STARTUP DECISION SIMULATION

Run a startup in 20 decisions.

In Founder Runway you run a startup for 20 turns: four options every turn, and none of them is free. Cash, MRR, PMF and runway move with every call; the right decision at the wrong time can still sink the company.

Play Demo →How It Works ↓
Decision turns
20
Sectors
8
Founder archetypes
5

Three turns from one run

Every turn has a price.

Pick one of four options. The choice strengthens one metric, puts another under pressure and decides which options are still open later.

  1. Turn 03 · Product

    Your first enterprise customer wants five custom features.

    Say yes and $18K MRR comes in, but your roadmap bends around one customer. Say no and you keep focus while the revenue walks.

    • $18K MRR
    • Roadmap focus

  2. Turn 11 · Team

    Your CTO raised equity again.

    You have worked together for six months. Agreeing strengthens commitment and costs cap table. Refusing brings technical debt to the table too.

    • Team commitment
    • 8% equity

  3. Turn 17 · Strategy

    Six weeks of runway. A $400K acquisition offer is on the table.

    A pivot is still possible. Your earlier decisions decided which options are left.

    • $400K offer
    • 6 weeks

Conditions at the table

The sector sets the rules. Your founder plays by them.

The same call lands differently in FinTech and in EdTech. Your founder archetype decides where you are strong and where you struggle.

8 sectors

  • HealthTech

    Regulation and patient trust slow every decision down.

    Long cycles
  • GreenTech

    Grant calendars and enterprise buyers demand metric discipline.

    Grant-led
  • EdTech

    The school term, not you, sets the growth speed.

    Seasonal
  • FinTech

    Licensing, trust and integrations force careful growth.

    High regulation
  • E-Commerce

    CAC, returns and logistics squeeze unit economics.

    CAC pressure
  • AI/SaaS

    Compute costs and fast rivals push retention to the front.

    High competition
  • Dev Tools

    Developers love it; enterprise buyers need other proof.

    Bottoms-up
  • B2B SaaS

    RFPs and procurement demand a patient pipeline.

    Long sales

5 founder archetypes

  • EngineerProduct-led

    Protects quality; struggles with distribution.

  • SellerRevenue-led

    Closes early deals fast; technical debt piles up.

  • VisionaryBig picture

    Excites investors; needs operational discipline.

  • AnalystMetric-led

    Wants data first; can be slow to pivot.

  • Serial founderExperience

    Reads patterns fast; old patterns may not fit.

Turn 20

A run ends with a report, not a congratulations card.

The final screen shows your score, company value and decision pattern. What you did well, and where you burned cash.

  1. Decision map

    A turn-by-turn trace of your 20 decisions and what they did to burn.

  2. Trade-off analysis

    Speed or resilience, revenue or product? Your choices reveal your founder profile.

  3. Alternate run

    Change one critical decision, play on from there and compare outcomes.

  4. Runway analysis

    If cash ran out, see exactly which decisions burned it.

  5. Founder score

    One score built from PMF, MRR growth, team decisions and runway management.

  6. Sector comparison

    Where you stand against other founders in the same sector; anonymous.

Game modes

SingleplayerLive

20 turns, 8 sectors, 5 founder archetypes. Every run brings different scenarios.

Start Singleplayer Demo →
MultiplayerComing soon

A season system is planned: see what other founders did with the same decisions.

BEFORE YOU START

Leave your email and step in.

The game is free and there is nothing to pay. All it takes to start a run is your email; create an account instead and your run history follows you across devices.

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Learn the metrics

Every metric in the game has a short guide.

Runway, burn rate and funding rounds: the math behind the calls you make in the game.

See all guides →

FAQ

Short answers.

Yes. The full singleplayer run is free — no payment, no paywall, no trial. You do not need an account to play; an account only makes your run history and plan permanent.

A run is 20 decision turns and usually takes 20–30 minutes.

No. It is an educational simulation, not company advice. It does test your founder reflexes.

No date yet. Only singleplayer is active; multiplayer is marked "coming soon".

No. There are only trade-offs, and the game makes the cost of each choice visible.

Start your first run.

$50,000 in cash, 20 turns, and a different startup decision each time. See where your choices take the company.

Play Demo →The full singleplayer run is free; no signup required to play.