This 2-time founder saw surprising success by focusing on failures

Have you ever poured your heart into a project, only to see it falter?

When faced with failure, do you start anew, pivot, or throw in the towel?

Our community partner, Admond Lee, believes in perseverance—with a smart twist.

As the mind behind The Runway Ventures newsletter, Admond is making waves in the Asian startup scene.

His insights are helping founders like you sidestep the pitfalls that have sunk many other startups.

Admond’s path from data scientist to entrepreneur led him to build two startups: Staq (fintech) and Chatted AI (productivity).

Whilst Staq faltered, Chatted AI was acquired. This blend of triumph and setback fuels Admond’s unique perspective.

He now combines first hand experience with in-depth case studies of failed startups, empowering founders to build robust foundations and avoid costly missteps like poor risk management, leadership fumbles, or misaligned product-market fit.

Admond’s transparency about his own setbacks sets him apart.

Reflecting on Staq’s closure, he highlights a critical balance many early-stage startups overlook: innovation vs practicality.

Two key factors led to Staq‘s downfall:

1. Founder-Market Mismatch

   Admond and his co-founder lacked the sector-specific expertise and network crucial for success in finance. This disconnect hampered their ability to create a truly fitting product.
2. Overlooking Localisation

   By focusing too heavily on replicating a UK solution without adapting to Southeast Asian SMEs’ unique needs, Staq struggled to gain traction in its target market.

Facing these challenges, Admond made the tough but necessary call to shut down Staq with only two months of runway left—a decision that likely saved resources and heartache in the long run.

Admond’s struggles have shaped his mission: to foster a vibrant community where founders and aspiring entrepreneurs share hard-earned wisdom, hoping to prevent others from repeating costly mistakes.

With 50K LinkedIn followers and over 5.6K newsletter subscribers, Admond’s community is thriving.

In fact, it’s been growing so much that people have been asking for an in-person gathering, which was why BLOCK71 recently had the pleasure of hosting The Runway Ventures‘ inaugural offline paid event.

Over beer and pizza, we dived deep into painful mistakes and left with valuable insights on pivoting, refocusing on core fundamentals, and transforming failure into triumph.

Thinking of or already building something? You’ll need a community to have your back.

Join Admond to learn from others’ missteps and increase your chances of succeeding!

➡️ Follow Admond on LinkedIn
➡️ Subscribe to The Runway Ventures