“If you want to build trust with someone [on your team], if they screw up, you have to be okay with them screwing up because you put them in the situation.” – Ben Ehrlich

Ben Ehrlich is the founder and General Partner of First Momentum Capital, where he helps seed a new generation of venture capital firms. He is also the Director of Strategy at the Long Term Stock Exhange. Previously Ben worked across the venture ecosystem supporting companies in the Canadian Technology Accelerator, OutCast Communications and Cribspot (YC 15). In his free time Ben takes his Irish setter doodle hiking and enjoys watching the University of Michigan football team (mostly) win.

You can find Ben on his socials here: Twitter: https://x.com/benjaminehrlich LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-ehrlich-43b75498/

And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters

OUTLINE:

[00:00] Intro

[03:43] The origins of the Out of the Crisis podcast

[06:54] Ben's advice for rookie podcasters

[08:35] How did Ben first meet Eric Ries?

[11:46] The play-by-play for Ben's interview with LTSE

[13:36] What do decisions and conversations look like at LTSE?

[16:23] Building trust among team members

[18:29] How does Ben build trust with GPs?

[25:14] How did First Momentum Capital start?

[30:42] What was the pitch to close First Momentum's first fund?

[33:54] How does Ben underwrite Fund I managers?

[36:42] How does Ben measure a GP's future deal flow (as opposed to today's)?

[45:40] What does a "No" from Ben look like?

[57:50] Thoughts on fund governance

[1:05:57] What is the role of serendipity in Ben's life?

[1:08:17] Commisso Bakery in Toronto

[1:10:35] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!

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