“Saw myself get erased” - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian gets honest about the disappointment that led to him founding '776' VC firm
Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian recently opened up about what led to him founding Seven Seven Six. The American entrepreneur highlighted the one major disappointment that kickstarted his journey in establishing the venture capital firm.
Ohanian is best known for founding popular social media platform Reddit. After meeting Williams in 2016, the 42-year-old has extended his support to women's sports, and is currently invested in multiple leagues and teams.
In 2011, Alexis Ohanian founded the venture capital firm ‘Initialized Capital’ alongside Garry Tan. He left the company almost a decade later in 2020, and soon after founded his new VC firm Seven Seven Six. Recently, the American got honest about his departure from Initialized Capital and the decision to start ‘776’, writing on X,
“Saw myself get erased from @initialized history and figured it was time to put up some numbers that would be too good to silence. We’ll see 😏.”
He went on to detail his experience with Initialized Capital, writing,
“Total erasure from the website, marketing, story etc. Basically I was a valuable cofounder and partner while it got the firm press; even switched my attribution for Midas List to Garry to help him be more famous; very odd but once I left the story suddenly became a solo founder journey.”
“When I confronted them directly about it the response was a shrug and “well ya know that’s just how it goes” — then I saw this bullshit on reddit IPO day and ripped them one. You can erase all my other investments and cofounding the firm but also erase me from the company I obviously founded (and funded at Initialized) was just too absurd,” he added.
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian first met each other in 2015. The duo got married 2017, and over the years they have invested in several sports teams together, including Angel City FC in the NWSL and the Los Angeles Golf Club in the TGL.
Serena Williams shares bold statement about her venture capital firm
In 2017, Serena Williams stepped into the investment world with her venture capital firm Serena Ventures. The firm is based out of San Francisco and is mainly focused on backing businesses founded by women and minorities.
Recently, Williams highlighted the advantages of investing in diverse teams, writing on X,
“Did you know startup with diverse teams perform better. So yes, we love a good ROI, but we also love a good “told-you-so” to every fund that overlooked brilliance in a hoodie and braids.”
Since 2017, Serena Williams' venture capital firm has invested in a multitude of companies, 14 of which have gone on to achieve unicorn status. Outside of investing, Williams has also showcased her entrepreneurial expertise with several brands, including Wyn Beauty.