adobe deal fallout
(05:50) Maintaining team morale post-deal
(09:13) Strategies for sustaining high performance
(13:37) Maintaining Figma’s unique company culture
(16:22) Dylan’s leadership evolution
(21:03) How to improve clarity as a leader
(24:40) The controversy behind FigJam
(31:06) Lessons from expanding Figma’s core product line
(39:32) Time-to-value
(45:14) Introduction to Figma Make
(48:26) AI app prototyping and the future of Figma Make
(53:38) Lessons from Figma’s AI product launch
(57:47) The importance of craft
(59:54) Developing good taste
(01:05:35) The future of product development
(01:10:32) Why AI won’t steal your job
(01:14:37) AI corner
(01:18:32) Lightning round and final thoughts
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Referenced:
• Dylan Field live at Config: Intuition, simplicity, and the future of design: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/dylan-field-live-at-config
• Figma: https://www.figma.com/
• Adobe: https://www.adobe.com/
• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/vision-conviction-hype-mihika-kapoor
• Notion’s lost years, its near collapse during Covid, staying small to move fast, the joy and suffering of building horizontal, more | Ivan Zhao (CEO and co-founder): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-notion-ivan-zhao
• $46B of hard truths from Ben Horowitz: Why founders fail and why you need to run toward fear (a16z co-founder): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/46b-of-hard-truths-from-ben-horowitz
• FigJam: https://www.figma.com/figjam/
• Cursor chat: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403130802199-Use-cursor-chat-in-Figma-Design
• Figma Slides: https://www.figma.com/slides/
• Figma Sites: https://www.figma.com/sites/
• Figma Buzz: https://www.figma.com/buzz/
• Figma Draw: https://www.figma.com/draw/
• Figma Design: https://www.figma.com/design/
• Dev Mode: https://www.figma.com/dev-mode/
• Figma Make: https://www.figma.com/make/
• Zach Lloyd on X: https://x.com/zachlloydtweets
• Warp: https://www.warp.dev/
• Dylan’s post on X about Figma on an AI product leaderboard: https://x.com/zoink/status/1968588014935801884
• Kurt Cobain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain
• Damien Correll on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiencorrell/
• Marcin Wichary on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwichary/
• Loredana Crisan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loredanacrisan/
• Amber Bravo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberbravo/
• Figma’s 2025 AI report: Perspectives from designers and developers: https://www.figma.com/blog/figma-2025-ai-report-perspectives/
• Jevons paradox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox#Energy_conservation_policy
• AI prompt engineering in 2025: What works and what doesn’t | Sander Schulhoff (Learn Prompting, HackAPrompt): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-prompt-engineering-in-2025-sander-schulhoff
• Pantheon: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11680642/
• Retro: https://retro.app/
• Thiel Fellowship: https://thielfellowship.org/
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Recommended books:
• Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-Invisible-Scott-McCloud/dp/006097625X
• The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War: https://www.amazon.com/Spy-Traitor-Greatest-Espionage-Story/dp/1101904216
• Codex Seraphinianus: https://www.amazon.com/Codex-Seraphinianus-Anniversary-Luigi-Serafini/dp/0847871045
Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
My biggest takeaways from this conversation: