Why Did Thomas Tull Invest in Figs?
Trina Spear says Thomas Tull invested in the Figs seed round and the Series A, then in 2017 bought out the other investors. An investor had told her and Heather Hasson in 2014 or 2015 to meet Tull, who ran the movie studio Legendary Entertainment, in case Figs scrubs could get into movies. They did not think a movie placement was the point, but they were trying everything. Tull talked about old industries that, as Spear retells it, he described as run by the mafia. She says he was not describing medical apparel that way. He pointed to what Uber did with taxis, and to industries that had not brought in technology or strong builders. He said Figs was doing that work in medical apparel, and he invested.
Guy Raz calls the 2017 buyout a turning point and puts the new money at about $65 million. Spear says she and Hasson kept two of the three board seats, so they never lost the vote, and they still control it as a public company. One reason Tull bought the others out was Campfire Capital, a Vancouver firm that had invested in 2015 and tried to remove Spear and Hasson as the operators. Tull had built companies himself and wanted the founders funded, not replaced. By 2017 Figs was already making money. Sales had just passed $1 million by the end of 2015 and were about $4 million in 2016. They did $55 million in 2018, $110 million in 2019, and $263 million in 2020.
