Loading...
February 19, 2025 • 1hr 20min
Silicon Valley OG shares crazy stories from Zynga early days + 3 business ideas
My First Million
Siqi Chen, founder of Runway.com, joins Sam Parr and Shaan Puri to discuss his experiences at Zynga, building multiple companies, viral moments in crypto, and insights on relationships and communication. The conversation covers his journey through Silicon Valley, lessons learned, and current work on both his company and personal challenges.
Silicon Valley OG shares crazy stories from Zynga early days + 3 business ideas
0:00
-0:00
Key Takeaways
- Early Zynga Experience: The company was extremely data and metrics driven, with product managers on call analyzing daily changes and running constant A/B tests
- Interpersonal Communication Framework: There are two tracks (content and relationship) and five levels of communication (ritual, extended ritual, content, emotional self-disclosure, mutual emotional self-disclosure)
- Crypto Fundraising Story: An unintentional viral crypto moment led to raising over $1.4 million for rare disease research, but came with significant challenges and stress
- AI Company Growth: ElevenLabs has grown to hundreds of millions in revenue in just 1-2 years by commercializing AI voice technology
- Rare Disease Research: For rare diseases, there's a huge gap between standard of care and frontier treatments, with funding challenges for repurposing existing drugs
Introduction
Siqi Chen, founder of Runway.com, joins Sam Parr and Shaan Puri to discuss his experiences at Zynga, building multiple companies, viral moments in crypto, and insights on relationships and communication. The conversation covers his journey through Silicon Valley, lessons learned, and current work on both his company and personal challenges.
Topics Discussed
Early Days at Zynga (0:00)
Siqi shares his experiences working at Zynga during its peak, highlighting the company's intense data-driven culture and unique practices:
- Product Management: Had "PM on call" system where managers would analyze daily metrics changes and explain any significant drops
- Growth Mechanics: Invented concepts like "crew" system requiring unique users to help unlock features, driving viral growth
- Company Culture: Worked 80-90 hour weeks with sophisticated operations, including an elaborate culinary program
- "We had PM on call and I've never seen this in any other organization... if there's a drop then you would segment it and explain why" - Siqi Chen
Business Ideas and Opportunities (14:34)
Discussion of current business opportunities and interesting trends in technology:
- Email Management: Need for better AI-powered email categorization that can understand context and be trained
- AI Dating Apps: Potential for AI-generated profiles and conversations, similar to existing webcam industry practices
- Research Access: Opportunity to create better access to paywalled academic research with credential management
- "The companies with the most advanced AI technology up until OpenAI were these webcam companies because they are better at creating chatbots than anyone" - Siqi Chen
Touchy-Feely Class and Communication Framework (52:18)
Siqi explains the framework from Stanford's Interpersonal Dynamics class:
- Two Tracks of Communication:
- Content Track: Facts and information
- Relationship Track: Emotions and connections
- Five Levels of Communication:
- Level 1: Ritual ("Hey, how's it going?")
- Level 2: Extended ritual (Small talk)
- Level 3: Content (Facts and information)
- Level 4: Emotional self-disclosure
- Level 5: Mutual emotional self-disclosure
- "This is the most impactful thing I've ever done in my entire life, like out of any class" - Siqi Chen
Interview Question Philosophy (1:07:24)
Siqi shares his favorite interview question and reasoning:
- The Question: "What is your greatest strength that you are most worried about not coming across in an interview setting?"
- Benefits:
- Breaks down formality
- Gets candidates excited to share their strengths
- Reveals authentic insights about the person
- "I enjoy breaking the fourth wall... interviews tend to be so standardized or formalized" - Siqi Chen
ElevenLabs and AI Growth (1:12:48)
Discussion of remarkable growth in AI companies:
- ElevenLabs Success:
- Grew to hundreds of millions in revenue in 1-2 years
- Powers Apple audiobooks and other major platforms
- Built their own foundational models with better quality than competitors
- Business Model: Combination of direct sales to publishers and API access for developers
- "I've never seen a group of very good technologists that were also so good at commercializing the technology so rapidly" - Siqi Chen
Personal Challenge and Research (1:30:20)
Siqi shares his experience with his daughter's rare brain tumor diagnosis:
- Research Challenges:
- Huge gap between standard care and frontier treatments
- Limited research due to rarity of condition
- IP issues preventing research on existing drugs
- Fundraising Success: Raised $1.4 million through combination of GoFundMe and crypto
- "For very rare diseases you can do a lot... there's no one more motivated than a dad with a sick kid" - Siqi Chen
Conclusion
The episode provides deep insights into several key areas: the early days of social gaming at Zynga, the importance of emotional intelligence and communication in business, the current state of AI technology and opportunities, and the challenges of rare disease research. Siqi's varied experiences as a founder, executive, and parent dealing with a serious medical situation offer valuable lessons about business, relationships, and perseverance.
His framework for communication and relationship building, learned through the Stanford Interpersonal Dynamics course, offers practical tools for improving both personal and professional relationships. The discussion of current AI companies and opportunities, particularly the success of ElevenLabs, provides insight into the rapid pace of innovation and commercialization in the AI space.
The episode concludes with a powerful personal story about navigating the healthcare system and research landscape for rare diseases, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities for innovation in this space.