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Figma vs. a Startup: Two $300K Jobs, and I’m Leaning Figma
Two fully remote software engineering opportunities, each paying around $300,000: Figma and a fast-growing Series D health tech startup. Austin Starks explains why he is leaning toward Figma despite claims that AI coding tools will replace it.
He compares Figma’s reported revenue growth, customer expansion, weekly AI-credit usage among larger paid customers, and free cash flow. The second reason is personal: the value of a recognizable company name on his resume. This is a career decision discussed in October 2026; the compensation figures are approximate.
Transcript
0:00I have two fully remote software engineering opportunities that both pay around $300,000, and I'm leaning towards the one people say AI will kill.
0:08The first one is Figma, and the second is a fast-growing Series D health tech startup. Reason one is the fundamentals, because everyone keeps saying Claude is about to cook Figma, so I checked.
0:19Figma's revenue grew 48% last quarter, and growth sped up three quarters in a row while AI coding tools exploded.
0:26Existing customers are spending 36% more than a year ago, and over 80% of its bigger customers use its AI every single week.
0:35It also generated $243 million of free cash flow last year. The AI fear just isn't showing up in the numbers yet.
0:43But the numbers are only half of it. Reason two is the controversial one: I want a name on my resume that makes people think, okay, this guy is legit.
0:51The startup might grow faster, but Figma is already growing like a startup and has a name everyone knows, so I'm leaning Figma. Would you take the startup instead?
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