Ben Lereris a technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist based out of New York City.

He is also the CEO of Group Nine Media, the parent company of digital publishers, NowThis, The Dodo, Thrillist (which he founded), and Seeker.

Lerer is also a Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau Ventures.

^[0]

Ben Lerer grew up in New York City and attended The Dalton School.

From a young age, Ben wanted to run his own company and was inspired by his father Kenneth Lerer who founded the media company Robinson Lerer Montgomery, then worked for AOL, and then founded The Huffington Post all while Lerer was growing up.

^[2] [4]In 2003, Ben graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science.

^[1]

In 2005, Ben Lerer started Thrillist with his college friend, Adam Rich, as a niche email newsletter about things to do for me in their twenties in New York City.

Ben served as the company's CEO and oversaw its growth into a global media company.

^[2]

In May 2017, Thrillist merged with NowThis founded by Ben Lerer's father, Kenneth Lerer, and The Dodo, founded by his sister, Izzie Lerer.

Discovery Communications invested $100 million in the new combined entity, Group Nine Media, valuing the company at $585 million.

Lerer then became the CEO of Group Nine Media.

^[5]

In 2010, Lerer founded the venture capital firm, Lerer Ventures (now Lerer Hippeau Ventures) with his father Kenneth Lerer.

They had previously been making investments in startups as angel investors and created their own venture capital firm after seeing how fast the startup community was growing in New York City.

Ben and Kenneth started Lerer Ventures with one $7 million fund in 2010 and grew the firm to six funds by 2017 with over 300 investments in early stage companies.

As an investor, Ben sits on the board of Casper and RaisedByUs as well as Refinery29's advisory board.

^[2] [1]

Ben Lerer has been featured in lists including Ernst & Young’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winners, Vanity Fair's Next Establishments, Crain’s 40 under 40, Forbes list of Most Powerful CEOs Under 40, Adweek’s Young Influentials, Entrepreneur’s Top 5 Entrepreneurs of the Year, and Silicon Alley Insider’s 100 Coolest People in Tech for six years in a row.

^[4]