This episode explores how modern financial tools powered by AI are changing the way companies model, plan, and understand their business. The conversation focuses on reinventing core business software to serve as intuitive “simulation engines”—not just walls of numbers—for better decision-making. Insights include founder philosophies on building for personal pain, lessons from product development, and merging work and life. Key takeaways highlight why startups require stamina over intelligence and the importance of embracing unique founder intuition in leadership and innovation.
About the Guest
Siqi Chen
CEO of Runway
Siqi Chen began his career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, where he became the only student ever to win a Congressional Space Act Award for machine-vision technology that powered the Mars Rover. He went on to found Serious Business, one of the earliest social gaming studios on Facebook, later acquired by Zynga, where he served as Head of Product. He then launched Hey, Inc., a mobile social app acquired by Postmates, bringing him on as VP of Growth. After that, he helped scale Sandbox VR, first as Chief Product Officer and later as CEO. Today, Siqi is founder and CEO of Runway, a platform that makes business planning radically simple by turning complex financial models into intuitive, interactive plans.As an angel, he has backed nearly 100 startups - including unicorns like Amplitude, ElevenLabs, Gamma, and Mercury - bringing a founder’s instinct for product and growth to every team he supports.