20VC: Lerer Hippeau's Ben Lerer on 'Investing With Imagination', Strategies To Avoid Fomo & Develop Pattern Recognition As An Investor and Why We Have Seen The Rise of Direct To Consumer Business & Will This Continue With Further M&A

Ben Lerer is a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures and co-founder & CEO of Thrillist Media Group. Ben was among Ernst & Young’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winners, Forbes list of “Most Powerful CEOs Under 40”, ” Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 5 Entrepreneurs of the Year,” and Silicon Alley Insider’s “100 Coolest People in Tech”. Ben is also an active mentor for NYC Venture Fellows, TechStars and E[nstitute].

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Ben came to found Thrillist and then join the founding team at Lerer Hippeau?

2.) How did Ben's mentality shift from investing angel money to the fiduciary responsibility of a fund?

3.) How does Ben view FOMO? How does he look to negate and contol his emotions when investing?

4.) How has Ben seen his personal pattern recognition change over time? How does Ben use data to further improve his ability of pattern recognition?

5.) Why have we seen the rise of direct to consumer businesses? Is it easier to build a brand today than in previous years? Will we see continued M&A in the retail world with the likes of Jet.co and Dollar Shave Club?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Ben’s Fave Book: The Goldfinch

Ben’s Most Recent Investment: Everytable

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Ben on Twitter here!

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Cooley are the global law firm built around startups and venture capital.  Since forming the first venture fund in Silicon Valley, Cooley has formed more venture capital funds than any other law firm in the world, with 50+ years working with VCs. They help VCs form and manage funds, make investments and handle the myriad issues that arise through a fund’s lifetime. So to learn more about the #1 most active law firm representing VC-backed companies going public. Head over to cooley.com and also at cooleygo.com.