Alexis Ohanian (born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur, activist, investor, and best-selling author born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City and based in San Francisco, best known for co-founding the social news website Reddit, co-founding the early stage venture capital firm Initialized Capital, helping launch the travel search website Hipmunk, and starting the social enterprise Breadpig. He was a partner at Y Combinator, and is also the executive chairman of Reddit.
After graduating from the University of Virginia in 2005 with degrees in commerce and history, Ohanian started reddit, with co-founder Steve Huffman. Reddit initially received funding from Y Combinator after Ohanian and Huffman were rejected for their initial idea, My Mobile Menu. They joined the first batch of Summer of 2005 and were later acquired by Condé Nast in 2006. Ohanian continued to work closely with Reddit as a member of its Board of Directors. In 2007, Ohanian launched Breadpig, an "uncorporation" that produces geeky merchandise and gives the proceeds to charity. He no longer is involved in the day-to-day operations of Breadpig.
In 2009, Ohanian spoke at TED about a whale named Mister Splashy Pants.[10] After leaving Reddit in 2010, Ohanian spent 3 months working in microfinance as a Kiva fellow in Yerevan, Armenia. Ohanian helped launch travel search website Hipmunk in 2010, and now acts as an advisor. In June 2010, Ohanian announced the launch of his company Das Kapital Capital, which focuses on startup investing, advising and consulting. Ohanian was named the "Ambassador to the East" for early stage venture firm Y Combinator. In this position, he meets with East Coast applicants, mentors New York YC founders, and is a general representative for the company. He also held the role of part-time partner and full-time partner at Y Combinator, before leaving in 2016 to help launch the third Initialized Capital fund with Garry Tan.
