The Secret to Being a 5-Time Founder & #1 Esports Champ: Dennis Fong

Secret Stash

Dennis Fong has had an INSANE career. By age 19, not only had he earned the title as the world’s first esports champion and pro gamer, but also became CEO of a 100-person gaming media company. He's even had a League of Legends character named after him. Since then, he’s gone on to found four additional businesses, all of which have majorly impacted the gaming industry as we know it. (We stopped counting how many social gaming features he invented...). In this episode of Secret Stash, co-hosts Justin Kan and Archie Stonehill sit down with Dennis and walk through a very raw chronology of his career (and life) - from young esports champion in 1996 to five-time CEO in 2024. Tune in for nostalgic stories from the early days of esports and how he got his start in entrepreneurship.

Read the highlights here: dev.stash.gg/blog/secret-stash-ep-3-dennis-fong

0:00 - Intro

2:33 - Dennis’ start in esports

4:14 - The famous Wall Street Journal article

7:38 - Family reactions

9:05 - Winning a Ferrari

12:25 - The birth of esports

14:52 - Who’s Thresh?

15:39 - Esport rivalries

18:37 - Organic communities

22:20 - Fatality takes over

25:19 - Critical mechanics

28:05 - Struggles of a young founder

33:59 - Spinning out Lithium

39:10 - Xfire innovations

48:06 - Raptor

50:13 - GGWP and anti-toxicity

1:04:45 - Distribution

1:07:08 - RIP Avicii

Hit the Subscribe button wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Stash is the first of its kind direct-to-consumer platform for games.
Learn more about Stash here: https://dev.stash.gg/