Motivational Leaders: Alexis Ohanian

Alexis Ohanian is an American internet entrepreneur, activist, and investor. He is best known as the co-founder of the popular social news website ‘Reddit.’

He is often referred to as the “start-up guy.” He had initially thought of becoming a lawyer, but his destiny changed when he visited Cambridge with his friend Steve Huffman to attend Paul Graham’s lecture on “How to Start a Start-up.”

His first venture was to try and sell the idea of an online food-delivery app. However, it was an idea that already existed back then and did not gain any sponsors for Alexis. He then came up with the idea of ’Reddit,’ a social news and media aggregator where registered members could submit content. The idea was accepted as a start-up by ‘Y Combinator’ and was a tremendous success. It was later sold to the media company ‘Condé Nast’ for a colossal sum of money.

He launched ‘Breadpig’ in 2007. The company produces “geeky” products. The products are then sold and the earnings are donated to charity. The company was set up by him and is now running on its own steam, without his day-to-day involvement.

In 2010, he spent three months in Armenia, working in microfinance with the non-profit organization ‘Kiva’ to lend money to small entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries via the internet. The project aimed to help people overcome poverty and become self-reliant.

He also launched a company called ‘Das Kapital Capital’ to focus on start-up investments, consultancy, and advice.

‘Reddit’ became an independent company in 2015 under his leadership and guidance. He ran the company till February 2018 and then shifted his focus to investing. He was instrumental in the launch of the third ‘Initialized Capital’ fund with Garry Tan that made seed investments in start-ups such as ‘Instacart,’ ‘Opendoor,’ ‘Zenefits’ and ‘Cruise.’

Alexis is an established entrepreneur and philanthropist who has gained the respect of his peers in the business arena.