Future Finance Why Siqi Chen is building an AI Thinking Platform for finance leaders at Runway
In this episode of Future Finance, hosts Paul Barnhurst and Glenn Hopper welcome Siqi Chen, founder and CEO of Runway, a finance platform built to help operators understand their business without needing a degree in finance. The discussion explores how traditional FP&A tools fall short, and why Runway is reimagining financial modeling by combining flexibility, design, and deeper thinking.
Siqi is the founder and CEO of Runway, a modeling platform designed for operators and finance professionals who need flexible, intuitive tools to manage business complexity. He previously served as CEO of Sandbox VR, VP of Product at Postmates, and Head of Product at Zynga. Siqi has also invested in over 100 startups, including Clubhouse, Amplitude, Pipe, and Italic. Early in his career, he worked at NASA, where he was awarded a Congressional Space Act Award while still in school for his work on the Mars Exploration Rover.
In this episode, you will discover:
- Why FP&A platforms often fail to replace spreadsheets for financial modeling.
- How Runway is addressing the core pains of collaboration, complexity, and data integration.
- Why flexibility and speed of thought matter more than workflow automation.
- How Siqi thinks about AI’s role in making finance tools more usable and accessible.
- A remarkable story of how a meme coin helped fund life-saving research for his daughter’s brain tumor.
Siqi shared his remarkable journey from NASA engineer and tech executive to founder of a finance platform built for modern operators. His experiences across product leadership, startup growth, and personal resilience highlight why tools like Runway are redefining how finance professionals think, plan, and collaborate. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to move beyond outdated systems and embrace a more flexible, human-centered approach to financial modeling and decision-making.
Follow Siqi:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/siqic/
Company - https://www.linkedin.com/company/runway/
Join hosts Glenn and Paul as they unravel the complexities of AI in finance:
Follow Glenn:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbhopperiii
Follow Paul:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefpandaguy
Follow QFlow.AI:
Website - https://bit.ly/4i1Ekjg
Future Finance is sponsored by QFlow.ai, the strategic finance platform solving the toughest part of planning and analysis: B2B revenue. Align sales, marketing, and finance, speed up decision-making, and lock in accountability with QFlow.ai.
Stay tuned for a deeper understanding of how AI is shaping the future of finance and what it means for businesses and individuals alike.
In Today’s Episode:
[01:48] - Siqi’s Background
[04:41] - Runway Journey So Far
[07:11] - Approachable Finance Tools
[14:28] - UX & What Makes Runway Unique
[20:26] - Thinking Tool Idea
[24:28] - Excel Flexibility Trade-Offs
[33:46] - AI as a Financial Exoskeleton
[40:21] - The Meme Coin Surprise
[44:40] - Wrap-Up