Will Griffith of Iconiq Explores Figma’s IPO Celebration and Investor Sell-off Drivers

Will Griffith had only two months of experience as a venture investor at Iconiq when he first met Dylan Field, a 19-year-old college dropout. This encounter would pave the way for one of Griffith’s key seed investments in a startup called Figma.

On Thursday, Figma launched its stock market journey, with shares skyrocketing from an initial IPO price of $33 to a closing value of $115.50, leading to a market capitalization of $47 billion. Griffith is thrilled about the company’s remarkable success.

“If you attend one of these user conferences, you can’t help but notice the 15,000 attendees, with 5,000 proudly displaying Figma tattoos,” Griffith laughed. From the outset, this design software firm’s founders showed “a fierce commitment to triumph and to revolutionize this sector.”

However, in 2013, at their first meeting, co-founders Dylan Field and Evan Wallace were still relatively inexperienced. At that time, Iconiq was also an emerging player, primarily recognized as a discreet wealth management firm for some of Silicon Valley’s elite tech leaders, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey.

Figma did have a proponent: Field had interned at LinkedIn under then-CEO Jeff Weiner, who not only became an angel investor but also connected Field with Griffith.

“We linked up with Figma even before we set up an early fund or any venture capital,” Griffith told TechCrunch. He fondly recalls traveling to meet the founders. “It was just two guys and a dog in a Palo Alto apartment, developing revolutionary graphics and design technology within a browser.”

The demo illustrated how light could be modified while editing photos in a web browser. At that time, browser-based design software utilizing WebGL was groundbreaking, especially since Adobe dominated the graphic design realm with its desktop applications. “I found it astonishing,” Griffith reminisced.

The concept was so new that Alexis Ohanian, investing through his former firm Initialized, opted not to back Figma when he encountered the product years later in 2016, calling it part of his “embarrassing miss-list” in a recent tweet.

Nonetheless, Griffith chose to invest. The seed shares were valued at $0.0878 each, as outlined in Figma’s S-1A filing. Griffith continued to support the firm through subsequent funding rounds, which amassed around $332 million through 2024, according to PitchBook.

“We participated in the seed round, the Series A, and additional rounds, including secondary investments and significant backing about a year ago,” Griffith noted.

While Iconiq did not achieve a minimum 5% stake in the company— a threshold that would necessitate Figma disclosing the size of its holdings— it possesses enough shares that the IPO will be recognized at Iconiq’s offices.

“One way we celebrate is by predicting the closing stock price on the first day. It’s a fun competition within the firm,” Griffith explained. “There are appealing prizes for those who guess correctly.” A successful prediction could yield substantial cash rewards or even a trip to Hawaii.

Regarding the unique aspects of this IPO, Griffith shared his perspective. Most of the sold stock came from existing investors, including Field, instead of new shares issued by the company.

“It’s commendable that early investors are willing to offload enough shares to create adequate supply for the IPO,” he commented.

Figma’s fundamentals are so strong that the IPO was oversubscribed by a factor of 40, according to Bloomberg, indicating that considerably more investors sought shares than were available.

This can be problematic, as Griffith explained. Major institutional investors often shy away from IPOs lacking sufficient trade volume. If an IPO does not release enough shares, the prices for available shares could become artificially inflated, undermining the company’s true value. A post-IPO price drop could further diminish the company’s worth.

According to Griffith, Figma’s existing stakeholders were reluctant to sell shares at the $33 price point. “We’ve been with this business since 2015 and haven’t sold any shares. We intend to be major buyers during the IPO,” he affirmed.

Still, Griffith emphasized that for Figma, IPO day is a milestone rather than an end. “I met a young Dylan at 19, and we forged a partnership,” he remarked. He feels “proud” to see Field, the CEO of Figma, “continue to develop while upholding the same vision, values, and authenticity.”

In the meantime, Griffith mentioned that he will spend the day of Figma’s IPO “meeting the next generation of founders.”