The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20Product: Figma CPO on How Figma Builds Products: What Works, What Does Not | How Figma Does Testing and Product Reviews | The Future of Design, Engineering and Product with Yuhki Yamashita

16 May 2025

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Yuhki Yamashita is the Chief Product Officer at Figma, where he leads the development of one of the world's most beloved design platforms. Previously, he was Head of Product at Uber, overseeing the core rider experience used by millions globally. A master of product storytelling and team-building, Yuhki has redefined how world-class digital products are built and scaled. Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: 04:30 – "Simple is Lazy?" — Yuhki Challenges Product Dogma 07:45 – The Secret Behind Figma's New Product Ideas (Hint: Users Hack It First) 09:00 – From Hack Week to Roadmap: How New Figma Products Are Born 10:00 – Are PRDs Dead? Yuhki's Spicy Take on the Death of Specs 12:30 – The 'Screenshot Test': Can Your Product Explain Itself in 1 Frame? 14:15 – Code Layers and 'Living Designs'—This Demo Blew Everyone's Mind 15:30 – Designers vs Coders: Who Really Owns the Future of Product? 17:45 – The Most Controversial Product Decision Inside Figma 19:00 – Why Figma's Org Structure Could Kill the PM Role (For Real) 21:00 – Should Everyone Be a Designer and a Builder Now? 23:15 – Will Figma Have Fewer Engineers in 5 Years? 24:00 – Cursor, Windsurf & AI Coding Tools—What Figma Engineers Really Use 25:30 – AI's Dual Power: Lowering the Floor, Raising the Ceiling 27:00 – Figma's Biggest Product Flop? Yuhki Owns It 29:30 – The Magic of Product Storytelling—Even for Boring Compliance Tools 31:00 – Why Joy Must Be in the Product (and How Figma Bakes It In) 33:00 – Does Product Market Fit Even Mean Anything in 2025? 35:30 – Is Great Design Enough? Or Is It ALL About Distribution? 37:15 – Dylan's Secret to Early Growth: Hacking Design Twitter 39:00 – Community Mistakes Startups Keep Making 41:00 – The One Thing Yuhki Wishes He Could Change at Figma 43:00 – Should They Have Launched 4 Products at Once? Time Will Tell 45:00 – When Do You Know a New Product Is Doomed? 46:30 – Why Designers Still Don't Ship What They Design (and How to Fix It) 48:00 – From Uber to Figma: Yuhki's Playbook for Massive Product Swings 53:00 – The Adobe Deal Breakup—How Figma Rallied 56:00 – What Yuhki Needs to Improve as a Leader (His Own Feedback Review) 58:00 – The Product Leader He Admires Most—and Why 59:30 – What Figma Still Gets Wrong About Product Culture Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile's Regulation A+ Offering. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors because it is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities. DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck.

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The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20Product: Figma CPO on How Figma Builds Products: What Works, What Does Not | How Figma Does Testing and Product Reviews | The Future of Design, Engineering and Product with Yuhki Yamashita

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other episodes from The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Will SpaceX IPO at $1.5TRN | Will Cursor Kill Figma | Lightspeed Raises $9BN | OpenAI: $1BN from Disney, New CRO & #1 App in App Store | Oracle and Broadcom Hit: Now the Time to Buy?

20Growth: How Wiz Built a $30BN Brand in Enterprise | What Worked vs What Was a Mega Failure: Lessons Learned | Why Marketers Make the Worst CMOs & What To Look for in Growth with Raaz Herzberg

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