Figma’s 33-year-old co-founder Dylan Field is a former LinkedIn intern who launched the $68 billion Wall Street Darling from Peter Thiel for $100,000.

Figma stock It has risen sharply 250% on my debut, I made it maximum It will pop on the first day of a billion-dollar tech IPO and solidify its position as a pioneer in the revived high-tech IPO market. Demand was very intense, and many hopeful investors received only a small number of shares, but trading temporarily halted due to volatility.

The IPO ended at $115.50, which immediately reduced Figma’s valuation to $68 billion. This failed Triple Adobe’s $20 billion acquisition offer just two years ago.

However, a multibillion dollar company I started with an idea It was thought up by Field, a brown teaching assistant at the time, and co-founder Evan Wallace. The duo began researching the possibilities of new browser technologies and brainstorming ways to democratize creative design through software. However, it wasn’t until 2012 when Field was awarded the honorable Tiel Fellowship. It was awarded a $100,000 grant to a young entrepreneur trying to quit college, leaning towards what he and Wallace have become Figma, a popular web-based design tool used for user interfaces and user experience design.

The 33-year-old field has always been a high achievement, especially in technology. He was 3 years old I taught myself His family’s computer use, and his interest in robotics, began early in his childhood. The field in the early 1990s Also it worked As a child actor who stars in several commercials, including commercials for Windows XP. However, his academic success ultimately landed him in Rhode Island Ivy League schools and some competitive high-tech internships.

Native speakers from Pengrove, California were held Some part-time gigs Includes a 9 month stint as a research assistant while studying at Brown. Microsoft4 month data analysis internship LinkedInand two internships at the aggregation software company Flipboard – first as a software engineering intern, then as a product design intern. His second flipboard stint is part of the Kleiner Perkins Fellows program, a highly competitive program that places selected students together with companies in the Kleiner Perkins portfolio.

Through his LinkedIn and Flipboard work, he secured seed investments for his entrepreneurial ventures and ultimately promoted himself Billionaire status By the age of 33. His LinkedIn manager Peter Skomoroch and Danny Rimmer, general partner at Index Ventures, who recognized the field’s potential during his presentation on the Flipboard Board, helped the young founder cover his start.

“The 19-year-old had a lot of clarity about what he wanted to do. He democratized the world of design and provided tools for everyone,” Reimer said. I said luck 2023. “He had the ambition to drop out of college to pursue this crazy idea, where he’s clearly not able to come up with a product for more than two years.

Other early Figma investors included Phoenix Court and Greylock Partners.

In the end, index ventures Leading Figma’s 2013 seed round With a $1.7 million investment. And over the next 12 years, the fund reportedly invested $86.5 million in the company.

As Rimer predicted, after years of meticulous planning to create what is known as the “thing” until September 2016, it was necessary for Field and Wallace to launch the product by September 2016. Google Documentation for graphic designers. By 2018, the company was valued at $115 million. This is a figure that has skyrocketed during the pandemic. In June 2021, Figma was valuated at $10 billion. That same year, Wallace left the company.

In September 2022, Adobe announced plans to acquire Figma for $20 billion. However, regulatory obstacles Killed the deal In 2023 and as part of the cancellation, Adobe paid Figma a $1 billion installment fee.

Fistma and the Field soldierdespite the failed acquisition. The company’s revenues reached $749 million in 2024, up 48% from 2023. In the first quarter of 2025, revenues increased 46% year-on-year. Figma had 13 million active users per month in early 2025, with 95% of Fortune 500 companies using the software.

Currently, as Figma closes its first astonishing chapter as a public company, the field shows no signs of slowing down. “I know this is just the beginning,” Field said. I wrote it In a statement after the opening bell was ringed. “This is a vision that has been unfolding for decades and I think Figma’s most innovative days are ahead of the line.”

Figma refused luck Request a comment.