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Vishu Bheda
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Medial • 3m
𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝗖𝗼-𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝘆𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗺𝗮’𝘀 𝟬 𝘁𝗼 𝟭 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 Figma wasn’t an instant success. It took 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 from its founding in 2012 to its public launch in 2016. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴? Co-founder 𝐃𝐲𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 says they spent the first year 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, trying different ideas before landing on 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐞𝐫-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧. But once they saw real demand, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. A designer friend at Coursera tested Figma and sent Dylan a 𝟏𝟐-𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬. That was a clear sign: 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐦𝐚. But Dylan hesitated. Looking back, he says: "𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫." 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁 𝘃𝘀. 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝗮𝗺 𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗻 explains: Early on, a startup is like a 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭—small, fast, and easy to change direction. But as it grows, it becomes a 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩—bigger, slower, and harder to steer. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭, 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗗𝗼 1. 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬—small teams can pivot quickly. 2. 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝—if users are pulling your product, that’s your green light. 3. 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 —don’t wait too long. 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐦𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧? 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩. I hope you've found this helpful. Follow Vishu Bheda for more valuable startup insights from the world's best founders!
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