People

Kenneth Lerer is a Manager of Lerer Ventures. He was the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Huffington Post. Mr. Lerer is Chairman of Betaworks, Bedrocket and Buzzfeed. He is a member of Pilot Group LLC, a private investment firm.

Mr. Lerer is Chairman Emeritus of the Public Theater in New York City and serves on the boards of directors of several nonprofit organizations, including Association to Benefit Children (ABC), the Bank Street College of Education and HealthRight International. In 2008-09, Mr. Lerer served as the Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at Columbia Journalism School.

Ben Lerer is a Manager of Lerer Ventures and the Co-Founder and CEO of Thrillist.com, a leading men’s multi-platform lifestyle publication with over 3 million daily subscriptions in 19 localized markets in the U.S. and the U.K. Since its launch in 2005, Lerer has overseen the growth of Thrillist's marketing, sales and business development efforts, as well as its recent expansion into e-commerce with the acquisition of members only online retailer JackThreads.com and the launch of localized commerce platform Thrillist Rewards.

Thrillist has been placed on Inc Magazine's list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for two years running.

Lerer serves on the Board of Directors for the East River Development Alliance, a New York non-profit organization and is an Associate Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS).

Jordan is a Venture Partner at Lerer Ventures. He currently serves as Co-Founder & CEO of Hyperpublic (acq. by GRPN). Jordan was previously an investor at General Catalyst Partners, a $1.7 Billion early stage venture capital firm in Harvard Square. Jordan left General Catalyst to become founder & CEO of Untitled Partners, a consumer finance/internet startup backed by Bessemer Venture Partners. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and blogs at jordancooper.wordpress.com.

Eric Hippeau is a partner at Lerer Ventures. He is the former Chief Executive Officer of The Huffington Post. He is also a Special Partner at Softbank Capital, a U.S. based venture capital firm, making investments in early stage technology and digital media companies. Softbank Capital is an early investor in the The Huffington Post and Mr. Hippeau began serving on the board in August, 2006. Prior to joining Softbank Capital, Mr. Hippeau was Chairman and CEO of Ziff-Davis. He serves on the boards of several public and private companies, including Yahoo!, Starwood Hotels, The Huffington Post, Thumbplay and Buddy Media.

Steve Schlafman is a Principal at Lerer Ventures. Steve was previously VP of Business Development at Stickybits Inc. / Turntable.fm and Director of Venture Investments at The Kraft Group, a diversified holding company focused on sports & entertainment, paper & packaging, real estate development, and private equity. Prior to The Kraft Group, Steve worked at Massive Inc. and Microsoft in a variety of Business Development, Strategy and Corporate Finance roles. Steve graduated with highest honors from Northeastern University and you can follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/schlaf

Eric Ashman is the Finance Partner at Lerer Ventures, and is also the Chief Financial Officer at Thrillist.com. Eric was previously the CFO at The Huffington Post. Prior to The Huffington Post, Eric was the CFO of TheStreet.com, and the CFO of Text 100 Technology Public Relations, a global technology PR firm. Eric is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Management, started his career as a Certified Public Accountant, and has taught at the NYU Center for Publishing.

Kate Shillo is the Director of Operations for Lerer Ventures. Before joining LV Kate was Executive Assistant to Martha Stewart at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Prior to that she worked in sports marketing at The Bonham Group in sponsorship sales. She is a graduate of Middlebury College and serves on the Young Alumni Board of Suffield Academy.

Blake Lyon is a Senior Analyst at Lerer Ventures. Previously, Blake was the Director of Business Development at Spanfeller Media Group, a digital media company focused on creating content-rich lifestyle verticals. Prior to Spanfeller Media Group, Blake held real estate investments analyst positions at Palatine Capital Partners and Antares Investment Partners. Blake is a graduate of Princeton University.

Elizabeth Sargent is the Administrative Assistant to Kenneth Lerer. She is a 2011 graduate from Union College where she majored in History and minored in Spanish. Elizabeth received departmental honors and the Freling H. Smith Prize for the best thesis in the study of history. Elizabeth spent her four years at Union mentoring a Schenectady youth through the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. She was also a member of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority. Before her time at Lerer Ventures Elizabeth spent her summers working for the youth travel company Overland Summers, where she led hiking trips for rising 7th graders in the Berkshires and North Western Wyoming.

Christopher Poole is the founder of 4chan and Canvas. Christopher was a featured speaker at the TED 2010 Conference, and will be keynoting SXSW Interactive 2011. He was selected as one of the "2009 TIME 100" -- an annual list of "The World's Most Influential People," and has been profiled by a number of major news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, CNN, and Technology Review.

Jonah Peretti is CEO and founder of Buzzfeed. Jonah has spent the last six years creating viral hits, tracking online social behavior, and building technology to amplify buzz. He is a founding partner of The Huffington Post. Jonah is a graduate of the MIT Media Lab and has taught at NYU and the Parsons School of Design.