Alexis Ohanian

But then a year later,

But then a year later,

i leave you know the handcuffs had come off and fully vested and then what happened the app died because there was no one left to support it and there was no institutional buy-in and so imagine four years later five years later i come back and now it's 2014 and everyone knows you need a you need a mobile app you have to have a mobile app and the culture of reddit is still solidly desktop is only what matters why do we need a mobile app and i'm like

i leave you know the handcuffs had come off and fully vested and then what happened the app died because there was no one left to support it and there was no institutional buy-in and so imagine four years later five years later i come back and now it's 2014 and everyone knows you need a you need a mobile app you have to have a mobile app and the culture of reddit is still solidly desktop is only what matters why do we need a mobile app and i'm like

I failed. I failed. We had this five years ago, and yet here we are, and we actually now need to do it right this time, actually get the buy-in, actually bring in the folks. We finally shipped an app probably a year later. So it was an unwillingness to actually lead, and it was a relentless desire to just – keep moving forward with or without an actual team.

I failed. I failed. We had this five years ago, and yet here we are, and we actually now need to do it right this time, actually get the buy-in, actually bring in the folks. We finally shipped an app probably a year later. So it was an unwillingness to actually lead, and it was a relentless desire to just – keep moving forward with or without an actual team.

And that is a terrible way to be a CEO. Terrible. It's something frankly, I think I still struggle with in a lot of ways. I will never be hanging out on a beach. I will never retire. I love the work that I do. Yeah, if I do it well, I get very well rewarded for it. And that helps. But it's not about that. I love the work that I do. It's very satisfying.

And that is a terrible way to be a CEO. Terrible. It's something frankly, I think I still struggle with in a lot of ways. I will never be hanging out on a beach. I will never retire. I love the work that I do. Yeah, if I do it well, I get very well rewarded for it. And that helps. But it's not about that. I love the work that I do. It's very satisfying.

It's something I genuinely would want to do all the time. And my wife knows this. And she's someone who knows a thing or two about relentlessness and hard work. But even she would admit and has said on numerous occasions at the dinner table that sometimes I take it a little too far.

It's something I genuinely would want to do all the time. And my wife knows this. And she's someone who knows a thing or two about relentlessness and hard work. But even she would admit and has said on numerous occasions at the dinner table that sometimes I take it a little too far.

Swear to God. And I actually had an LP, so one of our investors. So about 10% of the money we invest out of 776 is my money. But then 90% of it is from institutions, universities, all values aligned, good folks. And I had one of our LPs casually be like, oh, hey, I heard you were, or I saw you were at the Olympics. Looked like it was a lot of fun.

Swear to God. And I actually had an LP, so one of our investors. So about 10% of the money we invest out of 776 is my money. But then 90% of it is from institutions, universities, all values aligned, good folks. And I had one of our LPs casually be like, oh, hey, I heard you were, or I saw you were at the Olympics. Looked like it was a lot of fun.

And I was like, are you implying that I was just hanging out at the Olympics for two weeks? And he's like, no, it's the summer. I totally get it. Like, it's fine. And so I was retelling this story to my wife. And she's like, I will literally call him up because they know each other. It'd be casual.

And I was like, are you implying that I was just hanging out at the Olympics for two weeks? And he's like, no, it's the summer. I totally get it. Like, it's fine. And so I was retelling this story to my wife. And she's like, I will literally call him up because they know each other. It'd be casual.

And I will assure him that I have countless times complained about the fact that you're working too much. And I'm like, baby, from any partner, that would be powerful. But coming from you, right, it carries a lot more weight. But the reality is... I love this. And unlike being a professional athlete, I get to do this forever.

And I will assure him that I have countless times complained about the fact that you're working too much. And I'm like, baby, from any partner, that would be powerful. But coming from you, right, it carries a lot more weight. But the reality is... I love this. And unlike being a professional athlete, I get to do this forever.

As long as my brain's working, I have compounding that I get out of age and experience. And it's the unfair advantage of all of us who are not professional athletes is that we actually continue to compound the expertise over time and get to keep doing the thing that we loved in our 20s, in our 30s, in our 40s, in our 50s. And it's a great blessing. And so...

As long as my brain's working, I have compounding that I get out of age and experience. And it's the unfair advantage of all of us who are not professional athletes is that we actually continue to compound the expertise over time and get to keep doing the thing that we loved in our 20s, in our 30s, in our 40s, in our 50s. And it's a great blessing. And so...

Yeah, I have this and I think the downside has been historically making sure I was either I was building teams and building organizations that were aligned with this. And that was a big part of the decision four years ago to say, okay, you know, Caitlin, who I founded 776 with, she joined me early in the Reddit turnaround. Almost that time was like six years earlier.

Yeah, I have this and I think the downside has been historically making sure I was either I was building teams and building organizations that were aligned with this. And that was a big part of the decision four years ago to say, okay, you know, Caitlin, who I founded 776 with, she joined me early in the Reddit turnaround. Almost that time was like six years earlier.