Alexis Ohanian is an American internet entrepreneur, activist and investor
based in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, best known for co-founding
the social news website Reddit, helping launch the travel search website
Hipmunk, and starting the social enterprise Breadpig. He is a partner at
Y Combinator, and is also the executive chairman of Reddit. Ohanian is currently
dating Serena Williams. Career
Ohanian was born to Chris Ohanian, an Armenian-American whose ancestors were
Armenian Genocide survivors, and a German-born mother. He went to Howard
High School in Ellicott City, Maryland. After graduating from the University of
Virginia in 2005 with degrees in commerce and history, Ohanian started
reddit.com, with co-founder Steve Huffman. Reddit initially received
funding from Y Combinator and was later acquired by Condé Nast in 2006. Ohanian
continued to work closely with reddit as a member of its Board of Directors.
In 2007, Ohanian launched Breadpig, an "uncorporation" that produces geeky
merchandise and gives the proceeds to charity. He continues to run Breadpig
today as its Founder and Chief Swine Defender.
After leaving Reddit in 2009, Ohanian spent 3 months working in microfinance
as a Kiva fellow in Yerevan, Armenia. In 2009, Ohanian spoke at TED about a
whale named Mister Splashy Pants. Ohanian helped launch travel search
website Hipmunk in 2010, and now acts as an advisor.
In June 2010, Ohanian announced the launch of his company Das Kapital
Capital, which focuses on startup investing, advising and consulting.
Ohanian was named the "Ambassador to the East" for early stage venture firm Y
Combinator. In this position, he meets with East Coast applicants, mentors New
York YC founders, and is a general representative for the company.
= Open internet activism = In late 2010 and early 2011, Ohanian
spoke out against Congress's Stop Online Piracy Act and the Senate's Protect IP
Act. He helped lead the Internet-enabled grassroots campaign that eventually
overturned the two bills. Ohanian spoke to members of Congress, helped launch
the national anti-SOPA/PIPA protests that took place on January 18, 2012, and
spoke at the rally in New York that was organized by NY Tech Meetup.
In October 2012, Ohanian teamed up with Reddit General Manager Erik Martin and
embarked on the Internet 2012 Bus Tour from Denver, CO to Danville, KY to
campaign for the open Internet during the Presidential and Vice Presidential
debates. One of the campaign stops spurred the idea for a possible
"National Geek Day." in Washington DC. In response to his work advocating for
the Open Internet, The Daily Dot named Ohanian number one in their top ten most
influential activists of 2012, and Forbes dubbed him "Mayor of the
Internet." = Crowdfunding campaigns =
On December 10, 2012, Ohanian teamed up with Lester Chambers of The Chambers
Brothers to launch a Kickstarter project, with the intent to make a new
album titled "Lester's Time Has Come." According to Fast Company, Ohanian aimed
"to prove that there are new, sustainable funding opportunities for
artists now thanks to platforms like Kickstarter."
Two years later, Ohanian raised $12,244 for the non-profit Black Girls Code on
Tilt.com. In May 2014, Ohanian used Tilt.com again to launch "Save Net
Neutrality: Billboard in FCC's Backyard," a crowdfunding campaign to
protest the FCC's plans to eliminate the idea of net neutrality.
Awards and honors In 2011 and 2012, Ohanian was named to
the Forbes "30 Under 30" list as an important figure in the technology
industry. In 2013, Ohanian and Erik Martin were
featured as "champions of innovation" in the 20th Anniversary issue of Wired.
Controversy On July 2, 2015, Reddit fired
communications director Victoria Taylor, a well-liked administrator known for
co-ordinating celebrity interviews from Reddit's New York office. In protest,
moderators set several subreddits to private and several users purportedly
left Reddit for its much smaller competitors Voat and Panjury. Initially,
interim CEO Ellen Pao was blamed for the dismissal. Harassment which was already
being directed toward Pao in relation to other controversies intensified and she
resigned a week later. However, a moderator of IAmA posted on July 3 that
"Chooter was let go as an admin by u/kn0thing [Alexis Ohanian]". This was
not widely reported until the aftermath of Pao's resignation when Ohanian
elaborated on his role in Taylor's dismissal. On July 12, former CEO Yishan
Wong informed the Reddit community that Taylor was fired by "the CEO's boss" and
accused Ohanian of scapegoating. Ohanian countered that even though the AMA /
IAmA changes came from him, he still reported to Pao. As was done for Ellen
Pao, a petition was uploaded to Change.org asking Alexis Ohanian to step
down. Published works
Ohanian published a book titled Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century
Will Be Made, Not Managed on October 1, 2013. Without Their Permission ranked
4th on the Wall Street Journal's best sellers list for Hardcover Business. In
connection with the book, Ohanian embarked on a 5-month, 150-stop and
75-university book tour that aimed to spread the startup entrepreneurial
spirit and give students the event he had always wished he had as an
undergrad. Small Empires
In the summer of 2013, Small Empires with Alexis Ohanian, a weekly online
series focused on rising startups in New York City hosted by Ohanian, premiered
on The Verge. The first season ran for nine episodes.
The second season premiered in October 2014.
Podcasts = NYRD Radio =
On October 15, 2014, Ohanian launched the NYRD Radio podcast. Guests on the
show have included Tim Ferriss, James Altucher, Carter Cleveland and Cameron
Russell. The podcast features a segment called Office Hours, in which inspiring
entrepreneurs can apply to work through an idea with him.
= Upvoted = On January 8, 2015, Ohanian released the
first episode – listed as "Episode 0" – of Reddit's new podcast Upvoted, in
which Ohanian delves deeper into real stories found on Reddit and talks to the
users involved. Each week, the podcast focuses on a different story and
features a guest around whom that story is centered.
Speaking engagements and media appearances
Ohanian has spoken at over 80 universities, and lectured at
conferences like TED, the Clinton Global Initiative, SXSW, and ROFLCon. He has
spoken to a range of companies, including Google, BBDO,
BursonMarsteller, Johnson & Johnson, Hyatt, Kraft, and Palantir. Ohanian was
also the keynote speaker at an entrepreneurship summit in Cairo
organized by the U.S. State Department months after the Egyptian Revolution.
Ohanian has appeared on numerous major television networks, including NBC, ABC,
CBS, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg. Most notably, he has been interviewed on The
Colbert Report, Charlie Rose, and Meet the Press. He has also been featured and
quoted in notable magazines and newspapers including the New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, LATimes, Time, Washington Post, New York Post, The
Atlantic, Esquire, and Bloomberg Business.
References External links
Official website Alexis Ohanian at TED