The Twenty Minute VCHow We Got Fred Wilson, Benchmark and Index to Invest $94M | Why Robinhood's Strategy is Wrong
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- June 27, 2026
- Duration
- 55m
- Channel
- The Twenty Minute VC
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
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 ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:31 What Is fomo 02:37 Why Paul Did an Angel-Only Round With 140 Investors 04:22 How to Scale to Your First 1,000 Users 06:01 Why the Financial Super App Theory Is Wrong 10:06 Are Public Markets Just a Casino Now? 12:06 Ship Fast vs Ship Perfect 14:15 How Chase Supported fomo at the Inflection Point 26:22 Will 20% of Dev Salaries Go to Tokens? 29:07 Why There's Been No Big Social Company Since Snap 31:05 How to Build Momentum & Viral Loops Into a Product 32:41 Why fomo Is Becoming a Media Company 38:57 How Index & USV Led the Series B 44:50 Why Europe Is Winning in Fintech While the US Falls Behind 46:37 Quick-Fire Round ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on X: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Paul Erlanger on X: https://twitter.com/PaulErlanger Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #founder #entrepreneur
SPEAKERS
Paul Erlanger
guestCo-Founder and CEO of FOMO, discussing the company’s product strategy, fundraising, and growth.
Harry Stebbings
hostFounder and host of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), interviewing startup founders and investors.
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Paul Erlanger and Harry Stebbings, How We Got Fred Wilson, Benchmark and Index to Invest $94M | Why Robinhood's Strategy is Wrong explores building FOMO: social trading, lean teams, and momentum-driven fundraising strategy FOMO positioned early fundraising as a distribution strategy by running an angel-only round with 140 investors to seed ownership among potential power users and advocates.
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