Are you building a business or just a Meme Generator? The story of how Figma almost didn't exist.
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We almost didn't have Figma.
If you look at the alternate timeline of tech history, Dylan Field and Evan Wallace didn't build the world's most valuable design software. Instead, they took their Ivy League brains, dropped out of Brown, and built the world's best meme generator.
I'm not joking. In the early days, they built a tool called "MemeGen." It was technically impressive. It leveraged cutting-edge WebGL technology. It was the best in its class. But they had to look in the mirror and realize something painful: We are building the best possible version of the wrong thing.
If you are leading a team, a department, or a startup, this story forces you to ask some uncomfortable questions.
1. The Trap of the "Technically Impressive"
In 2012, Dylan and Evan were obsessed with WebGL. They were doing things in the browser that no one thought was possible. They applied this groundbreaking tech to... putting text on funny cat pictures.
They fell into a classic engineer's trap: solving a hard technical problem for a low-value use case. They had a "Gem City" moment where they realized that even if they won the meme market, they would still just be a meme company. They wanted greater meaning.
The "Hard Problem" Matrix
Hard Technical ProblemEasy Technical ProblemHigh Market ValueLow Market Value
The Unicorn Zone
The Trap (MemeGen)
Commodity Business
Hobby / Toy
Click dots to explore the pivots.
Question for Leaders
Look at your current roadmap. Are you solving a problem because it matters to the market, or simply because it's a "hard problem" that makes you feel smart?
What is the project you are holding onto right now that is technically impressive but strategically useless?
2. Betting Against the Infrastructure
When they decided to build a design tool in the browser, the industry laughed. In 2012, "professional software" lived on the desktop.
Figma didn't just wait for the browser to catch up. They spent three years in stealth mode building the infrastructure to make the browser catch up. They compiled C++ to the web. They built their own tile engines. They bet that by the time they launched, the internet speeds and hardware would be ready.
They didn't build for the world as it was; they built for the world as it was going to be.
Question for Leaders
If you are building for the constraints of today, you are already obsolete. Where will the infrastructure be in 3 years?
Are you building a product that will feel "native" to the future, or are you just optimizing a legacy workflow?
3. The "Founder's Trap" (Fire Yourself)
We love the myth of the "All-Knowing Founder," but the reality of Figma's stealth years was messy. Morale was low. There were internal mutinies. Why? Because Dylan Field, as brilliant as he was, was a terrible micromanager.
Instead of letting his ego drive the ship into the ground, he made a radical decision: He fired himself from management. He hired a professional to handle the people operations so he could focus on the vision.
Question for Leaders
What is the role you are playing right now that you are actually failing at?
If you were an outside consultant auditing your own performance, would you fire yourself from that specific set of responsibilities?
4. Finding the "Six-Lane Superhighway"
When Figma finally launched, designers were skeptical. Figma needed a wedge. They found it in Multiplayer.
They realized that design wasn't just about pixels; it was about communication. By allowing people to be in the same file at the same time, they didn't just build a better Photoshop; they built Google Docs for creativity.
They stopped competing on "features" (Does it have a pen tool?) and started competing on "workflow" (Can we work on this together?). That distinction opened up a six-lane superhighway of growth that Adobe couldn't touch.
Question for Leaders
Are you trying to be 10% better than your competitor at the same game, or are you changing the rules of the game entirely?
Where is the friction in your customer's day that isn't about the "tool," but about the "process"?
5. The $20 Billion Validation
We all know the end of the story. The pandemic hit, the world went remote, and Figma became the operating system for design. Adobe got so scared they offered $20 billion to buy them.
When regulators killed the deal, Figma didn't collapse. They took the $1 billion breakup fee and kept building. But that result was only possible because they survived the "Meme Generator" phase. They survived the bad management phase. They survived the skeptics.
The Bottom Line
It is easy to look at a $58 billion valuation and think it was destiny. It wasn't. It was a series of pivots. My challenge to you is this: Don't settle for the meme generator. Fail, pivot, and grow. If something isn't working, have the courage to ask the hard questions, change the leadership structure, or scrap the product entirely to find the thing that actually matters.
We almost didn't have Figma.
Dylan Field and Evan Wallace didn't start with design software. They built the world's best meme generator using cutting-edge WebGL. Then they had to face a painful truth: "We are building the best possible version of the wrong thing."
The Core Lessons
1. Hard Problems โ Valuable Problems
They were solving technically impressive challenges for a low-value use case. Ask: "Even if we win, is this market worth winning?"
2. Build for Tomorrow's Infrastructure
In 2012, "professional software" lived on desktop. Figma spent 3 years in stealth building for where the browser *would* be. They didn't wait, they made it happen.
3. Fire Yourself When Needed
Dylan Field was brilliant at vision but terrible at management. Instead of ego-driving into the ground, he hired professionals. Know your weaknesses.
4. Compete on Workflow, Not Features
Multiplayer wasn't just a feature, it was Google Docs for creativity. They stopped competing on "Does it have a pen tool?" and started competing on "Can we work together?"
The Bottom Line
$58 billion wasn't destiny. It was surviving the meme generator phase, the bad management phase, and the skeptics. Don't settle. Pivot.
Danny's Quick Takes:
โTechnical impressive โ valuable. Figma's founders built the world's best meme generator first. It was technically brilliant and strategically useless.
โBuild for the future infrastructure. They bet that browser tech would catch up. It did. Don't optimize for today's constraints.
โFire yourself from roles you're failing at. Dylan Field was a terrible micromanager. He hired someone else to do it. Ego kills companies.
โCompete on workflow, not features. Multiplayer wasn't a feature, it was a paradigm shift. Adobe couldn't touch it.
โ$58 billion wasn't destiny. It was a series of painful pivots. Be willing to scrap everything.
The Bottom Line:
Don't settle for the meme generator. Fail, pivot, and grow.
