Why I’m Skipping Figma’s IPO: Key Insights

Everyone’s Excited About Figma—Except Me (for Now)

Every IPO season brings its share of hype, and this time, Figma (ticker: FIG) is taking center stage. But while many investors rush in, I’m holding back. Let me tell you why I’m skipping this IPO—but keeping a close watch.

Figma’s IPO Snapshot

Ticker & Exchange: FIG on the NYSE
Pricing Range: $25–$28 per share
Valuation: Approximately $15–16 billion fully diluted
IPO Date: July 31, 2025
Where to Buy: Robinhood IPO Access, SoFi IPO Center, Fidelity New Issues

A large portion of shares offered in this IPO comes from insiders cashing out—something to be wary of.

Why I’m Not Investing at IPO

1. Technical Clunkiness and Fragmentation

Currently, Figma’s workflow involves juggling multiple tools and plugins. While features like AI-assisted layer renaming, quick prototyping, and the Dev Mode MCP Server are promising, they are fragmented, requiring constant switching between Figma, Cursor, Copilot, and external hosting services. Recent YouTube demonstrations show this cumbersome back-and-forth clearly.

2. High Valuation vs. Partial Automation

Figma’s valuation at IPO demands investors pay a steep premium—more than 20× forward sales. But what you’re getting at IPO is a tool that’s still halfway to delivering seamless, AI-driven automation. The secondary-heavy offering indicates insiders taking profit, making me cautious.

Why I’m Keeping a Close Watch

1. Strong Product-Market Fit

Figma already dominates collaborative design with a cloud-based, multiplayer, browser-native platform that’s deeply embedded in teams everywhere.

2. Early AI and Dev Mode Integrations

The groundwork is laid with MCP Server, allowing structured design data to flow directly to development platforms and AI tools. Adobe’s failed $20 billion attempt to buy Figma speaks volumes about its perceived threat.

3. Huge Potential Market

Should Figma evolve into a unified platform—a true “design-to-deploy OS”—its addressable market would dwarf current estimates, offering huge upside.

Introducing the GUXA Flow™—What Figma Could Become

I envision a future where Figma evolves into a fully automated UX creation and deployment tool—my “Guided UX Automation Flow” (GUXA Flow™):

You start with a simple prompt: “Build a budgeting app for college students.”
Figma AI rapidly generates several complete UX designs tailored to your audience.
You customize via natural conversation: “Change font to Inter,” or “Add Apple Sign-In.”
Hit the Launch button—React Native or Flutter code, databases, authentication, and payment gateways automatically integrated.
Enter API keys securely.
Choose hosting partners (Vercel, Firebase, Figma Cloud).
One click later, your app is live and functioning perfectly.

If Figma ever achieves this GUXA Flow™, its stickiness and usability would vastly outperform legacy tools like Adobe’s Creative Cloud.

The Shopify-Like Commerce Layer — A Future Game Changer for Stickiness

Beyond just design and deployment, imagine Figma evolving to include a native commerce layer—akin to what Shopify offers, but tailored for the design-first, AI-powered product world. This would allow creators to:

Seamlessly build and launch subscription services, digital storefronts, and SaaS products directly from Figma.
Integrate payments, billing, and customer management without leaving the platform.
Quickly add monetization features to apps and prototypes with minimal technical knowledge.
Maintain a single ecosystem for design, deployment, and commerce, making it incredibly hard for users to switch platforms.

This integration could transform Figma from a powerful design tool into a full-fledged “UX-to-Business” engine, unlocking a huge new market of solo entrepreneurs, small businesses, and creators who want to launch digital products fast and scale them effortlessly.

If executed well, this Shopify-like commerce infrastructure would create a sticky flywheel, locking users into Figma’s ecosystem long-term and massively expanding its total addressable market.

What Would Turn Me from Watcher to Buyer

Here’s my checklist:

Native One-Click Deploy: If Figma partners directly with deployment platforms (Vercel, Firebase), eliminating clunky integrations, I’d reconsider.
AI Copilot Integration: True conversational interface removing manual tool-hopping and complex setups.
Built-In Monetization Tools: Native payments, subscription integrations through partners like Stripe. Features that mimic Shopify’s features.
Attractive Price Point: Post-IPO market realities setting Figma shares under $5 (ideally around $3) due to short-term investor misunderstanding or macroeconomic shifts.

My Bottom Line

Today, Figma is a powerful tool but a half-built platform. Its IPO valuation reflects future potential rather than current reality. For now, I’m happily on the sidelines, patiently watching and ready to jump in when reality catches up to ambition.

Disclaimer

This is AI generated content. This article is for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making investment decisions.

EssayBoard