The $100M Deck: What Founders Can Learn From Figma’s First Pitch
The ultimate break down of how Figma turned a frustration into a $100M+ investor magnet - and what you can steal from their strategy.
Hey Founders, 👋
In our last newsletter, we broke down one of the most underrated yet powerful tools in a founder's pitch:
The Exit Strategy.
And to make it simple, we gave a quick real-world example—Figma.
A startup that started small… and exited in a $20B acquisition by Adobe.
But one line couldn’t do justice to the full story.
So today, we’re unpacking exactly how Figma went from idea → product → fundraising → viral growth → billion-dollar exit.
This is your playbook if you’re building a startup and thinking:
“How do I convince investors that this tiny idea can become something huge?”
Let’s dive in.
It All Started with a Frustration
The year was 2012.
Dylan Field, a 19-year-old student at Brown University, had just been awarded the Thiel Fellowship - a $100,000 grant to leave school and build something that mattered.
He and his co-founder, Evan Wallace, started with a single observation:
Designers were working alone.
In a world where engineers had GitHub, writers had Google Docs, and teams had Slack, designers were still emailing. Sketch files back and forth, losing track of versions, and struggling to collaborate.
It was slow, clunky, and inefficient.
That pain - that very specific frustration - was the spark.
And what Dylan and Evan imagined was bold:
A fully browser-based design tool with real-time multiplayer editing.
At the time, that sounded ridiculous.
Even the best web apps were clunky. Real-time collaboration in the browser was still a technical puzzle. And design tools were still a desktop game.
But they believed.
And more importantly, they believed it was inevitable.
The Big Idea That Investors Bought Into
Let’s get one thing clear: Figma didn’t win investor money because they had a shiny prototype or glowing traction charts.
They hadn’t launched.
They hadn’t even fully built the product.
What they had was a compelling narrative and a world-changing vision.
They told investors a story they couldn’t unsee:
“Design is becoming more collaborative.
Creative work is going online.
The future of design isn’t files—it’s multiplayer, in the browser, in real time.”
They didn’t sell what Figma was in 2012.
They sold what Figma could become by 2020.
That’s what investors funded.
Raising Millions Without Revenue
With this bold story, Figma raised a $3.8M seed round.
Still no revenue. No beta users. No marketing traction.
But that wasn’t the point.
What investors saw was a future where every designer—across every team, company, and country—would need a tool like Figma.
That vision was big enough.
Three years later, still pre-revenue, Figma raised $14M in Series A.
Again, not because of what they had achieved—
But because of where they were headed.
Let’s clarify something that confuses a lot of founders.
Traction helps. A lot.
But traction isn’t always what unlocks funding.
What investors are really looking for is conviction.
Conviction that you—this founder, this team—can build a company that scales from $1M to $100M.
That’s what they’re trying to believe.
And sometimes, metrics aren’t enough to convince them.
In fact, some of the most painful stories in fundraising come from founders who did everything “right”—
They hit $3M ARR, tripled growth year-over-year, got big-name customers—and still struggled to raise.
Why?
Because investors weren’t sold on the future, only the past.
And metrics, as helpful as they are, are lagging indicators.
What matters more in early-stage fundraising are leading indicators:
Are you solving a deep, urgent, widespread problem?
Do you have a unique, defensible solution?
Does your team have the skills, speed, and hunger to execute at scale?
Are you learning fast and reducing risk week by week?
These are harder to measure—but they’re what investors care about most.
Xartup, in collaboration with VCCircle and IIT Bombay, is excited to present the 1st chapter of The Pitch FY 25-26 – India’s leading fundraising platform for startups.
Building on the success of 4 impactful chapters in FY 24-25, where over 170 startups pitched to 60+ investors, The Pitch now moves to Mumbai.
Don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity to pitch your startup one-on-one to India’s top investors at IIT Bombay on 6th June 2025.
Apply now and take the next step towards raising capital and scaling your business!
So, What Does This Mean for You?
If you’re a founder raising your first round, don’t obsess over hitting perfect metrics.
Instead, build a narrative that sells your future.
Paint a vivid picture of the world you’re building.
Explain why now the right time is.
Prove you can move fast, learn fast, and adapt.
Help investors feel the inevitability of what you’re doing.
Because in venture capital, belief fuels the biggest bets.
Useful resources or founders
📚 Books
📚 Books
Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff – A game-changing book on pitching with psychology and storytelling frameworks that captivate investors.
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries – The foundational guide to validating ideas, building MVPs, and growing efficiently—especially pre-traction.
🎧 Podcasts
Acquired.fm – Deep dives into iconic companies like Figma, Airbnb, and Stripe. Must-listen for storytelling-driven fundraising insights.
The Twenty Minute VC by Harry Stebbings – Quick episodes with top VCs on what they’re actually looking for in early-stage startups.
📺 YouTube Talks
Dylan Field at a16z Summit – Figma’s founder shares how they built product-market fit and vision before revenue.
a16z YouTube Channel – Deep insights from top-tier VCs and founders on fundraising, storytelling, and scaling.
🛠️ Bonus Tools & Frameworks
DocSend Startup Fundraising Report (2024) – Based on data from real pitch decks, it shows what works (and what doesn’t) when pitching VCs.
First Round Review – In-depth founder stories and tactical guides on fundraising, team building, and early-stage growth.
How Xartup Helps You Fundraise Smarter
Instead of blindly reaching out to investors, use a strategic approach:
✅ Leverage Xartup’s Investor Database to find the right VCs based on sector & stage.
✅ Join the Xartup Fellowship to access mentorship & growth resources.
✅ Get Technical Credits to test your product and many more.
🚀 Ready to optimize your fundraising? Join xartup.com
