You’ve seen the logo. That little white alien with the antenna? That’s Snoo. Most people think of Reddit as this monolithic, chaotic entity of the internet—the "front page" of everything. But behind that initial spark were two UVA roommates, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian. While Huffman is the current CEO, the story of Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian is arguably the one that tells us more about where the tech industry is actually headed. It’s a weird, winding path that involves a failed initial pitch, a $10 million exit that seemed huge at the time (but wasn't), and a very public resignation that forced Silicon Valley to look in the mirror.
Reddit wasn't even the first idea.
Back in 2005, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman went to a lecture by Paul Graham. They pitched an idea called "MyMobileMenu." It was basically a way to order food via SMS. Paul Graham hated it. Well, he didn't hate them, but he told them the idea was dead on arrival. He invited them to join the first-ever Y Combinator class anyway, provided they came up with something better. That "something better" became Reddit. It was simple. It was basically just a list of links. You could vote them up or down. That was it.
The $10 Million Mistake?
A lot of people look at the early days of Reddit and wonder if the founders regret selling so early. Just sixteen months after launching, Condé Nast bought Reddit for somewhere around $10 million. In 2026, that sounds like pocket change for a site that basically dictates the national conversation. At the time, Ohanian was 23. His mother was terminally ill. He’s been very open about the fact that $10 million felt like "winning the lottery" because it provided immediate security for his family.
But staying at a big corporate conglomerate like Condé Nast wasn't a great fit for a scrappy startup guy. Ohanian eventually left in 2010. He didn't just sit on a beach, though. He became an advocate for the open internet, famously fighting against SOPA and PIPA. He was the guy on the front lines, basically telling Congress they were going to break the internet if they passed those bills. He realized that being a Reddit founder gave him a megaphone, and he started using it for more than just memes.
📖 Related: Ninebot GoKart Pro 2 Explained (Simply): Why It’s Actually Three Different Rides
The Return and the Serena Era
By 2014, Reddit was a mess. It was growing, sure, but it was also toxic. Ellen Pao was the interim CEO, and the community was basically in open revolt. Ohanian and Huffman returned to the fold. Ohanian became the executive chairman. This period was a whirlwind. He was balancing the needs of a massive, often unruly user base while his personal life was hitting the stratosphere.
He met Serena Williams at a hotel in Rome. It sounds like a movie script. He didn't even know much about tennis. She thought he was a tech geek. They got married, had a daughter, and suddenly Ohanian was "the internet’s favorite dad," often seen on the sidelines of Grand Slams with a camera, cheering his heart out. It changed his perspective on legacy. If you're the Reddit founder, you're responsible for the culture you've built. And Ohanian started to realize that the culture of Reddit had some deep-seated issues with hate speech and systemic bias.
The 2020 Resignation: A Power Move
In June 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, Ohanian did something almost unheard of in tech. He resigned from the Reddit board. He didn't just quit; he explicitly asked the board to fill his seat with a Black candidate.
"I'm writing this as a father who needs to be able to answer his Black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?'"
That’s a heavy quote. It wasn't just PR. He felt that the platform he helped create was being used as a tool for hate, and he wanted to signal that leadership needed to change from the top down. Michael Seibel, a partner at Y Combinator, eventually took that seat.
776: The Next Chapter
After leaving Reddit for the second time, Ohanian founded Seven Seven Six (776). The name comes from the year of the first Olympics in 776 B.C. It’s a venture capital firm, but it’s run more like a software company. They use a proprietary operating system called "Cerebro" to track every interaction and data point in their portfolio.
👉 See also: Define Volume in Math: What Most People Get Wrong About 3D Space
He’s betting big on things most people are still skeptical about.
- Web3 and Crypto: He’s a massive "ETH bull."
- Women’s Sports: He is a lead investor in Angel City FC.
- Climate Tech: Looking for ways to actually save the planet, not just talk about it.
Honestly, his investment in Angel City FC might be his most impactful move since Reddit. He saw a massive market inefficiency—women's sports were being undervalued and underfunded. He applied the same "community-first" logic he learned at Reddit to a soccer team, and it worked. The team has a valuation that makes most MLS teams jealous.
What Most People Get Wrong About Reddit's Origin
There’s this myth that Reddit was an overnight success. It wasn't. For the first few months, Ohanian and Huffman created tons of fake accounts to make the site look busy. They’d post links and have conversations with themselves. It was "fake it 'til you make it" in its purest form. If they hadn't done that, the site would have looked like a ghost town, and nobody would have stayed.
It’s a reminder that even the biggest platforms start with two guys in an apartment, desperately trying to make it look like they have friends.
Actionable Insights for Future Founders
If you're looking at Ohanian's career and trying to figure out how to replicate even 1% of that success, here’s the reality. It’s not just about the code. Huffman did the coding; Ohanian did the "community." He spent hours every day talking to users, sending them stickers, and making them feel like they owned the place.
- Prioritize Community Over Features: You can have the best tech in the world, but if nobody cares about the people using it, you have a tool, not a platform. Reddit succeeded because it gave people a sense of belonging (and a place to argue).
- Know When to Walk Away: Ohanian’s 2020 resignation shows that your ego shouldn't be tied to a title. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your "baby" is to let someone else raise it.
- Invest in What's Undervalued: Whether it was Reddit in 2005 or women's soccer in 2020, Ohanian looks for things that the "smart people" are ignoring. If everyone is already talking about it, you’re too late.
- Family Changes Everything: Don't ignore the personal shift. Ohanian’s investments and public stances changed radically after he became a husband and father. Building a legacy for the next generation is a better motivator than just "making number go up."
The story of the Reddit founder isn't over. Between his venture firm and his role as a vocal advocate for paid family leave, Alexis Ohanian has moved far beyond just being "the Reddit guy." He’s someone who figured out how to use his early tech success to build a platform for things that actually matter in the real world.
If you want to follow his journey, keep an eye on his "Business Dad" podcast or his dispatches from the sidelines of the next big sporting event. He’s usually the one wearing the coolest sneakers and holding a camera, looking like he’s having more fun than anyone else in the room.