"It felt surreal" - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recalls life-changing moment as Reddit founder when Paul Graham essay went viral
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recalled his initial Reddit days when an essay by Paul Graham brought them enough traffic to propel the website to the peak of fame. Ohanian co-founded Reddit with Steve Huffman and previously served as the executive chairman.
Always driven by technology since childhood, Ohanian graduated from the University of Virginia with commerce and history but soon switched to building web applications. He and his college roommate, Steve Huffman, ideated and built a food application app named MyMobileMenu and pitched it to Y Combinator. Their idea was rejected, following which they came up with Reddit, the social news and discussion website.
Though Serena's husband resigned in 2020, he often reminisces about his initial business days. In a recent X post, he lauded the co-founder of Cal.com, Peer Richelsen, for his success graph and recalled the time when Paul Graham's essay went viral on Reddit and turned the tables.
"I remember this feeling in the early days of @reddit. A @PaulG essay had been our big 'going viral' moment in the first months and when that became the new normal DAU, it felt surreal. Onward, Peer!" his X caption read.
The original post of Richelsen featured a photo of the graph with the caption:
"couple months ago we went viral on hacker news,now thats just a normal week. so wild to see"
After stepping back from the company in 2018, Ohanian has invested in several ventures, including Sekai, Opal Camera, Algolia, Flock Safety, Blue Leaf, and Heep, among others.
Alexis Ohanian once addressed the student of his alma mater with business and life lessons
In a special appearance at the University of Virginia in 2023, Ohanian revealed that having a 'surfing mindset' can be beneficial in flourishing in life and business. In surfing, the surfers recognize the right and wrong waves with focus and quietude. According to him, the same strategy gets applied to business and life as well.
"There’s a really good analogy about life and business and surfing ... Some waves come by, and you rip them perfect, and you are just killing it. You’ve got your GoPro out. You got a good selfie, and you feel good about yourself," he said, via CNBC.
Serena's husband added:
Afterward, you might “paddle back out ... and wait five hours for another good wave,” he continued.
Ohanian will launch his women-only track event, Athlos, on 26 September 2024. Olympian Gabby Thomas will be a part of the event as one of the ambassadors and competitors.