Dylan Field is the co-founder and CEO of Figma, the collaborative design platform that has revolutionized how product teams work.
In my first-ever live podcast, recorded at Figma Config, Dylan and I dig into:
• How intuition and product taste drive Dylan’s decision-making
• The challenge of keeping things simple
• Dylan’s thoughts on the future of product management
• Lessons from Figma’s early days
• How Figma built their initial user base
• Dylan’s journey from intern to CEO of a 1,000+-person company
• The future of design tools and AI
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Brought to you by:
• WorkOS—Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS, free up to 1 million MAUs: [ Ссылка ]
• Anvil—The fastest way to build software for documents: [ Ссылка ]
• User Testing—Human understanding. Human experiences: [ Ссылка ]
Find the transcript at: [ Ссылка ]
Where to find Dylan Field:
• X: [ Ссылка ]
• LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: [ Ссылка ]
• X: [ Ссылка ]
• LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:11) Welcoming Dylan Field
(02:36) Highlights and surprises from Config
(06:58) The philosophy of design
(08:01) Raccoon feet and muffin hands
(09:57) Building and refining intuition and product taste
(12:50) How to influence leadership
(16:14) The role of product managers
(21:12) The future of product management
(22:20) The importance of simplicity in design
(26:10) The long road to Figma’s launch
(27:44) Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
(29:07) Knowing when it’s time to ship
(30:39) Early user acquisition strategies
(35:50) Spotting trends and future innovations
(39:20) Reflections on leadership and growth
(43:16) Lightning round
Referenced:
• Mihika Kapoor on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• Rick Rubin on the Creative Act—60 Minutes: [ Ссылка ]
• Figma pages: [ Ссылка ]
• Leading through uncertainty: A design-led company—Brian Chesky (Config 2023): [ Ссылка ]
• An inside look at how Figma builds product | Yuhki Yamashita (CPO of Figma): [ Ссылка ]
• Vision, conviction, and hype: How to build 0 to 1 inside a company | Mihika Kapoor (Product at Figma): [ Ссылка ]
• An inside look at Figma’s unique GTM motion | Claire Butler (first GTM hire): [ Ссылка ]
• Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company | Dharmesh Shah (co-founder/CTO): [ Ссылка ]
• Nadia Singer on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• Sho Kuwamoto on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• FigJam: [ Ссылка ]
• Tim Van Damme on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• Coda: [ Ссылка ]
• Shishir Mehrotra on LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
• Websim: [ Ссылка ]
• eToys.com commercial (from Dylan’s childhood acting career): [ Ссылка ]
Production and marketing by [ Ссылка ]. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
