Meet Darius Fong | Entrepreneur & Athlete

We had the good fortune of connecting with Darius Fong and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Darius, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Early in my career, I moved across the world to pursue music full-time. I left music school to intern at a recording studio—a move that didn’t make sense on paper. But it led me to work with some of the most iconic artists in the world and engineer Grammy-winning records.

And right when I was reaching a new height in my music career, I took a another turn—into startups. I understood that it wasn’t about me; it was about asking a deeper question and keeping an open mind: *Where can I create the most impact?*

In 2008, the music industry was in turmoil—disrupted by technology and paralyzed by fear-driven decision-making. That moment marked a turning point. Since then, I’ve built companies, supported over a thousand entrepreneurs and creatives, scaled 60+ startups, and helped generate millions in revenue across ventures.

Risk, to me, is always tied to fear—the fear of failure, of losing control, of not being enough. But nothing meaningful ever goes entirely according to plan, especially if you’re aiming higher than most. Ask any successful athlete, artist, or founder, and they’ll tell you: risk doesn’t always lead to success, but it will lead you where you’re meant to go.

Today, I evaluate risk through two lenses: **integrity** and **impact**. Is this the right thing to do? And will it deliver real value to people and opportunities that are overlooked?

What should our readers know about your business?
Run Tech Club is a community-driven incubator—think Y Combinator for a new class of founders—with access to physical spaces, structured founder development, and human-centered performance frameworks. Add to that an active culture rooted in movement, including weekly group runs and wellness practices. We launched in Los Angeles and are now expanding to cities like New York, San Francisco, and beyond.

We work with remote-first, AI-powered, and often solo builders or small teams. We’re building a founder operating system that focuses on the human behind the company—prioritizing consistency, mindset, and community over fixed curriculum.

Getting to this point wasn’t easy—and honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever feel like I’ve “arrived.” In both music and tech, I used to believe that building better, faster, or bigger would automatically lead to success. I quickly learned that wasn’t the case.

The idea of “build it and they will come” is one of the biggest myths out there. Creating real value requires more than solving pain points—it demands awareness and empathy. People don’t buy just because something is better; it’s about how they experience it, how it’s delivered, and how they decide it matters to them.

I’ve been an athlete most of my life, and that mindset has been instrumental in navigating the ups and downs of building from scratch. It’s about committing to the process, even when the results aren’t immediate—and having the honesty to pivot when something’s not working. Just like in training, feedback matters. You adjust, refine, and keep showing up.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This might sound like a dig, but what makes LA’s food scene unique isn’t its traditional fine dining, unlike New York or Chicago. LA’s culinary culture is more raw, more experimental, more… grungy. I immediately think of places like Hatchet Hall in Culver City with its open-fire kitchen, Lodge Bread serving wild sourdough-based pizzas, or Gjelina in Venice. And of course, no mention of LA’s food scene is complete without Mexican cuisine—Casa Blanca on Lincoln Blvd and its tequila bar deserve a nod.

But where LA truly stands apart is coffee—bar none. While G&B and Handsome Coffee feel like distant memories, the compound effect of those early OGs has made LA, in my opinion, the best coffee city in the world. Some of my current favorites, in no particular order: Cognoscenti, Endorffeine, Boy and the Bear (roasted by Clara Blomqvist, formerly of Good Boy Bob), Tectonic, and Hooked Venice, helmed by Nicely Abel.

As the night winds down, I might be tempted to take you to the Proper Hotel for cocktails and a late-night supper where you’ll feel right at home.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Peter Thiel, and his book Zero to One shaped my thinking on innovation and market competition.

Website: https://runtechclub.co

Instagram: https://instagram.com/theprefct

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/dariusfong

Twitter: https://x.com/theprefct

Other: https://www.strava.com/clubs/runtechclub

Image Credits
Chloe Towns
Ben Conde
Fredrick Bowen
Lounge Booth