Adobe loses the game with their skill and use money to win it. Figma won the game with their skill but lose the money game.
Figma didn't lose the money game, they sold out specifically to reap the money. The owners of Figma - where the profits tend to go in a business - are extracting at an epic scale. They sold out at a valuation far beyond anything sane. They won the money game big time.
Figma's flagship product was private equity. The design tool was secondary.
Care to elaborate?
It's not that Figma was worth $20 billion.
It's that Adobe was likely seeing subscription revenue take hit from customers that realized there's no need for creative cloud subscription.
While being pummeled by public markets, and being forced to make a move that might keep shareholders from calling for blood.
This is certainly not the first time that Adobe has presented a number to Figma's board — but it has to be the biggest number yet, by far.
From Figma's position: take your chances on an IPO while the Fed is cracking skulls around inflation — or flip the bit on that liability, and cash out to a desperate Adobe?
More theatrical than academic — if both options have a risky short-term outlook, optimize for the story.
Sold for $20B? Or lackluster IPO? As GP of a VC fund, which story is going to better-enable you to raise your next several funds?
Vesting periods are quite common in employee incentives but not at all common in mergers and acquisitions.