Runway

FP&A is one of the highest leverage activities in business, and the great thing is you don't have to be in finance to feel the benefits. Back when I was a recruiter at a tobacco company, I had a real problem. I had a lot of positions to fill and some hiring managers were slow to hire. Obviously this bothered me because I had a job to do, and I liked doing my job well. So after realizing I couldn't do a good job unless my hiring managers did, I turned to a tactic that I knew would be foolproof: numbers. Using basic spreadsheets and the numbers I found in our ATS, I calculated how fast positions closed, how long interview cycles were, and how efficient each step of the hiring process was for each hiring manager. I'd slice the numbers up so me and my business partners could understand what was happening in an objective way and I'd sit down with each leader to help them understand what I was seeing. I'd show Slow Bob how Fast Frank ran his hiring process and gave him best practices to do the same. I'd overlay this hiring data with sales performance metrics and show Slow Bob why Fast Frank was exceeding his number too so Slow Bob could as well. "You can't hit your number when you don't have the reps to cover your quota, now can you?", I'd say to Slow Bob (or something like that). Suddenly, Slow Bob responded faster when I sent him candidates. He got his hiring process dialed in because he understood the importance of hiring and how it could help him hit his goals. I felt better about myself knowing the candidates I vetted were receiving the attention they deserved, and slept sound at night knowing I used the magic of numbers to show Slow Bob how he could improve his hiring process. The moral of this story is, we all have Slow Bobs in our organizations. The problem is, you can't tell Bob he's slow. He has to figure it out for himself. And the best way to help him figure this out is with objective evidence. Runway makes it easier for finance teams to have conversations with Slow Bobs. We even make it possible for Fast Frank to speak with Slow Bob so you don't have to. Can you imagine a world where everyone is using the magic of numbers to make the best decisions? FP&A is a power tool, not because finance people own it, but because anyone can. But you have to #1) have access to the right numbers, #2) have the tools to shape them in the right ways, and #3) sit down with your business partners to discuss these insights to drive the right behaviors. Runway can help with #1 and #2. As for #3, that's up to you.

I recently attended a dinner with Runway hosted by Siqi Chen and enjoyed discussions with other finance leaders in the Bay Area. Forecasting and scenario planning are definitely challenging. Runway was a great platform to use when I was MotherDuck. It was not only useful for forecasting but could do the consolidation of financial statements from 2 sources of data for our US and Netherlands entities. I hope to use the software again soon.

I always say that FP&A tools are the most fun to build because you get to make them from scratch based on how you choose to run your business. I'm excited to join Runway and help make this happen with customers! I'm looking forward to getting deep into the product, and getting to know the users who are adopting new tools to level up their finance teams. Game on, team!

When Campfire gifted Andrew Lee & I two of their branded hoodies, we knew we had to return the favor! Appreciate the hospitality and partnership from John Glasgow & the Campfire team!

Now you can edit formulas faster in Runway. Formula fields activate as soon as you start typing. Whether you're tweaking a number or writing from scratch, just type and go. More updates in the comments 👇

Here’s what’s new in Runway: - Select an entire column, even across thousands of rows, and the summary bar now shows the full total. Helpful for validating imports and spot-checking large datasets. - Use roundDown() and roundUp() for more control over numeric outputs in your model. Full update in the comments 👇

It's (finally) here: I’ve emerged from the wilderness with a 59 page report, a herniated disc, and a better understanding of AI's impact on finance. I’m proud to present to you our most comprehensive report yet. What follows is a deep dive into the state of finance software, in the age of AI. It's written with the support of great vendors - Tabs, NetSuite, Numeric, Tropic, RightRev The goal of this report is two-fold: 1️⃣ Identify where vendors sit on a spectrum from Rule Based (classic automation) to AI-Enabled (Machine Learning pattern recognition, augmenting existing workflows) 2️⃣ Identify new players in each category who emerged post the ChatGPT moment (~Nov. 2022). This new report breaks down: ➡️How “agentic” systems differ from rule-based automation and basic AI-enablement ➡️Why the “messy middle” (collections, close, procurement) is where agents actually shine ➡️What a sub-1% error rate really means when money’s involved Market maps for every finance category — ERP → FP&A → Billing → RevRec → Procurement ➡️Predictions for Finance in 2030 (continuous close, self-healing ledgers, 10-person accounting teams) To kick things off, here's a a sneak peak at the new entrants... You can download the entire report here, which includes a comprehensive market map on each layer of the financial stack (from FP&A to Rev Rec): https://lnkd.in/ehFfKv5S --- New Entrants: Everest Systems DualEntry Rillet Campfire Light Quanta Digits Puzzle 🧩🚀 Maxima Ledge Maximor AI Zenskar Lunos Sequence Abacum Aleph Drivetrain Runway Numeral Accordance Sphere Taxwire.com april --- Thanks to Alexander Peterson for helping me write this, Nikhil Goel for his market map prowess, and Paul Barnhurst for his FP&A knowledge and great beard.

What’s cooler than B2B software? Just about anything. But in this case... hot sauce. 🥵 Runway's $100, 200-person hot sauce drop — part stunt, part statement — blurs the line between B2B and B2C marketing. What matters now is whether your brand can create a moment.