fomo CEO: 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

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.

In Today's Show We Discuss:

• Building a $550M Company with No Salaries, No Managers & No 1:1s

• Why Traditional Brokerages Will Lose in the Next 10 Years

• Why Robinhood's Strategy Is Wrong; The End of the Financial Super App?

• "Markets Aren't a Casino": The Case for Retail Investors Fighting Wall Street

• The Radical Hiring Bet: Giving Employees Founder-Level Equity

• AI Kills Org Charts: Why fomo Will Stay Under 25 Employees

• Why Taste Beats AI & The Biggest Mistake Most Consumer Startups Make

• The Social Media Playbook That Every Startup Gets Wrong

• How Benchmark, Index & USV Won the Deal and the VC Advice Founders Need to Hear

• The Future of Investing: Social Trading, Creator Economies & Financial Networks