Swisspreneur Show
Swisspreneur
How a Young Founder Built a Marketplace for Extreme Sports: Avento Co-Founder Lean Stein (#546)
FEB 19, 202648 MIN
How a Young Founder Built a Marketplace for Extreme Sports: Avento Co-Founder Lean Stein (#546)
FEB 19, 202648 MIN
Description
<p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p><p><br></p><p>2:58 - The Role of START Global in Shaping Entrepreneurs </p><p>21:58 - Transitioning from Learning to Starting a Company </p><p>30:29 - Building Trust in an Online Marketplace</p><p>33:52 - The Challenges of Entrepreneurship </p><p><br></p><p>Checkout <a href="https://www.startglobal.org/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">START Summit</a>, Europe’s largest early-stage startup conference, happening on the 19th and 20th of March 2026. Every year, START Summit provides lifelong learning and a synergetic space to start the conversations that can shape our world. Use discout code SWISSPRENEUR10 to get 10% off on tickets.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Episode description:</strong></p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lean-stein-8b95251b6/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Lean Stein</a> is the co-founder of <a href="https://www.aventogear.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Avento</a>, a vertical marketplace for extreme sports equipment - starting with skydiving. His path to entrepreneurship is anything but linear: he dropped out of high school, did an apprenticeship in private banking in Basel, then went to the University of St. Gallen to study economics. This is where he ran into START Global - Europe's leading student initiative for new technologies and entrepreneurship.</p><p><br></p><p>Lean breaks down what he learned from START Global that directly translated into building a company: learning by doing - getting real responsibility early (budgets, partners, execution); building founder-grade habits like structure, prioritization, and the confidence to reach out (and handle rejection); and developing startup judgment - seeing lots of pitches and ideas to better spot what’s worth building and what isn’t.</p><p><br></p><p>He also opens up about his personal journey: how buying faulty secondhand skydiving gear became the trigger for Avento, the reality that early-stage building is a workload that “never stops” - but can still be fun when you’re doing it with a co-Founder, and the mindset shift that surprised him most: you can learn hard skills faster than you think - even coding - once you commit to starting.</p><p><br></p><p>The cover portrait was edited by <a href="http://www.smartportrait.io/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">www.smartportrait.io</a>.</p><p><br></p><p>Don’t forget to give us a follow on<a href="https://x.com/swisspreneur" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong> </strong></a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/swisspreneur/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong>Instagram</strong></a>,<a href="https://www.facebook.com/swisspreneur" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong></strong></a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/swisspreneur" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong>Linkedin</strong></a>,<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@swisspreneur" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong> TikTok</strong></a>, and<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Swisspreneur" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"><strong> Youtube </strong></a>so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there’s no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly giveaways or founders' dinners.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>