The Emergence of ICMs - Part 2
Andrew Seb · The Lost Generation of Founders
Web2 produced an entire generation of elite operators. These were founders who built real products, found real PMF, and ran lean, sustainable businesses.
Then came the phase of blitzscaling. Raise funds, keep pumping money into customer acquisition and drive out the competition. This requires a lot of funding and most startups aren’t even profitable in the first few years. This generally involves raising multiple rounds of funding.
Kickstarter/Indiegogo showed the power of crowdfunding. Crypto can offer something similar where you won’t have specific large stakeholders controlling the company decisions aka decentralization. But when it came to crypto, they hit a wall.
Not because they lacked courage. Not because they didn’t believe in decentralization. Because the bridge was broken.
The Bridge That Never Existed
Crypto promised open access. In practice, it became a maze of launchpads, meme tokens, and middlemen.
Founders who tried to enter the space were told to “just launch”, with no tokenomics framework, no treasury discipline, and no guidance from people who’d actually done it.
They weren’t scared of crypto. They were locked out of it. Unable to realise the full potential of the opportunity.
Enter ICM.RUN — The DAO Incubator for Internet Capital Markets
Why ICM.RUN exists for the builders who were locked out of crypto.
ICM.RUN exists to give founders the structure that Web3 forgot. It’s a DAO-driven incubator where every project receives mentorship from proven builders, the kind who’ve launched $300M+ tokens and survived the chaos that kills most others.
The DAO model fixes the trust gap:
- Mentors are pioneers of their fields through visible experience, not self-proclaimed experts.
- Founders are vetted by results, not hype.
- Every project contributes back to the DAO treasury, aligning incentives for all.
This is crypto’s first builder meritocracy.
From Startup to Token — The ICM.RUN Way
Pre-TGE projects get hands-on help with tokenomics, GTM, and launch readiness. Post-TGE teams contribute a slice of their token supply (1–5%) to the DAO treasury, fueling a continuous yield loop for stakers and mentors.
It’s an on-chain incentive flywheel where founder success directly powers investor rewards. There is proper incentive design for everyone to be aligned long-term.
You bring product instinct, we bring crypto structure. By the time your token launches, you won’t just have raised on-chain, you’ll understand it.
Why This Matters
ICM.RUN isn’t just onboarding Web2 founders into crypto. It’s creating a new generation of Internet Capitalists, founders who build transparently, share upside, and turn tokenization into a competitive edge through decentralized financially incentivised attention.
The lost generation is coming back. This time, they’re coming onchain, and they’re not asking for permission.