Lerer Hippeau

???? ???? ?? ???????? ???? ??????????—????????’?? ?????? The best poker players and venture capitalists don’t win by playing it safe—they win by making enough smart bets over time and letting the odds work in their favor. I interviewed Maurice Russo, former professional poker player now VC investor at Lerer Hippeau on the parallels he sees: ?? In poker tournaments, even elite players only cash in ~20% of the time - real profits come from a few breakout wins. ?? In venture, most startups fail, but one or two fund-defining companies drive returns. ?? Short-term variance is high, but over a large enough sample size, skill wins out. Some investors take a mathematical, thesis-driven approach. Others, like Lerer Hippeau, focus on opportunistic, talent-first bets. Both can work—as long as you play to your strengths. In poker and VC, there’s no single winning formula. The key? Stay in the game, keep placing bets, and stay true to your strategy. ???? ?????????? ???? - we are hosting a Founder/Poker night with Maurice and the teams from Lerer Hippeau, Rho and Goodwin - Request an invite here -> https://lnkd.in/eB5f7f6h

???? ???? ?? ???????? ???? ??????????—????????’?? ?????? The best poker players and venture capitalists don’t win by playing it safe—they win by making enough smart bets over time and letting the odds work in their favor. I interviewed Maurice Russo, former professional poker player now VC investor at Lerer Hippeau on the parallels he sees: ?? In poker tournaments, even elite players only cash in ~20% of the time - real profits come from a few breakout wins. ?? In venture, most startups fail, but one or two fund-defining companies drive returns. ?? Short-term variance is high, but over a large enough sample size, skill wins out. Some investors take a mathematical, thesis-driven approach. Others, like Lerer Hippeau, focus on opportunistic, talent-first bets. Both can work—as long as you play to your strengths. In poker and VC, there’s no single winning formula. The key? Stay in the game, keep placing bets, and stay true to your strategy. ???? ?????????? ???? - we are hosting a Founder/Poker night with Maurice and the teams from Lerer Hippeau, Rho and Goodwin - Request an invite here -> https://lnkd.in/eB5f7f6h

Announcing the 2025 Lopez Fellowship - Applications open March 17th! I remember hitting that wall in my career where putting in more hours just wasn't cutting it anymore. I had been promoted, had recruiters calling occasionally, but what I lacked was the space to step back and intentionally design my path forward. What transformed my journey wasn't just working harder—it was finding mentors who believed in me, building a network of peers who challenged me, reading a lot, and investing in skills beyond my job description. (Including the mentor who suggested I take accent reduction classes—a story I told on How I Built This with Guy Raz). But I've noticed fewer professionals have access to this kind of guidance today, which is why five years ago I started the Lopez Fellowship. Our fellowship, underwritten entirely by the Hernan Lopez Family Foundation, helps ambitious, curious professionals overcome obstacles and go from 'good to great'. Through executive coaching, public speaking training, MBA-quality education, and meaningful connections, our Fellows develop the capabilities to transform their careers in the short, medium and long-term. What makes this program special? ? Personalized coaching with executive coach Cindy Shove ? Direct mentoring sessions with me and other industry leaders ? Public speaking training with John Koch ? Career assessment and LinkedIn review with Todd Gitlin ? Curated reading and MBA-quality courses through Section ? Access to our alumni network of nearly 30 accomplished professionals Who thrives in this program? ?? Rising stars of all backgrounds across tech, media, entertainment, healthcare, education, finance and other industries ?? Post-funding entrepreneurs looking to level up their leadership ?? In both cases, especially suited for individuals who've overcome adversity, have a track record of success and are passionate about growth. ?? Several qualifications apply (see website for details); most importantly, must be living and working currently in the US, have a bachelor's degree or higher, show proof of career progress How does it work? ?? Five months (May-September) of leadership development ?? Completely free (we just ask for your commitment of 3-4 hours weekly) ?? Primarily remote, with one in-person gathering in LA Applications for the 2025 cohort open?March 17th through April 6th Want to learn more? Visit https://lnkd.in/etHShG2a Do you know any rising star who should apply? Please tag them in the comments.

Today, we released our first State of the AI Bots whitepaper that shows findings across sites on TollBit. The headline: Traffic from AI bots has a 96% lower click-through rate than traditional Google search. If AI chatbots aren’t sending traffic back, we think it’s only fair that websites ask what the Internet’s new economic arrangement is. We do believe the future of quality content and data can be bright as AI enables us to be more efficient. But only if we continue to incentivize the creation of it. ??Full report here: https://lnkd.in/dPpV5TAb

?? NEW AllThingsXR episode is up! In this episode, I chat with Ross Finman , CEO of Augmodo. We discuss Ross's incredible journey from mapping the real world at Escher Reality and Niantic, to how he plans to revolutionize the retail industry with AI at Augmodo! https://lnkd.in/eGvmVDhB

Excited to announce the acquisition of Clockwork! Their machines have painted over 500,000 nails and scanned millions more. Our team are going to learn so much from their founders, Renuka Apte and Aaron Feldstein, as we look to launch 10Beauty this summer. https://lnkd.in/dwfxdrCn