Building the Team Behind Figma’s IPO: A Strategic Approach to Early-Career Technical Hiring

Figma’s IPO marks a major milestone and caps an incredible growth story fueled by innovative products, community momentum, and a sharp focus on building high-performing teams.

But behind the headlines is a story of thoughtful engineering leadership and a long-term bet on talent. Years before going public, Figma made the key decision to treat early-career hiring as a strategic investment. That choice helped build the engineering foundation that scaled the company from startup to industry leader.

A key partner in that journey is Byteboard, now part of Karat, with whom Figma has spent five years developing a strategic early-career hiring approach.

A Quality Solution to Early-Career Hiring

As Figma launched its University Program, it faced a challenge familiar to many growing tech companies. How do you fairly and effectively evaluate large volumes of early-career candidates without overburdening internal teams or defaulting to ineffective proxies like code tests?

Figma needed a hiring process that could scale while still providing real insight into how candidates work. Byteboard delivered that.

Unlike traditional technical screens, Byteboard’s project-based assessments simulate real engineering tasks and provide structured insights into collaboration, problem-solving, and communication skills. And because the assessments are asynchronous, candidates can complete it on their own schedule.

This flexibility made a major difference during the fast-paced university recruiting season. Candidates no longer had to wait weeks to coordinate with busy engineers, and Figma’s team could spend less time in interviews.

With a streamlined process and reliable signal, Figma reduced its time to hire by 10 days.

“Working with the Byteboard product as a hiring manager is great! The technical evaluation process is rooted in real world technical challenges and gives candidates the ability to show off their abilities across several dimensions. We could finally streamline our [UR] hiring by having candidates pass through the Byteboard evaluation before bringing them onsite.” — Thomas Wright, fmr. Engineering Manager, Figma

Expanding Access Through Scale & Structure

Figma didn’t just want to hire great engineers, they wanted to expand access to opportunity. With Byteboard, their university recruiting team was able to reach a broader pool of candidates from more universities and backgrounds, without sacrificing quality or efficiency.

Every candidate completed a structured assessment, evaluated through a standardized rubric and blind review process. This ensured that all candidates were assessed fairly and consistently, with a focus on skill and potential rather than pedigree.

The result was a meaningful increase in pass-through rates and hires from underrepresented groups, all while maintaining speed and a high bar for technical ability.

“Using Byteboard’s inclusive technical assessment for this recruiting season was monumental in our success in hiring a class of interns and recent graduates from more universities and backgrounds than all previous hiring seasons, along with increasing pass-through rates and decreasing our time to hire.” — Kristen Dauler, University Programs Manager, Figma

Laying the Foundation for Long-Term Success

Figma saw early-career hiring not just as a pipeline for future engineers, but as a way to shape company culture, team dynamics, and long-term product velocity. That mindset turned a tactical process into a strategic advantage.

Investments made in 2020 paid off years later. As Figma scaled, it had an engineering org ready to support rapid growth, ship consistently, and maintain quality. The decision to use Byteboard was one of many that helped create the infrastructure behind a successful IPO.

What Tech Leaders Can Learn

Figma’s journey offers a clear takeaway: how you hire today shapes the company you become tomorrow.

For tech leaders navigating rapid growth or preparing for scale, speed alone is not enough. You need hiring infrastructure that delivers quality, consistency, and long-term value.

Karat gives technical leaders the tools to accurately measure engineering talent, speed up hiring, and manage evolving workforce needs like AI and contractors. With Karat, leaders gain the visibility and control to build teams ready for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities.