While still studying at the University of Virginia, Alexis Ohanian initially set his sights on becoming a lawyer. But during one of his study sessions for the LSAT, he realized that his passion lay elsewhere. “I didn’t want to be a lawyer,” he said in an interview with Inc. “I wanted to make a dent in the universe.”
He then partnered with his college roommate Steve Huffman to develop an app for ordering food. They tried pitching it to Paul Graham — who rejected their idea — but invited the duo to join his start-up incubator. “In our conversation, Paul said, “You guys need to build the front page of the Internet.'” Ohanian added. In just three weeks, they built Reddit.
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But over a year later, tragedy struck twice. Ohanian’s then-girlfriend was involved in an accident, and his mother was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He and Huffman brokered a deal with Condé Nast to sell Reddit, which would eventually be worth far more than what they sold it for. “I thought I was getting away with something because for 16 [months] worth of work, I was getting more money than my parents had made their entire working lives,” he tweeted in 2020. “My mom’s illness weighed on me the most. She was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer just a couple months into founding the company, so the idea of rewarding her life-long unflagging confidence in me with a $10M exit was tremendously appealing.”
