— Om Malik on the implications of the failed Adobe-Figma deal:
If “big tech” and the next layer of technology companies (such as Adobe) can’t buy “startups,” the liquidity environment is going to change for the startup founders, and of course, the venture investors.
[…]
What about the startups? Well, if the outcomes are going to become scarce, then investor dollars are going to be focused on likely winners — ones that can probably go public.
In other words, the only options for a startup to get funding today is the potential of a big exit; a sale or an IPO. What happened to building sustainable businesses? Businesses that don’t loose millions every year and only survive because of billions of investor money funnelled into their accounts. Businesses that make enough money to pay their staff and bills. Businesses with reasonable but not excessive growth, that pay solid but not excessive dividends. Is that not worth supporting anymore?