Team

Kenneth Lerer is a Managing Director at Lerer Ventures. He was the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Huffington Post. Mr. Lerer is Chairman of Betaworks and Buzzfeed, and is Vice-Chairman of Bedrocket. 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), and the Bank Street College of Education. In 2008-09, Mr. Lerer served as the Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at Columbia Journalism School.

Ben Lerer is a Managing Director at Lerer Ventures and the Co-Founder and CEO of Thrillist Media Group, a digital media company converging leading men's lifestyle brand Thrillist.com, and members-only shopping club JackThreads.com. The two brands collectively reach over 5 million daily subscriptions, targeting a young, urban male demographic. Thrillist Media Group has been included in Inc Magazine's list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for three years running.

Lerer chairs 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). Ben is also an active mentor for NYC Venture Fellows, TechStars, and E[nstitute].

Jordan is a Managing Director 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 Managing Director 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 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.

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 an Associate 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.

Emily Thomas is the Executive Assistant to Eric Hippeau and Steve Schlafman. Prior to joining Lerer Ventures, Emily was an Administrative Assistant at KBS Realty Advisors. Before KBS, she interned with David Monn, LLC where she assisted in planning the Metropolitan Opera’s Opening Night Gala, Guggenheim International Gala, and New York Public Library Lions’ Benefit. Emily has a passion for helping animals and previously volunteered at The Guardian, a no kill animal shelter in Mobile, AL. Emily is a graduate of the University of Alabama.

Jiana Lombardo is the Office Manager for Lerer Ventures. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a professional organizer helping coordinate relocations for high-end clients throughout Manhattan. She has a passion for helping others and holds a Masters degree in school counseling. Jiana is a graduate of Hofstra University.

Nicola Korzenko is the Portfolio Support Manager at Lerer Ventures. Previously, Nicola was the Manager of Operations at Signpost, a Google Ventures and Spark Capital-backed startup that provides automated local marketing for small businesses. Prior to Signpost, Nicola worked as an agent trainee at Creative Artists Agency. She graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College.

Max is an Analyst at Lerer Ventures. He is a graduate of New York University where he studied computer science. While in school, he worked as an engineer at Hyperpublic and on the platform team at foursquare. He was part of the first class of the hackNY fellowship program. He won two awards in the NYC BigApps competition and was named a White House Champion of Change.

Christopher Poole is the founder of 4chan and Canvas. Christopher was a featured speaker at the TED 2010 Conference, and was a keynote speaker at 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.

Eric Ashman is a Strategic Advisor at The Thrillist Media Group. Eric joined Thrillist in 2011 as the company's first CFO. 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.