Enter FOMO, the fear of missing out. For backers, the only thing equally powerful to missing is…missing out. No one wants to be the Hollywood studio that passed on Star Wars, the university that rejected Albert Einstein, or the executive at Blockbuster who passed on buying Netflix for $50 million.
We see FOMO play out everywhere. Once a founder has a lead investor, other investors want to join the round. Once an employee has a competing job offer, he or she is much more likely to receive a raise. Once a real estate agent has an offer, he’s more likely to attract other offers.
