Building Browser-Based Collaborative FP&A
Siqi Chen, CEO of Runway, on building browser-based collaborative FP&A
The gap in legacy FP&A is not data collection, it is that the real thinking still happens outside the system. Finance teams buy tools like Anaplan and Oracle because they pull in ERP and CRM data, route budget requests, and speed up quarterly cycles. But operators still build the actual sales, hiring, and product assumptions in side spreadsheets, then paste results back, because the incumbent tools are slow to model in, hard to understand, and often depend on heavy implementation work before anyone trusts them.
-
The recurring complaint is not that these systems do nothing. They automate imports, permissions, workflow, and status tracking. That saves enough executive time for six figure contracts. The complaint is that they become systems of record, not systems of thought, so each department keeps its own shadow model.
-
Implementation burden is a real part of the pain. Anaplan users describe having to manually define validations and business logic, with outcomes depending heavily on consultants. Oracle documents the need for a formal EPM center of excellence, which signals the product assumes specialized operating overhead.
-
The newer wave, including Runway, Pry, Equals, and Vena, all attack this from different angles. Runway and Equals push browser based collaboration and live data. Pry pushes low cost startup simplicity. Vena keeps Excel as the front end, which works for buyers who want enterprise controls without retraining everyone off spreadsheets.
The next winners in FP&A will be the products that replace the departmental spreadsheet, not just govern it. That means software that lets a head of sales adjust pipeline assumptions, a product leader move a roadmap, or a finance team trace the impact instantly, all in one shared model that is simple enough to use every week, not just at budget season.