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.

After facing a 30% tax from Facebook, we realized we needed to expand beyond the platform to sustain our business.

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

In March 2022, we faced a significant challenge when capital markets fell, and we had to create as much efficiency as possible to survive against competitors with much more cash.

We started with a freemium model, but realized it distracted us; we shifted to a paid model and consistently increased prices over time, which helped us focus on serious customers.

In 2008, we faced a major setback when the financial crisis hit, leading to canceled orders and a million units on backorder.

We spent a lot of 2009 working down our excess inventory, including a significant deal with Costco to move products.

We realized that to grow our business, we needed to raise capital, as we had no money in the bank after three years of operation, and we didn't want to remain a lifestyle business.

Despite the difficulties in raising funds during the economic collapse of 2008, we managed to secure our first investment through a college business plan competition.