Enterprise Weekly #394: Adobe Buys Figma, Twilio Layoffs, Legal Contract Playbook, and More
It’s the second week of September - debatably the busiest week of the year for tech as companies hit the ground running post LDW. So let's get into it:
We’ll start with the good: Adobe announced it will acquire Figma for $20B (their largest deal to date). Why does this make sense? Figma posed an existential threat to Adobe: younger generations in the design community favor its real-time collaborative nature, and designers have more sway in buying decisions as they’re the “tail that wags the dog,” influencing product and engineering decisions in today’s consumerized enterprise software world. With this reach, Figma’s potential TAM extends way beyond just the design community.
While people can debate whether the high forward multiple (expected FY22 ARR of $400M) made sense, a different argument is why Adobe didn’t make this move 1-2 years ago to solidify their position with this expansive community? Given Adobe’s successful move to the cloud in the past, we feel confident that they’ll make the most of this strategic asset and well themselves for the next decade akin to Microsoft’s GitHub acquisition.
Now onto the bad: Twilio announced it will lay off 11% of its workforce to improve operating margins, selling capacity, and costs on their road to profitability. In August, Twilio reported Q2 earnings of 41% sales growth (it’s worst since 2017) and faced a cyberattack that compromised the data of more than 100 customers. As we’ve seen in so many headlines, Twilio isn’t alone. This week, Goldman Sachs joins the list making layoffs and tech recruiters are struggling to find work.
Uber was hacked by an alleged 18 year old, who social engineered an employee, logged into their VPN, and scanned their intranet to gain access to the company's tools including AWS and GCP. The company shut down internal systems like Slack in hopes of isolating the threat, but as of this morning, the investigation and impact is still ongoing.
Lastly, we released a new Enterprise Playbook on the legal contract negotiation and review process with the help of ActionIQ’s Head of Legal. It dives into the best practices for approaching the most negotiated terms in SaaS and an MSA review checklist. Check it out to help streamline legal negotiations and keep your company protected!
📚 More news:
Business Insider: Startup Founder Salaries Have Been Upended in the Market Downturn. Here's How.
TechCrunch: Salesforce, Snowflake Partnership Moves Customer Data in Real Time Across Systems
NYT: Markets Plunge as Inflation Data Undercuts Wall Street’s Optimism
NYT: There’s a Better Way to Reclaim Your Time Than ‘Quiet Quitting’
WSJ: The Wing Is Closing Its Locations After Years of Turmoil
Have a great weekend!
Kira Colburn
📚 More to follow:
Company: FireHydrant
Role: Engineering Manager
Technology: Site Reliability & Incident Management Platform
Funding: $32.5M from Work-Bench, Menlo Ventures, Harmony Partners, Salesforce Ventures
Looking for a new job? Send us your LinkedIn!
⭐ Company of the Week ⭐
dope.security raises $4M led by Boldstart Ventures
Risk / Security • Seed • Mountain View, CA
Founders: Kunal Agarwal (CEO)
HeyData raises $3.3M led by Ten VC
Risk / Security • Seed • Berlin, Germany
Valve raises $4.5M led by Project A
HR Tech • Seed • New York, NY
MVP Match raises $5M led by Stage 2 Capital
HR Tech • Seed • Berlin, Germany
Xtype raises $5.8M led by Columbia Capital
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • Tel Aviv, Israel
Bluesky raises $8.8M led by Greylock
Infrastructure / Dev Tool • Seed • Menlo Park, CA
InsightFinder raises $10M led by Silicon Valley Future Capital
Infrastructure / Dev Tool • Series A • Durham, N.C
Opus Security raises $10M led by YL Ventures
Risk / Security • Seed • Tel Aviv, Israel
Benivo raises $12M led by Updata Partners
HR Tech • Venture • London, UK
Chameleon raises $13M led by Matrix Partners
Future of Work • Series A • San Francisco, CA
Theom raises $16 led by Ridge Ventures and M12
Risk / Security • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Winn.AI raises $17M led by Insight Partners and S-Capital
Sales / Marketing • Seed • Tel Aviv, Israel
Sightfull raises $18M led by Dell Technologies Capital
Future of Work • Series A • Tel Aviv, Israel
Cledara raises $20M led by CommerzVentures
Future of Work • Series A • Denver, CO
Groundcover raises $20M led by Zeev Ventures
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series A • Tel Aviv, Israel
Ashby raises $21.5M led by F-Prime Capital
HR Tech • Series B • San Francisco, CA
Diveplane raises $25M led by Shield Capital
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Raleigh, NC
Joonko raises $25M led by Insight Partners
HR Tech • Series B • New York, NY
Hone raises $30M led by 3L Capital
HR Tech • Series B • Encinitas, CA
Dig raises $34M led by SignalFire
Risk / Security • Series A • New York, NY
Cyrebro raises $40M led by Koch Disruptive Technologies
Risk / Security • Series C • Tel Aviv, Israel
Zesty raises $75M led by B Capital and Sapphire Ventures
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series B • San Francisco, CA
Fortanix raises $90M led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity
Risk / Security • Series C • Mountain View, CA
Nile raises $125M led by JC2 Ventures, March Capital, 8VC, and Iconiq Capital
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Venture • Santa Clara, CA
Atlas raises $200M led by Sixth Street Growth
HR Tech • Series B • Chicago, IL
Verkada raises $205M led by Linse Capital
Risk / Security • Series A • San Mateo, CA
Adobe acquires Figma for $20B
Collaboration / Productivity • Acquisition • San Francisco, CA
Envoy acquires WorkSphere for an Undisclosed Amount
HR Tech • Acquisition • Seattle, WA