Everyone Told Me the Wins. No One Told Me the Risks.

In this clip — Admond Lee shares what his first startup failure actually taught him.Two years building Stack, a fintech company. Then the cash ran out,.but the real sting wasn't the failure itself, it was realising every founder he'd asked had only shared the wins. The fundraises. The milestones. Nobody told him what could go wrong.That one question — "how come no one warned me?" — became the mission behind everything he built next.

🎟️ Join us live for Beyond Belief: Nir Eyal Live Podcast with The Generalists

May 25th at Poddster - Just 60 seats available

Tickets here:
https://www.eventbrite.sg/e/beyond-belief-nir-eyal-live-podcast-with-the-generalists-tickets-1988068911632

Admond Lee, founder of The Runway Ventures, joins The Generalists to talk about startup failure, legal threats, founder-market fit, and why Southeast Asia needs more honest conversations about what actually goes wrong when companies collapse.

🤝 Sponsored by ⁠https://TAP4SRV.com⁠ - Quickly find local Service Providers on WhatsApp! 🤝

In this episode, Admond Lee shares the story behind The Runway Ventures, a media and founder community built around one uncomfortable idea: founders learn more from failure than from polished success stories. After his own startup failed, Admond realized that most founders in Southeast Asia only hear the fundraising stories, the unicorn stories, and the wins. What they rarely hear are the mistakes, the wrong assumptions, the poor market timing, the missed founder-market fit, and the hard lessons that could help them avoid repeating the same failures.

Admond also opens up about the risks of writing publicly about startup failures. He talks about receiving legal threats, cease and desist letters, pressure from founders and investors, and the challenge of balancing truth, accountability, and empathy when covering sensitive stories. The conversation also explores why failure is still so stigmatized in Southeast Asia, how this differs from places like Silicon Valley and Israel, and why ecosystem maturity requires more founders to talk honestly about what went wrong.

📖 What You'll Learn
• Why Admond started The Runway Ventures after his own startup failed
• What happens when startup failure stories trigger legal threats and founder backlash
• Why Southeast Asia still struggles to talk openly about failure
• How founder-market fit can make or break an early-stage startup
• Why conviction should come from traction, not just belief
• How Admond built a newsletter and LinkedIn growth system around failure stories
• Why Admond believes curiosity, fast learning, and repeated action matter more than fixed job titles

🔔 Listen and Subscribe
• YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TheGeneralistsPodcast
• Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2apfGY403NGr1EyTNkJfG4⁠
• Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/the-generalists⁠

👤👤 Hosts
• Michael Smith Jr.: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/smittysgp/⁠
• Raz Kotler: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/razkotler/⁠

👤 Guest
• Admond Lee: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/admond1994/⁠

🔗 Links and Resources
• The Runway Ventures: ⁠https://www.therunway.ventures⁠
• Atomic Habits: ⁠https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits⁠
• James Clear 3-2-1 Newsletter: ⁠https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1⁠
• Principles by Ray Dalio: ⁠https://www.principles.com/⁠
• Bloomberg: ⁠https://www.bloomberg.com/⁠
• Funding Societies: ⁠https://fundingsocieties.com/⁠
• ShopBack: ⁠https://www.shopback.com/⁠
• Morning Brew: ⁠https://www.morningbrew.com/⁠
• The Hustle: ⁠https://thehustle.co/

#Whistleblower #StartupFounder #Entrepreneurship

Видео Everyone Told Me the Wins. No One Told Me the Risks. канала The Generalists