Alexis Ohanian Conquered the Internet

DREW BIRD Ohanian is constantly thinking about how tech- Engineering nology can help pro- & Technology mote social change. SPECIAL THE INNOVATOR How Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian conquered the Internet Alexis Ohanian Profession: Co-Founder of Reddit & Initialized Capital Location: San Francisco, California DREW BIRD DREW www.agbu.org | THE INSIDER 5 nspiration is often found in Williams in a subreddit, of course: “At the ries was his great-aunt Vera pulling him the simplest of places. For same table we first met by chance…Down aside and explaining to him what it meant Alexis Ohanian, it struck dur- on one knee/ He said 4 words/And/ I said to be Armenian. “It must have been around ing a Sunday stroll in Lon- yes,” read the verse. my birthday (April 24) because she told don’s Hyde Park. As a student As he embarks on the wonderful ad- me about our family's story of survival enjoying a semester abroad at venture of fatherhood, Ohanian has had (and loss) during the genocide and how the time, he stumbled upon little time to reflect on his career, but gra- important it was that I make the most out Speaker’s Corner, a public ciously agreed to an interview with of all the opportunity I’d been given.” space devoted to free speech. Ohanian AGBU. “It’s been incredibly rewarding He also remembers there always being Ihad never seen anything like it before. He and humbling to see how far Reddit has a copy of the AGBU News Magazine in watched as, one after another, people come,” he says. the house. When the family moved to would stand up on an old-school box and Just how far Ohanian has developed suburban Maryland in Ellicott City, rant while crowds would then form and personally is equally as impressive. Born in debate. What if, he wondered, he could Brooklyn, New York, Ohanian was raised Ohanian is engaged to tennis just distribute that same concept more an only child by his Armenian father, superstar Serena Williams, and broadly, and make it accessible to anyone Chris, and German-born mother, Anke. the couple just recently welcomed with an internet connection? As a very young child, he spoke German at their first child. Two years later, right out of college, home, but says one of his earliest memo- Ohanian and his roommate Steve Huff- man decided to turn the idea into reality. What happened next reads like a movie script. The pair spent three weeks and $12,000 to build a website. “It was ex- hilarating and also terrifying,” remembers Ohanian. “Steve and I had no idea what we were doing, but we knew enough to build the first version of Red- dit and get it online as soon as possible to see how our users would use it.” Not only did they like it, they kept coming back. Within 18 months of his college graduation, the site was acquired by publishing giant Condé Nast and Alex- is Ohanian was a 23-year-old multimil- lionaire. If you have not heard of Reddit, the online forum allows registered users to ‘upvote’ or ‘downvote’ content, which can include anything from a photograph to a news story, or post their own mate- rial and comments in themed communities known as subreddits. Unlike Twit- ter or Facebook, all content on Reddit is organized around these communities of passion, which makes for lively and au- thentic conversation. It is also wildly popular. Today the site boasts over 300 million unique visitors each month and is ranked among the top trafficked websites in the world, making Ohanian one of the most influ- ential men in Silicon Valley. At 34, the genial, charismatic and strik- ingly tall six-foot-five tech entrepreneur is also experiencing a newfound fame for an altogether different reason. Ohanian is engaged to tennis superstar Serena Wil- liams, who recently gave birth to the couple’s first child. Fittingly, the engagement was announced to the world in the most modern of ways, with a poem posted by IMAGES/ALAMY PA 6 THE INSIDER | www.agbu.org however, suddenly they became the only memories and relationships that I’m In April, Ohanian expressed his views Armenians in the neighborhood. Oha- grateful for.” against President Donald Trump’s immi- nian’s parents worried he would lose his Alexis and his co-founder Steve came gration ban. In an open letter posted on connection to his culture, so they decid- back to Reddit in 2015. Ohanian’s current the official Reddit blog that has since been ed to send him to AGBU Camp Nubar role involves supporting external-facing viewed nearly two million times, he called during the summer. branches of the company including sales, the executive order “deeply un-American” “That camp normalized my Armenian- business development, communications, and “potentially unconstitutional.” De- ness,” remembers Ohanian. “I’m only Ar- marketing and policy. Still, he admits, he scribing himself as not only the son of an menian on my father's side, but I have al- sometimes cannot keep himself from do- undocumented German immigrant, but ways felt like a proud Armenian, explaining ing more. “We’ve got some really great also as the great-grandson of refugees who to anyone even at an early age who we product and design people, so sometimes fled the Armenian Genocide, he elo- were and what our people were about. The I can’t help myself but make design and quently argued in favor of welcoming both only Armenians I knew were related to product suggestions. I’m constantly think- groups, immigrants and refugees. “We are me, though, so it wasn’t until Camp Nubar ing about how to level up the Reddit a nation of immigrants, after all. In the that I was immersed in Armenian lan- brand, business, and product.” tech world, we often talk about a startup’s guage, culture, stories and food.” Over the past several years he has ‘unfair advantage’ that allows it to beat During the school year meanwhile, launched the travel-search site Hipmunk competitors. Welcoming immigrants and Ohanian became increasingly interested in computer programming after taking a Pascal programming class. He enrolled in a number of community college courses to develop his skills. Always very sup- I WANT TO STAY HUNGRY. I REALLY BELIEVE portive, his parents encouraged his inter- est by buying him his first 486SX com- MY RESOURCES ARE BEST USED TO HELP puter. “They took a big chance when I “ PROJECTS THAT MAKE THE WORLD BETTER. was a kid by buying me that first computer because it cost them a lot of money they didn't have and they had no idea how it even worked. But they trusted me to take it apart, put it back together, and independently learn how powerful this (acquired by Concur) and an early stage refugees has been our country’s unfair ad- new technology was.” venture capital firm with over $160 mil”- vantage, and coming from an immigrant Years later, as he was launching Reddit, lion in assets under management called family has been mine as an entrepreneur.” his mother Anke was diagnosed with ter- Initialized Capital. The fund has already “Without them, there’s no me, and minal brain cancer. She has since passed invested (usually the first check) in four there’s no Reddit,” he added. “Let’s not for- away, but not before Ohanian was able to billion-dollar companies: Zenefits, Coin- get that we’ve thrived as a nation because fulfill what he considers his proudest ac- base, Instacart, and Cruise (acquired by we’ve been a beacon for the courageous— complishment: “I called my mother to General Motors). the tired, the poor, the tempest-tossed.” tell her we’d sold Reddit (back in 2006) Somehow he also found the time to While the new father’s activism might and let her know that all the support and publish a book about his success story. slow down temporarily in the near future love she and my dad had given over the Without Their Permission: How the 21st Ohanian hopes to continue setting an ex- years had been worth it.” Century Will Be Made, Not Managed pro- ample for others. He recommends that as- After selling Reddit, Ohanian could vides an excellent guide to creating and piring tech entrepreneurs do more than just have sat back and kicked up his feet, but investing in tech start-ups and makes a learn to code. “Surround yourselves with instead stayed on to manage the company powerful argument that the power of the people who make you better,” he says. “Ship as its spectacular growth soon began to at- internet will transform the global econo- as soon as possible and talk to your users/ tract internet-savvy celebrities and politi- my in a post-financial-crisis age. customers. And finally, know why you’re cians such as Stephen Colbert and Barack Since then the genial and motivated doing it—this will evolve over time, but you Obama, keen to participate in Reddit’s entrepreneur has also adeptly used his need to know why because you will find Ask Me Anything (AMA) Question and platform as a political activist, taking a countless moments when you need to tap Answer sessions. leading role in organizing opposition to into that.” Ohanian is also constantly thinking the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act For Ohanian, the why is about not about how technology can help promote and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, just making his own dent in the uni- social change.

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