Howie Liu

Howie Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Airtable, a platform aimed at democratising software creation.

Here’s a summary of his journey and business endeavours, based on the sources:

• Education: Howie Liu graduated from Duke University in 2009 with a degree in mechanical engineering and public policy. His diverse education gave him a strong base in technical skills and an understanding of public policy.
• Early career: Before Airtable, Liu co-founded Etacts, a CRM startup that Salesforce acquired in 2010. He then worked in products at Salesforce from January 2011 to February 2012.
• Airtable:
  • Co-founding and Vision: Liu co-founded Airtable in 2012 and has been the CEO since its start in 2013. His vision was to create a spreadsheet that functions like a database to ease team collaboration and application building.
  • Growth: Under Liu’s leadership, Airtable has experienced significant growth. By 2018, it reached a valuation of $1.1 billion. Airtable is used by over 450,000 organisations, including major corporations like Amazon, Netflix, and Nike.
  • Funding: Liu has secured substantial funding for Airtable. By December 2021, Airtable’s valuation peaked at $11.7 billion after a Series F funding round where it raised $735 million.
  • Airtable AI: Liu is focusing on expanding Airtable’s market through AI, notably with Airtable Cobuilder, which allows users to create apps from simple text prompts.
• Challenges: Liu navigated challenges during a venture capital downturn, which led to layoffs at Airtable. He has since refocused on customer engagement and reinvestment in product development.
• Other activities: Liu has also been involved in angel investing, supporting several startups in their early stages.