# Live Episode! Reddit: Alexis Ohanian & Steve Huffman

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2017-08-31
- Length: 52m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman

## Summary

Reddit co-founders Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian recount the company's journey from a college project to a $1.8 billion valuation, detailing their pivot from a mobile menu app to Reddit after a rejection by Y Combinator. They discuss the early days of coding and user acquisition, the emotional toll of selling to Condé Nast, and the subsequent rift in their friendship that required therapy to repair. The founders also address the 2015 moderator protests and the challenge of managing toxic content and trolls on a platform with 300 million monthly users.

## Chapters

- [0:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=43) Introduction: Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian
- [4:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=284) College Friendship and First Startup Idea
- [10:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=610) Meeting Paul Graham and Y Combinator Rejection
- [14:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=895) Pivoting to Reddit and Early Launch
- [30:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=1818) Selling Reddit to Condé Nast
- [34:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=2072) Post-Reddit Life and Friendship Rift
- [39:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=2355) Returning to Reddit During the 2015 Crisis
- [43:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=2591) Managing Trolls and Community Health
- [50:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2017-08-31-live-episode-reddit-alexis-ohanian-steve-huffman#t=3047) Luck, Success, and Personal Lives

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Founder wellbeing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/founder-wellbeing)

## Most relevant to

founders before launch, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Reddit (product)
- Y Combinator (company)
- Paul Graham (other)
- Condé Nast (company)
- Hit Monk (company)
- Snoo (product)
- Delicious (product)
- Slashdot (product)
- SOPA (other)
- PIPA (other)
- Digg (product)
- Serena Williams (other)

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- [Episode 182: Been trying to sell out for years](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2018-09-07-episode-182-been-trying-to-sell-out-for-years) (Making It)
- [Interview with the Upverter Founders - Ramiform Reciprocity Raconteurs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-09-18-interview-with-the-upverter-founders-ramiform-reciprocity-raconteurs) (The Amp Hour)
- [A Happy Day For Rust](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2025-03-15-a-happy-day-for-rust) (Oxide and Friends)
- [#51 Pure Gold Series: Ask Seth Goldman Anything! Plus the Announcement of Just Ice Tea](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2022-07-06-51-pure-gold-series-ask-seth-goldman-anything-plus-the-announcement-of-just-ice) (The Startup CPG Podcast)

## Citing this page

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