The Emergence of ICMs - Part 1

The Collapse of the Old Playbook

Why Web2 founders need a new liquidity path and how Internet Capital Markets fix the system.

For over a decade, the startup playbook was simple: Raise from VCs, chase hypergrowth, hope for an exit.

But that game is dead.

We are seeing acceleration in the cycles. The meta keeps changing fast. Valuations have cratered, capital has become more efficient, and founders are now trapped between two bad choices: slow, extractive VCs or the chaos of unstructured crypto launches with no direction or control. The traditional system promised liquidity, but it delivered servitude.

The Web2 path made you spend years fundraising instead of building. It rewarded storytelling over shipping.

And when it finally offered liquidity, it came too late — after dilution, pivots, and burnouts.

Founders didn’t fail, the system did.

The Problem: The VC Machine Is Outdated

The venture ecosystem was designed for a different internet — one with walled gardens, linear growth, and gatekeepers. But in a world where markets form on Telegram/Twitter/Discord and capital moves at light speed, that model doesn’t scale.

Founders are now realizing:

• Funding cycles are too slow for internet-native momentum.
• Liquidity is locked behind boardrooms and NDAs.
• The “network” VCs promise doesn’t translate to on-chain traction.

It’s a system optimized for control, not creation.

Enter Internet Capital Markets (ICM)

ICM flips the equation. Instead of asking permission from gatekeepers, founders create their own markets.

Internet capital markets are the future of capital markets. So we put Solana on Wall Street, right next to the NYSE and Nasdaq. Now open @ 35 Wall Street, NYC. — Solana (@solana), Oct 24, 2025

Every startup, game, or movement can become a tradable market — backed by tokenized participation and real community ownership.

The Solana Thesis: Internet Capital Markets — a note by @multicoin on how capital markets on Solana can beat tradfi on latency and spreads. TLDR: good chain — Solana (@solana), Jan 22, 2025

Liquidity isn’t an exit anymore, it’s part of the build process. Having liquid capital markets allow investors to move their liquidity towards and away from companies long before they find PMF. Communities become investors and progress becomes measurable in real time.

Where ICM.RUN Comes In

@icmdotrun exists to guide founders through that shift — from company builders to market creators. It’s not another launchpad; it’s the incubator for a new economy.

We take the parts that worked from the old system: mentorship, accountability, structure, and combine them with what Web3 promised but never delivered — transparency, speed, and community alignment.

At ICM.RUN:

• Mentors have launched $300M–$1B projects.
• Founders are selected, supported, and guided through DAO-driven incubation.
• The DAO has the experience and connections needed to get the project the right eyes and knock on the right doors to achieve the best shot at PMF.

This isn’t about hype cycles. It’s about rebuilding capital markets from the ground up.

The New Playbook

The next generation of founders won’t wait for VC checks. They’ll mint their markets. They’ll grow with their communities. They’ll turn liquidity into alignment, not exit.

Because if the exits are closed — you build your own door.

ICM.RUN is here to guide the most promising companies through this new medium.