The Art of the Waitlist: Siqi Chen on Driving Scarcity, Hype, and Feedback Loops

Runway CEO and co-founder Siqi Chen shares how his team used a waitlist not just to build hype, but to engineer smarter growth.

In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Siqi breaks down how Runway strategically kept customers in a holding pattern to gather feedback, qualify demand, and refine product-market fit.

We also talk about:

• How to build trust with early users through transparency
• Using scarcity and access control as GTM levers
• Why financial planning should be accessible to everyone on the team
• What most founders get wrong about burn rate and cash flow

Whether you're in the early stages or prepping for launch, this episode offers a masterclass in thoughtful, tactical go-to-market execution.

RUNTIME 39:46 EPISODE BREAKDOWN

(2:49) “ What if somebody worked on a Figma for finance?”

(5:48) “ You have to understand what are the different levers of the machine, and how the machine works.”

(8:50) Why Runway represents a cultural shift in corporate transparency.

(11:51) How much financial literacy should founders try to foster across their organizations? 

(14:48) How much runway should a startup aim for?

(18:39) How Runway’s waitlist fed directly into its GTM strategy.

(21:36) The  ”very simple motivation” behind creating the waitlist.

(24:35) The “negging trick” that makes sales prospects want to buy your product.

(26:37) “ Your early customers join you for very different and specific reasons.”

(28:55) “ Our first website, we didn't even really talk about the product.”

(30:23) After opening up the waitlist, “ nothing really changed — we were doing outbound sales already.”

(34:17) “People who are really motivated by your purpose and mission are willing to give you a lot more leeway.”

(36:42) What the next five years could look like for Runway.

(38:07) The one question Siqi would ask a CEO if he was interviewing at an early-stage startup. 

LINKS

Siqi Chen

Runway

Runway lands $27.5M to streamline financial planning for businesses

As Not Seen on TV, Pete Wells, NYT Restaurant Review, 11/13/12

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Thanks for listening!

 

– Walter.