Trace: The Reply Doesn’t Contain a Spreadsheet
I’m not an investor in Figma. I don’t know Figma CEO Dylan Area. And I’m not a designer. So this implies I’m both completely positioned to offer you my goal feedback on Adobe’s $20 billion buy of the startup, or completely unqualified to ask on your time on this matter. With that out of the best way, listed below are three statements about this acquisition.
- Is Figma actually value $20 billion? I imply that’s 50x ARR!
Any spreadsheet that Adobe’s corp finance perform used to justify the a number of, or the bankers introduced to recommend what valuation it might take to get this deal completed, is principally CYA math. There’s one single methodology for Adobe’s calculation:
Figma had crossed the ‘this issues to Adobe’s future’ rubicon. They hit $400m ARR and had been persevering with to double. Figma income, impartial of margin, was more and more displacing income that may have gone to Adobe, or extra particularly, creating pricing stress on Adobe. It was a product designed natively to be collaborative, to be simpler to make use of than Adobe’s skilled instruments, and with out the luggage of options and nomenclature leftover from years of software program releases, platform shifts, and enterprise mannequin modifications.
When the autonomous automotive firm Cruise received rapidly snapped up by GM in 2016 jaws dropped on the $1b+ reported worth (we had been small buyers in Cruise). The reply there was the identical: if autonomy is the potential way forward for your business and also you’re not but robust in that space, what’s p.c of your market cap is it value to carry these playing cards into your hand. In that case it was roughly ~2.5% if I’m remembering appropriately. In Adobe’s case it was a bigger proportion as a result of Figma is manner additional alongside as a enterprise and the knowledge the way forward for design a minimum of seems to be like Figma is excessive. There you go.
As soon as the buying firm CEO and Board is framing the transaction this fashion the startup has gained. It’s gonna be an enormous payout. And in enterprise, one factor is true about big exits….
2. This transaction shouldn’t be about Adobe’s failures, however really about their success.
It’s simple to beat up on Adobe. Dumb huge firm couldn’t construct Figma themselves so finally ends up having to pay a watch popping quantity. However I’m going to recommend that you just really ought to give Adobe credit score on this case for being within the place to make this supply.
It wasn’t too way back that Adobe offered shrinkwrapped package deal software program for a one time fee. Then the massive innovation was they might lower the bodily COGS by making this improve downloadable. However they lacked the continuing reoccurring income stream of a SaaS firm. And that income mannequin is a lot extra engaging, and given a a lot greater a number of by buyers.
So that they bit arduous and moved to a largely subscription Artistic Cloud mannequin. And it, nicely, labored.
During the last 5 years Adobe dramatically outperformed the NASDAQ index. That hole shrunk meaningfully the previous few days as buyers questioned the Figma transaction, however that Wall Road response is short-term not what issues. What you need to notice is that Adobe was solely capable of make this acquisition as a result of they escaped the outdated enterprise mannequin and had been rewarded with a market cap that hit $200b+ over the past 12–24 months (it’s $140b as I write this post-transaction announcement). If Adobe had failed this transition they might doubtless be nicely below $100b marketcap and just about unable to swallow Figma (not to mention a a lot much less engaging place for the Figma group to exit to).
Main an enormous public firm is basically arduous which is why I’m inclined to say, good job Adobe! Whereas additionally celebrating Figma going proper after them to begin.
3. Fingers off this one Lina Khan.
I’m not making a authorized argument right here in regards to the FTC and the way you outline antitrust, monopoly, and so on with reference to M&A. I’m simply saying I feel it’s silly and short-sighted to dam a transaction like this. Adobe is giving their pound of flesh. Figma is being extremely well-rewarded for innovation. And if you happen to take away the potential for acquisitions by the market chief from the startup playbook you’ll really get fewer startups going after the market leaders. And that has worse ramifications for the economic system and for shoppers than incremental consolidation like this. Particularly since there are many different instruments obtainable to perform a number of of the identical features Figma does.
