Bringing Fun Back to Finance: Redesigning Business Modelling with Runway’s Siqi Chen, CEO

Get an inside look at Runway - the visually stunning finance platform that's breaking conventions and captivating users with its approach to making finance fun again. In this interview, founder and CEO Siqi Chen shares the arduous 3-year journey of iterating on the product from its inception during a meeting with the a16z team, working alongside early design partners, and the key inflection points that transformed Runway into what it is today.

He emphasizes the importance of storytelling, having the data from different company functions centralized and in communication with each other, and fostering a culture where work, and finance in particular, is genuinely fun. Whether you're in finance or appreciate great product design, this is a must-watch episode.

This show is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: www.turpentine.co

Listen on Spotify, Apple and Subscribe on Youtube

Attio is the next generation of CRM. It’s powerful, flexible and easily configures to the unique way your startup runs, whatever your go-to-market motion. The next era deserves a better CRM. Join ElevenLabs, Replicate, Modal and more at https://bit.ly/attioturpentine

⏲️ Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction to Runway and Siqi Chen

(01:30) Background and Inspiration for Runway

(08:25) Challenges and Pivot during COVID-19

(12:29) Raising Capital and Product Iteration

(14:57) Sponsor: Attio

(16:25) Balancing Feature Parity and Novelty

(17:30) arly Design Partners and Customers

(19:36) Building an Audience and Storytelling

(23:01) Mission and Vision of Runway

(26:13) Convincing Users to Leave Excel

(38:05) Demo of Runway

(41:45) Development and Design Process

(42:49) Product Features and Future Plans

(44:43) Company Culture and Team

(46:45) Future of Runway

Subscribe to this season of Turpentine Finance, where our guests speak candidly about big business inflections, market curveballs, and how they approach decision-making to tease out tactics and mental models you can use when the pressure is on.

You’ll hear stories from Instacart, Mercury, OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Netflix, Runway, and more. Topics frequently touched upon M&A, Market Downturn, Macro, PMF, Fundraising, Financial Forecasting, Headcount, Equity.

Subscribe to Turpentine Finance’s newsletter: https://turpentine-finance.beehiiv.com/

Turpentine Finance is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: www.turpentine.co

This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more covering technology, business, and culture, all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors - if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected]