Dubbed a “pop entrepreneur” by New York magazine, Patrick J. McGinnis is a venture capitalist, bestselling author, and creator of the hit podcast FOMO Sapiens.

He coined the term FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and its lesser-known twin, FOBO (Fear of a Better Option), in a 2004 article at Harvard Business School.  FOMO has since been added to the dictionary, and FOBO was the subject of Patrick’s popular TED Talk “How to Make Faster Decisions.” The New York Times, Le Monde, FT, and El País have covered his work on FOMO, FOBO, and decision-making. 

 The author of The 10% Entrepreneur: Live Your Startup Dream Without Quitting Your Day Job and Fear of Missing Out: Practical Decision-Making in a World of Overwhelming Choice, Patrick is the brand ambassador for Latin American tech titan MercadoLibre’s award-winning “Fear of Missing Audience” campaign. Additionally, Patrick appears in the cautionary crypto documentary This is Not Financial Advice, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. 

With a passion for harnessing the power of words to elevate humanity, Patrick he serves on the boards of Bridge USA, a campus-based youth movement fighting political division through dialogue, the Leadership Now Project, and the Planet World Museum in Washington, DC.

A graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Business School, Patrick has visited more than 115 countries and is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and French.