Figma Rebuilds Startup Products to Test If the Technology Is Real

When Figma looks at buying a startup, its deal team runs an unusual test. It tries to rebuild the startup's product itself, using artificial intelligence.

The method is sometimes called vibe coding, which means describing the software you want in plain words and letting AI write the code. Praveer Melwani, Figma's chief financial officer, said his corporate development team, the group that evaluates potential acquisitions, now uses it as one of its checks in diligence.

The question is simple: can a few finance staffers recreate what the startup built? If they can, that can hint at whether the product is real and how difficult it was to build.

"How deep is your moat? How interesting is the technology there?" Melwani said. A moat, in business language, is an advantage that keeps competitors from copying you. He said the rebuild gives the team what he called a solid intuition, even though many nuances remain.

That is a change from how such reviews used to work. Before, finance would have needed help from the product team to get that kind of technical read. Melwani said his team still partners with product specialists, but it arrives with evidence in hand.

"This is what I built, this is what I've seen," he said of the new approach. Showing a working copy builds a lot of credibility.

The builders are not engineers on loan. They are deal and finance staff with finance backgrounds, not product people. Melwani said the team has gotten good at this kind of quick rebuilding.

For now, the rebuild is a way for finance to bring more to its work alongside product specialists. The team brings what it made, and works through the remaining nuances together.