Finding Figma

TLDR: I found a new work home at Figma. I thought I’d reflect on the journey I took to get there.

After a long and amazing run at Zendesk, I often thought about how many people I must have interviewed while working at a high growth startup for more than 7 years. In the early years, there were periods of time where a good part of the week was spent on phone screens and interviews. As a result of meeting all the people I did, Silicon Valley finally felt small and cozy to me. While I certainly don’t know everyone, I’ve come in contact with enough people that it doesn’t take long to find a person in common.

I’ve had the pleasure to create some wonderful relationships with smart and creative colleagues and peers, a few of which think of me as a mentor, at least when they ask for advice on a new role. It’s easy to give other people advice about important decisions when you don’t have any emotional attachment to the choices. These conversations often start something like this:

Friend: “Hey I’m close to getting an offer from Unicorn X!”

Me: “That’s exciting!”

Friend: “I wanted to talk through the opportunity with you and make sure I’m thinking about all the right things.”

Me: “OK great. Tell me what you know.”

Friend: “The company is doing well so far. I really like the people I’ve met. I think they really like me. They’ve verbally communicated compensation numbers which sound good.”

At this point I feel like it’s my duty to make sure they know what they are signing up for because it sounds like they are already seduced by the opportunity. Maybe that’s why they’ve come to me; they’re looking for a critical assessment. The worst thing was watching good people leave a great company (Zendesk) to go chase a salary at a weak startup, all because they didn’t think through what was most important — does the startup have a chance of making it.

I ask a lot of questions including, “What do you think about the product? Who are the investors? What has the growth rate been? Have you talked to any customers? What will your title or level be?” Usually no one can answer all of my questions but most seem to appreciate the checklist.

I’ve seen that last question about title/level get people in a bind. They typically think about it too late in the process. And to compound the problem, many startups confuse prospective and existing employees by giving ambiguous “head of X” titles. Thinking in advance about what your level should be within the organization is time well spent. Such thought requires a keen self-awareness and a candid assessment of your skills, experience, and value in the marketplace. Acting on this assessment, you should sell those things in the interviewing process.  In this way, the hiring manager is more aligned with your candidacy, is aware of the value you bring to the company, and starts you at the appropriate level and salary.

After years of these conversations, I found myself on the other side of the table while looking for work after Zendesk. The bar was high. I felt lucky to have experienced the explosive growth of a well run startup:  from 12 to 2,000 employees, from 1M to 300M in revenue, and a successful IPO on the NYSE to cap it all off. It was important that I find something where I liked the CEO and the product space was compelling to me.

I forgot exactly how I learned about Figma initially, but I ended up meeting an investor first and then decided to meet the CEO, Dylan. In my second chat with Dylan, he asked me what I wanted to do job wise. Crap. I wasn’t ready to answer that question yet. I was still warming up to the idea of an alarm clock everyday after experiencing the luxury of time off between jobs.

I decided it wasn’t the right timing yet and told the recruiter I wanted to pull out of the process. She respected the sentiment and asked if I was interested to meet with another investor, just to network. OK, just to network. I chat with a friend and tell her I don’t want to waste their time, I’m pulling myself out of the process. She advises me to not be such a lady and worry about their time. “It’s their job to meet great people,” she says. Agh! OK I’ll keep in it. But I’m worried because I like Dylan and I like the product space. I’m worried because I don’t want to be seduced for the wrong reasons.

I go into research mode and try to answer all the questions I dish out to colleagues and peers in the same circumstance. I contact every designer I know and ask them about the brand. Figma has an impressive customer list so far. I talk to a couple customers, and they are in love. I meet more people and try to ask hard questions (e.g. what’s the profile of a customer you can repeat win?). I think about the role I would want, something broader than what I’ve done, across all customer-facing teams, something that will force me to grow. I imagine myself pulling the role off. I go into sell mode and put them in touch with references who will help sell my value. I have the conversation about the role and the level. I start researching compensation and come up with a range that seems appropriate.

Dylan and I plan a get-to-know-you Sunday dinner with our respective partners and another co-founder. Then he presents an offer on the Wednesday before the dinner. And now I feel a small panic. I have to really decide on this before the dinner or this could be awkward. I feel a little out of control and I don’t like it, like I jumped on a moving train and it’ll be hard to get off. My partner helps bring me back to reality. “Amanda, you don’t have to decide by Sunday’s dinner. We know how to do awkward dinners.” OK. Right. I’m in control. I shouldn’t feel rushed.

I go into offer evaluation mode and call a bunch of people to see what they think. I find an abundance of positive reactions with a couple cautionary reactions. I’m satisfied to get the less positive perspectives because it means I’m not skewing my own due diligence. I begin to better appreciate how both sides of the mentor/mentee job offer experience operate together.

I decide I’m willing to forego an awkward dinner and commit. It feels right. Figma has a great product and is a startup with a bright future. I can get behind helping amazing designers work together better and more efficiently. I negotiate like any lady should. And we’re in business. Dylan brings a homemade blackberry pie for Sunday dessert. We are definitely in business. Check it out...www.figma.com.