Fomo Co-Founders on Building the Social Network for Finance

July 14, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The co-founders of FOMO, Paul and Say, were 15 minutes late to their first meeting with Benchmark partner Chaithan. That meeting led to a $75 million raise at a $550 million valuation from investors including Benchmark, Index Ventures, and USV — a cap table notable for including traditional consumer tech VCs who rarely do crypto deals. The founders argue this was intentional: non-crypto VCs evaluate deals individually rather than suffering from "deal fatigue" after seeing dozens of failed social trading pitches. FOMO, which launched in December 2024 and now has roughly 700,000 lifetime users, aims to be the social layer for all finance by letting users trade any on-chain asset through a non-custodial mobile experience that merges Instagram's UX with Robinhood's trading interface and Twitter's information flow.

Product Philosophy: The Trader-Normie Tension

Paul and Say divide labor partly by perspective. Say is a longtime trader who pushes for power-user features; Paul represents the "normie" user who needs simplicity. Every product decision involves a 30-minute debate between these poles. The result is a series of deliberate trade-offs that favor accessibility over crypto-native conventions.

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of Empire

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 Timestamped Outline
2 (00:00) **Disclaimer & Episode Intro** - Hosts welcome FOMO co-founders Paul and Say after their $550M valuation raise
3 (02:10) **Party Round Fundraising & the DYDX Origin** - How the founders raised $75M from 150 angels and why they chose that structure
4 (03:38) **Why Consumer Crypto Has Failed Before** - The founders diagnose why so many consumer crypto apps died and how FOMO is different
5 (05:23) **Perps, dYdX, and the Hyperliquid Moment** - Lessons from the dYdX era and how infrastructure decisions shape outcomes
6 (09:34) **The FOMO Vision: Social Layer for All Finance** - How the founders pitch the company's mission and why blockchain enables it uniquely
7 (11:52) **Landing Benchmark and Index Ventures** - How non-crypto VCs became lead investors despite the crowded social trading space

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

What happens when crypto finally builds a trading experience for everyone, not just crypto natives?

This week, Jason sits down with fomo co-founders Paul and Se to discuss why consumer crypto has struggled, how fomo is approaching onchain trading differently, and why they believe social finance is the next major platform.

They explore building for mainstream users, the future of tokenized assets, product design tradeoffs, creator-driven distribution, and why transparent onchain data could redefine how investors discover ideas. Enjoy!

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Intro

03:35 Why Consumer Crypto Keeps Failing

09:32 Selling The Social Finance Vision

15:57 From Niche App To Breakout

22:22 How Fomo Acquires Users

27:57 Building The Social Trading Layer

34:44 Fees, Perps, And Onchain Competition

43:37 Expanding Beyond Trading Fees

49:12 Funding Growth Through Market Cycles

53:14 Robinhood, X, And Copy Trading

58:00 Media And Frictionless Onboarding

01:04:03 The Everything Trading App

01:09:00 Crypto, Tokens, And Going Public

FOLLOW GUESTS

› Se – https://x.com/seyong

› Paul – https://x.com/paulerlanger

› fomo – https://x.com/fomo

FOLLOW THE SHOW

› Empire – https://x.com/theempirepod

› Jason – https://x.com/jasonyanowitz

› Telegram –https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh

› Blockworks – https://x.com/Blockworks

EVENTS

› Join us at Digital Asset Summit 2026 Asia October 7th & Digital Asset 2026 London November 10-11th

https://blockworks.com/events

DISCLAIMER

Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Any views expressed are opinions, not financial advice. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.