The GTMnow Podcast GTM: Lessons from Figma, Dropbox, and Building Iconic Brands in the Age of AI with Figma’s CMO, Sheila Vashee
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Mar 3, 2026 Sheila Vashee, CMO of Figma and former marketing leader at Dropbox, shares stories from selling brownies at eight to scaling consumer and B2B brands. Short takes on defining brand as lived experience, making PLG work for enterprise, obsessing over customer feedback, and how AI augments — not replaces — human creativity in marketing.
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Brownie Stand That Taught Brand Basics
- Sheila started a brownie stand at age eight and framed the experience as early brand work focused on the end-to-end customer experience.
- She used stickers, boxes, and storytelling to stand out in a neighborhood full of better brownies, which taught her to design every touchpoint.
Brand Is What People Say When You're Not There
- Sheila defines brand as what people say about you when you're not there and the sum total of experiences with your product and company.
- She emphasizes brand is not a logo but includes support interactions, sales, and product experience shaping perception over time.
Second Hire Who Wore A Million Hats At Dropbox
- As Dropbox's second marketing hire Sheila wore many hats: content, QA, customer conversations, and shaping product priorities.
- She ran campaigns like Space Race that blended referral mechanics and defined early company strategy and virality.