20VC: Reddit's Alexis Ohanian on How It All Started With Paul Graham @ YC, The Biggest Surprises About Making The Move Into VC & Why Alexis Believes All The Best Investors Have Operating Experience

Alexis Ohanian is co-founder of Reddit & Initialized Capital. After graduating from UVA in 2005, Alexis and his co-founder Steve Huffman started Reddit, which they sold in 2006 to Conde Nast. In 2015, he returned to a full-time capacity with Steve Huffman as the two returned to the helm of a fully independent Reddit, which is now the 8th largest US website. In 2016, he joined Garry Tan in kicking off the third fund for Initialized Capital, an early stage venture capital firm. He’s invested in and advised over two hundred tech startups and was a partner at Y Combinator; Alexis has also written a national best-selling book, Without Their Permission and was named on Forbes 30 Under 30 list two years in a row.

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In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Alexis made his way into the world of VC from founding Reddit?

2.) What were the biggest surprises for Alexis about making the move into venture full time? What have been the biggest challenges?

3.) How do Alexis and Garry (Alexis’ partner) look to integrate process into their investing with Initialized? What is core to the success of this process? Why should more VCs be doing so?

4.) What does Alexis believe makes the best seed investors? What are the benefits of investors that have been in the trenches? How can they add to their companies in a way those without operating experience cannot?

5.) How does kindness integate into Alexis’ role as an investor? Can one win in investing while being kind? How does Alexis look to show his kindness to founders and investors?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Alexis’ Fave Blog: Reddit

Alexis’ Fave Book: Slaughterhouse 5 

Alexis’ Most Recent Investment: Workramp

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Alexis on Twitter here!

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