Dylan Field

Field studied at Brown University for about two and a half years, concentrating in computer science and mathematics, before leaving to start a company without earning a degree from the university. He interned at O’Reilly Media, LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry, and Flipboard. At Brown, he met Evan Wallace, who was a teaching assistant, and the two began discussing graphics tools in the browser.⁠[1][2]

With support from the Thiel Fellowship, Field and Wallace founded Figma, and Field has served as CEO, president, and a director since October 2012. The early team explored a range of ideas around WebGL; Field later recalled that they tried directions such as meme generation and photo editing before gradually focusing on design tools.⁠[1][3]

In December 2015, Figma launched a closed beta, followed by a broader public launch in 2016. Field and his team wanted design files to be shared and edited in the browser, and the multiplayer collaboration added later changed the workflow in which designers finished work alone before showing it to their teams.⁠[4][3]

Field bought CryptoPunk #7804 in January 2018 and sold it in March 2021 for about $7.5 million. In a direct interview he discussed the scarcity and cultural value of digital art; these views are his personal judgments as a collector. In the 2021 transaction, he was the seller.⁠[5]

In November 2019, Linear (project management software)Linear (project management software)Linear is a software company founded in 2019 that makes issue-tracking and project management tools for product and engineering teams; it operates remotely, has been profitable for years, and was valued at $1.25 billion in its June 2025 Series C.Open the full entry announced a $4.2 million seed round, with Dylan Field listed, as founder and CEO of Figma, among the angel investors in the round.⁠[6]

MercuryMercury (fintech company)Mercury is an American fintech company founded in 2017 by Immad Akhund, Jason Zhang and Max Tagher; it launched account services for businesses in 2019. Its platform combines financial services provided by partner banks with software for bills, invoices and expense management. Mercury itself remains a fintech company; the proposed Mercury Bank, N.A. should be distinguished from the current partner-bank model.Open the full entry’s $120 million Series B listed Field as a participant; the round was led by CoatueCoatueCoatue is a technology- and innovation-focused investment management firm founded by Philippe Laffont in 1999, operating in both public and private markets. Its current website lists Thomas Laffont as co-founder and chief investment officer of private investments; a Form ADV filed on July 29, 2026, disclosed regulatory assets under management of $92,705,722,582.Open the full entry and valued the company at $1.62 billion. The announcement did not disclose Field’s personal investment amount.⁠[7]

While Field was leading Figma, AdobeAdobeAdobe (Adobe Inc.) is a software company headquartered in San Jose, California, founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke. Known for PostScript, PDF and creative software such as Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and After Effects, it moved its main creative products to Creative Cloud subscriptions from 2013 and expanded into digital marketing and generative AI; it is listed on Nasdaq under the ticker ADBE.Open the full entry proposed an acquisition of about $20 billion in September 2022. The two companies terminated the agreement in December 2023 because of difficulty obtaining regulatory approval in the European Union and the United Kingdom; the deal was not completed, and Field continued to lead an independent Figma.⁠[8][9]

In April 2022, Dylan Field led the $17 million Series A of Warp (a developer terminal), with participation from Elad GilElad GilElad Gil is an entrepreneur, investor and author of High Growth Handbook. He co-founded Mixer Labs and Color, worked at Google and Twitter, runs the multistage investment firm Gil & Co, and co-hosts the No Priors podcast with Sarah Guo.Open the full entry and others.⁠[10]

In June 2023, Warp (a developer terminal) announced a $50 million Series B led by Sequoia CapitalSequoia CapitalSequoia Capital is a venture capital firm founded by Don Valentine in 1972, investing from the seed stage through the growth stage. Its historical investments include Apple, Cisco, Google, YouTube, Airbnb, and Stripe; in 2021 it introduced the Sequoia Capital Fund structure, which can continue to hold public securities, and in 2023 its regional businesses became independent brands and partnerships.Open the full entry, in which Dylan Field continued to participate as an existing investor; Warp was founded by Zach LloydZach LloydZach Lloyd is a software engineer and entrepreneur, the founder and CEO of Warp, a developer terminal and agentic development platform. He previously worked on Google Sheets at Google and founded Warp in 2020.Open the full entry.⁠[11]

The open source dependency security company Socket closed a $20 million Series A, in which Field participated as an existing investor alongside Guillermo Rauch, Aaron LevieAaron LevieAaron Levie is an American enterprise software entrepreneur and angel investor, and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Box. He co-founded Box in 2005, led the company’s shift from an online file-sharing service to enterprise content management, and took the company public in 2015.Open the full entry, and others. This was an investment in software supply chain security, and the company is distinct from a cross-chain project of the same name.⁠[12]

In a conversation with Garry TanGarry TanGarry Tan is a Canadian-born ethnically Chinese technology entrepreneur, product design and engineering practitioner, and venture capitalist who currently serves as president, CEO, and general partner of Y Combinator. He worked on early product and engineering at Palantir, co-founded Posterous, Posthaven, and Initialized Capital, led early investments in companies including Coinbase, and has long been involved in San Francisco local public affairs.Open the full entry, Field said that AI would increase the number of product options that can be explored, but that design still requires an understanding of context, brand, and user experience. He stressed that there is still a gap between quickly building a prototype and finishing a product to a usable state, and that the value of design is not limited to making an interface “work.”⁠[3]

Field became chairman of Figma in April while continuing as CEO. The company went public on July 31, and in a founder letter he looked back on the long-term direction of building a browser-based design platform; the company had already expanded into tools such as FigJam and Dev Mode, and that year announced Make, Sites, Draw, and Buzz.⁠[1][13][14]

Field voluntarily forfeited two tranches of Class B restricted stock units originally scheduled to vest on July 1, of 930,868 shares and 1,448,017 shares respectively, for a total of 2,378,885 shares. The company provided no replacement compensation, and the remaining award tranches were unchanged.⁠[15]

The same month, in a Config 2026 announcement, he described the direction of bringing code, animation, and generative tools onto a single canvas, arguing that creators need more room for expression. This statement reflects his product philosophy, and the related features are rolling out according to their respective beta or availability stages.⁠[2]

Figma: Official website: https://www.figma.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[16]