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20VC: How We Got Fred Wilson, Benchmark and Index to Invest $94M | Why Robinhood's Strategy is Wrong | Why 1-1s are BS and What Every Founder Gets Wrong About Equity | Why Taste Beats AI But How AI Kills Org Charts with Paul Erlanger, CEO @ fomo

Overview

Shownote

Highlights

Transcript

Chapters

Pins

20VC: How We Got Fred Wilson, Benchmark and Index to Invest $94M | Why Robinhood's Strategy is Wrong | Why 1-1s are BS and What Every Founder Gets Wrong About Equity | Why Taste Beats AI But How AI Kills Org Charts with Paul Erlanger, CEO @ fomo

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

Jun 27
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

Jun 27
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

Paul Erlanger is the Co-Founder and CEO of FOMO, the social-first trading platform building the future of on-chain investing. Since founding the company in 2025, Paul has raised approximately $94 million, including a $17 million Series A led by Benchmark and a $75 million Series B led by Index Ventures with participation from USV, valuing the company at $550 million. Today, FOMO has grown to 600,000 users, processed over $4 billion in trading volume, and is adding thousands of new users every day—all with a team of just 17 people. AGENDA: 00:00 – Building a $550M Company with No Salaries, No Managers & No 1:1s 03:58 – Why Traditional Brokerages Will Lose in the Next 10 Years 09:30 – Why Robinhood's Strategy Is Wrong; The End of the Financial Super App? 13:05 – "Markets Aren't a Casino" — The Case for Retail Investors Fighting Wall Street 16:45 – The Radical Hiring Bet: Giving Employees Founder-Level Equity 23:40 – AI Kills Org Charts: Why FOMO Will Stay Under 25 Employees 29:30 – Why Taste Beats AI & The Biggest Mistake Most Consumer Startups Make 33:10 – The Social Media Playbook That Every Startup Gets Wrong 39:20 – How Benchmark, Index & USV Won the Deal—and the VC Advice Founders Need to Hear 46:10 – The Future of Investing: Social Trading, Creator Economies & Financial Networks

Highlights

This podcast features Paul Erlanger, CEO of FOMO, a social-first trading platform. He discusses the company's unconventional approach to building a high-value business, including its unique hiring and compensation strategies, and its vision for the future of on-chain investing. The conversation covers FOMO's rapid growth, its critique of traditional brokerages and all-in-one trading apps, and the role of social features in creating a new kind of financial network.
00:00
Giving non-founders founder-level equity
03:59
The pleasure of working on a cool problem with amazing people.
11:56
Robinhood should focus on on-chain assets for global access.
15:38
Ship fast, not perfect.
21:35
Trust matters more than brand prestige
23:46
AI makes top talent more valuable.
29:33
Consumer social is hard
38:06
Product development shifts from intuition to data-driven decisions at scale
43:56
FOMO is a trading-first social platform that uses transparency to improve trading.
50:52
Short-term focus in crypto and the importance of perps

Chapters

Building a $550M Company with No Salaries, No Managers & No 1:1s
00:00
Why Traditional Brokerages Will Lose in the Next 10 Years
03:58
Why Robinhood's Strategy Is Wrong; The End of the Financial Super App?
09:30
"Markets Aren't a Casino" — The Case for Retail Investors Fighting Wall Street
13:05
The Radical Hiring Bet: Giving Employees Founder-Level Equity
16:45
AI Kills Org Charts: Why FOMO Will Stay Under 25 Employees
23:40
Why Taste Beats AI & The Biggest Mistake Most Consumer Startups Make
29:30
The Social Media Playbook That Every Startup Gets Wrong
33:10
How Benchmark, Index & USV Won the Deal—and the VC Advice Founders Need to Hear
39:20
The Future of Investing: Social Trading, Creator Economies & Financial Networks
46:10

Transcript

Paul Erlanger: I think we gave non-founders a percentage of the company that usually founders get. For the first eight months to building, no one on our team took any pay. The best people are just so much more valuable now. One thing that I discovered was,...