Two guys meet at university.
Initially, one thought the other was a girl because of his name, Alexis. Steve thought he was in a co-ed dorm, but it turns out the Alexis was a bloke. Despite his initial disappointment, Steve became friends with Alexis.
Then, they became business partners. They wanted to make the world suck less.
Meet Reddit founders Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian. This video is the story behind how Reddit became the “front page of the Internet.”
Back in 2005, they used their spring break to attend a lecture by Paul Graham. They had the guts to ask him out for a drink to pitch him their idea. (He accepted.) They were in the first ever group of companies invited to pitch to Y-Combinator. But, they were rejected.
What happened after the rejection from Y-Combinator is, as they say, history.
But this video also includes a far lesser known sub plot. Ohanian used game theory for motivation. In the face of personal loss, the gamification of his approach to life has been a driving force in his success.
It’s a solid lesson for every entrepreneur.
How Reddit began
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