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.

Reddit's growth from $15 million to $456 million in revenue by 2021 demonstrates the success of our business model and community engagement.

By the time of the acquisition discussions, I was working 16-hour days, balancing my responsibilities at Reddit with my graduate studies, which was a challenging period for me. When I received an offer to sell Reddit for $10 million, I realized I could make life-changing money in just a year of work, which was more than my parents would earn in their entire lives.

In 2011, Condé Nast spun Reddit out into an independent company again, which is rare in my experience, allowing us to fundraise and bring in new talent like CEO Yishan Wong.

Condé Nast acquired Reddit for $10 million, presenting a crucial decision for the founders: to sell to an established media company or gamble on Reddit's potential as part of the internet's future.

We chose to pursue advertising as a business model to keep Reddit free and open, aligning with our values and community expectations.

With my return, we redesigned the site, moved Reddit onto mobile, and focused on building a sustainable business model.

We shifted The Onion's business model to prioritize readers over advertisers, launching a subscription service that has successfully attracted tens of thousands of subscribers.

In 2008, with the market collapse, we realized we needed to start making money, so we focused on monetizing our site and cutting costs.