Reddit co-founder gives talk, discusses failure and success
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian speaks to Rice students on Feb. 26. The talk was a part of Ohanian’s book tour and was sponsored by the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership.
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the popular content-sharing website Reddit Inc., spoke at Rice on Feb. 26 about online entrepreneurship.
The lecture, sponsored by the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership, was part of Ohanian’s national tour to present his book, Without Their Permission, according to Co-Director of RCEL Ray Simar.
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the popular content-sharing website Reddit Inc., spoke at Rice on Feb. 26 about online entrepreneurship.
The lecture, sponsored by the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership, was part of Ohanian’s national tour to present his book, Without Their Permission, according to Co-Director of RCEL Ray Simar.
Ohanian said the Internet is the relevant frontier for the current generation, and people should use the many resources online to learn how to code.
“We don’t know how it’s [going to] change all [of] these industries, but we do know it’s happening right now,” Ohanian said. “And those of us who are exploring this new frontier, we have an opportunity to guide where it’s headed.”
Ohanian said the execution of an idea can be more important than the idea itself and getting started on great ideas immediately, regardless of the possibility of failure, is crucial.
“Ideas alone are worthless,” Ohanian said. “Don’t be complacent with just a great idea. Get started right now. No one has a perfect roadmap. The first version of everything is janky. Even the first version of Iron Man is janky.”
Ohanian encouraged listeners to not care about one’s competition and to use haters as motivation. He gave the example of being invited to the Yahoo! headquarters only to be laughed at.
According to Ohanian, one Yahoo! executive called Reddit a rounding error compared to Yahoo!. Ohanian said the first thing he did when he went back home was to print out the words “you are a rounding error” and put it on his desk.
“I wanted to look at it every single morning and know exactly who we were proving wrong,” Ohanian said.
Jones College senior Ruby Gee said she wished Ohanian talked more about the risks of startups.
“[He] was very charismatic [and] knew how to use internet humor to engage with his audience,” Gee said. “However, the talk skimmed over the [high failure rate] of tech entrepreneurship.”
More from The Rice Thresher
Founder’s Court goes alt-rock as bôa kicks off U.S. tour at Rice
Founder’s Court morphed into a festival ground Friday night as British alt-rock band bôa launched the U.S. leg of their “Whiplash” tour. The group headlined the third annual Moody X-Fest before what organizers estimate was “a little bit over 2,000 students” — the largest turnout in the event’s three-year history.
Rice launches alternative funding program amid federal research cuts
Rice is launching the Bridge Funding Program for faculty whose federal funding for research projects has been reduced or removed. The program was announced via the Provost’s newsletter April 24.
O’Rourke rallies students in Academic Quad
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, Texas spoke in front of the Sallyport to a sea of sunglasses and “end gun violence” signs April 17. The rally, organized by Rice Young Democrats, took place in the academic quad from noon to 2 p.m.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.