To endure a multi-year build with constant self-doubt, the founder maintained a core belief: since the market need was proven and existing products were flawed, a better solution was physically possible. This framed the challenge as one of perseverance, not possibility.
Incumbent FP&A software like Anaplan solves data integration pains but introduces a fatal flaw: extreme rigidity. After a lengthy implementation, changing the business model becomes nearly impossible, a task that takes an hour in a spreadsheet but can take months with these tools.
To ensure a concentrated launch moment, Runway sent influencers a bomber jacket in a bag with a timed digital lock that opened at the exact minute of the launch. This created immense curiosity and guaranteed a wave of social media posts, driving 7 million impressions on day one.
To raise a large round without revenue, Runway demoed how its product solved the disconnect between operations and finance. By visualizing how a product roadmap could be directly linked to the financial model, they proved their ambitious vision of an integrated business OS was attainable.
Runway's initial product perfectly visualized startup spending but failed because the insight was simple and static: money goes to salaries. This one-time realization, while true, didn't provide recurring value, making it a "vitamin" users liked but wouldn't pay for.
During its long, pre-revenue build, Runway couldn't rely on constant market feedback. Instead, they depended on the founder's "taste"—defined as knowing what's good without external validation. This internal conviction is crucial for ambitious products that aren't a "random walk" of testing.
Runway's founder justified a multi-year, pre-launch build by studying companies like Figma, which took six years to reach $1M ARR. This reframes building deep, foundational products as a test of stamina and team perseverance, not just a sprint based on raw intelligence or speed.
Runway's founder knew he had found product-market fit not just from revenue, but when a major customer, AngelList, began running its business on the platform and became an evangelist. Deep adoption by a respected company is a far stronger signal of PMF than early sales traction alone.