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MS

Michael Seibel

02/10/22

@ Y Combinator

On day one, Reddit had no users, so founders Steve and Alexis created fake accounts to make it appear active, which helped attract real users later.

Video

YC

What Does It REALLY Mean To Do Things That Don't Scale? – Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel

@ Y Combinator

What Does It REALLY Mean To Do Things That Don't Scale? – Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel

02/10/22

Related Takeaways

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Steve Huffman

09/26/24

@ Sequoia Capital

Reddit was founded in 2005 by college roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, initially as a mobile food ordering app idea, but it evolved into a platform for sharing and discussing topics.

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Steve Huffman

09/26/24

@ Sequoia Capital

At that time, there wasn't a clear monetization route for Reddit; we didn't have advertising or any real way to generate revenue, so we operated as a lean startup to survive with scarce resources.

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Alexis Ohanian

06/20/14

@ Y Combinator

The first Startup School took place in Boston, and I was fortunate to participate in it with my co-founder, Steve Huffman, when we started Reddit.

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Nikhil Kamath Cast

04/20/23

@ Nikhil Kamath

Platforms like Facebook initially thrived on real identities, fostering trust among users, which contributed to their growth.

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Steve Huffman

09/26/24

@ Sequoia Capital

After being rejected by Y Combinator with their initial idea, we were invited to join the program under the condition that we work on something else, which led to the creation of Reddit.

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Patrick Collison

11/05/15

@ Greylock

We had to manually set up accounts in the early days, which worked well because it reduced friction for users.

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Steve Huffman

09/26/24

@ Sequoia Capital

After the acquisition, Reddit struggled to attract the right talent and resources, leading to my departure to start Hipmunk, while Alexis pursued a career in investing.

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Ben Silbermann

11/09/16

@ Y Combinator

In the beginning, we did desperate things to attract users, like changing Apple Store computers to display Pinterest, hoping to create buzz.

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Steve Huffman

09/26/24

@ Sequoia Capital

The agency of users is fundamental to Reddit; they create and rank content, and their capacity for amazing contributions exceeds our expectations.