Figma

Figma launched in 2015 with browser-based design tools when Adobe owned professional design through decades of desktop software dominance. Adobe's legacy code from the 1990s made browser-based collaboration nearly impossible without multi-year product rebuilds. That constraint created a refugium - a space Adobe couldn't efficiently exploit where Figma could thrive.

Founders Dylan Field and Evan Wallace bet on runaway selection via network effects: simultaneous editing would create self-reinforcing preference loops. The mechanism worked: initial preference (collaborative editing useful) → preference inheritance (designers teach colleagues) → reproductive advantage (Figma skills valuable in job market) → feedback amplification (standardization increases value). Figma grew from zero to 4 million users before Adobe's response materialized as a $20 billion acquisition offer in 2022.

Figma's trajectory shows accelerated succession compressed through network effects - from Pioneer (2016-2019) through Intermediate (2019-2021) to acquisition while still in early intermediate stage. The lesson: succession creates value at any stage. Figma's facilitation assets (file format, plugin ecosystem, user community) made it attractive despite incomplete succession. You don't need to be mature to be valuable - you need clear trajectory and defendable position.