Ben Lerer

Managing Partner, Lerer Hippeau · 1 appearance on the record.

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investorfounderexecutive@BenjLerer ↗LinkedIn ↗lererhippeau.com ↗

Ben Lerer is the co-founder and Managing Partner of venture capital firm Lerer Hippeau. He previously co-founded Thrillist and served as the CEO of Group Nine Media until its acquisition by Vox Media.

6statements → 1claims → 0claims resolved → 3.67/5average certainty → 2.5/5average debate potential →

1 not checkable as stated how the 1 claim stands · each chip opens the sources

1 assertion · 2 opinions · 3 insights · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertion are the 1 claim: statements the public record can support or contradict. 0 are resolved, and 1 names no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Ben argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Ben Lerer on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

What they said6 Episodes1

Everything Ben Lerer said on More or Less that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight

Ben Lerer: Startups burning tens of billions rarely deliver strong VC returns

“Companies that, that choose to or need to raise tens of or potentially hundreds of billions of dollars generally don't produce great Venture returns. And so like on the margin, I don't like the profile of companies that have to burn 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 or a h…”

Ben Lerer Apr 18, 2025 ▶ 16:40 OpenAI’s Social Network & Figma’s Potential IPO | More or Less #95 · More or Less Podcast

Opinion

Ben Lerer: San Francisco leads AI infrastructure while New York leads applications

“San Francisco feels like more of an infrastructure town and New York feels like more of an application layer town very broadly.”

Ben Lerer Apr 18, 2025 ▶ 5:29 OpenAI’s Social Network & Figma’s Potential IPO | More or Less #95 · More or Less Podcast

Insight

Ben Lerer: Any successful non-ad social network eventually becomes ad-supported

“The only thing I know about a non ad supported social network is that if it really works, it becomes an ad supported social network.”

Ben Lerer Apr 18, 2025 ▶ 17:40 OpenAI’s Social Network & Figma’s Potential IPO | More or Less #95 · More or Less Podcast

Insight

Ben Lerer: Top startups should secure seed capital from both coasts

“I would argue that anyone building a best-in-class company should probably look for representation from both New York and the Valley in their institutional seed round if they have choice.”

Ben Lerer Apr 18, 2025 ▶ 8:20 OpenAI’s Social Network & Figma’s Potential IPO | More or Less #95 · More or Less Podcast

Opinion

Ben Lerer: Seed venture shares nothing with mega-round AI investing

“The business that we are in and the business that the funds are in that are investing at 50 or a hundred or three hundred billion dollars in OpenAI, like I have as much in common with those companies as I do with like a gas station. It just, we're not playing …”

Ben Lerer Apr 18, 2025 ▶ 18:55 OpenAI’s Social Network & Figma’s Potential IPO | More or Less #95 · More or Less Podcast

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Ben Lerer: Startup valuations remain high despite almost zero venture liquidity

“We are in a viciously competitive market where prices have really not come down, and in some cases gone way up, and then you have on the out, Almost no liquidity.”

Ben Lerer Apr 18, 2025 ▶ 34:08 OpenAI’s Social Network & Figma’s Potential IPO | More or Less #95 · More or Less Podcast

Appearances (1)

Episode	Date	Speaking time
OpenAI’s Social Network & Figma’s Potential IPO \| More or Less #95 · More or Less Podcast	Apr 18, 2025	15m

Ben Lerer

The record, in short

How they sound: not measured why? →

Appearances (1)

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