# 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

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-minute-vc/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-erla
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-minute-vc/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-erla.md
Podcast: [The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch](https://stenobird.com/podcast/twenty-minute-vc)
Published: 2026-06-27T07:08:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thetwentyminutevc.libsyn.com/20vc-how-we-got-fred-wilson-benchmark-and-index-to-invest-94m-why-robinhoods-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
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thetwentyminutevc/20Product__Paul_Erlanger__fomo.mp3?dest-id=240976
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/twenty-minute-vc/episodes/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-erla
Duration seconds: 3432

## Resource

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

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