The character arc of Alexis Ohanian

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 24 April 1983 in Brooklyn, New York. Between then and now sit a commencement address in 2001, a degree at the University of Virginia in 2005, Reddit launched that summer, the Conde Nast sale in 2006, Breadpig in 2007, a Kiva fellowship in Yerevan in 2010, Das Kapital Capital in June 2010, a return to Reddit in July 2015, Initialized Capital in 2016, a step back in February 2018 and a football club in July 2020. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Alexis Ohanian?

He walked out of the exam.

His paternal grandparents fled Bitlis and Kharput during the Armenian genocide and reached the United States as refugees, settling in Binghamton, New York. He was born in Brooklyn in 1983 and grew up in Maryland, the only child of a travel agent and a pharmacy technician, and gave the commencement address at Howard High School in 2001. He took the only computer science class his school offered, lost his nerve about the subject at university, and read commerce and history instead, which he has since said was the wrong call.

At one point he planned to be a lawyer. He walked out of the LSAT, went to a Waffle House in Charlottesville, and worked out over a meal that he wanted to start a company. After graduating in 2005 he and his college roommate Steve Huffman pitched a food ordering application to Y Combinator. It was turned down, with an invitation to come back with something else. They came back with Reddit, which joined Y Combinator's first batch in the summer of 2005 and was acquired by Conde Nast in 2006 for between ten and twenty million dollars.

What followed is unusually varied. He launched Breadpig in 2007, which sells things and gives the proceeds away. He spent three months as a Kiva fellow doing microfinance work in Yerevan, Armenia in 2010, helped launch the travel site Hipmunk the same year, and started Das Kapital Capital in June 2010. He was a partner at Y Combinator before leaving in 2016 to help launch the third Initialized Capital fund with Garry Tan. He returned to Reddit full time with Huffman in July 2015 and stepped back in February 2018 to invest again, and in July 2020 became the founding control owner of a mostly female ownership group awarded a new football franchise.

The moments

Alexis Ohanian's timeline.

The 2000s

Jun 2001

The commencement address

Milestone. Chosen to speak for his year, at eighteen.

Jun 2004

He walked out

Milestone, and it changed everything. Out of the exam hall, into a Waffle House, and out of law entirely.

1 Jun 2004

Sit the law exam, or not

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: walk out and build, taken, or finish the exam. Reddit launched in the summer of 2005 and was acquired by Conde Nast in 2006.

May 2005

Commerce and history

Milestone, and it changed his direction. He has said since that he should have stayed with the computers.

Jun 2005

The first idea, rejected

Setback, and it changed his direction. Turned down, with an invitation to come back with something else.

23 Jun 2005

Reddit launched

Milestone, and it changed everything. The second idea, in the first Y Combinator batch.

31 Oct 2006

Conde Nast bought it

Milestone, and it changed everything. Sold at twenty three, and he stayed on the board.

Jun 2007

Breadpig

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A company built to give its profits away.

The 2010s

Mar 2010

Microfinance in Yerevan

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Three months in the country his grandparents were driven out of.

Jun 2010

Das Kapital Capital

Milestone, and it changed everything. From building companies to backing them, at twenty seven.

10 Jul 2015

Back to Reddit

Milestone, and it changed his direction. Back for two and a half years, then out again on purpose.

Jun 2016

Initialized Capital

Milestone, and it changed his direction. A fund of his own, after the apprenticeship at Y Combinator.

The 2020s

21 Jul 2020

A football club

Milestone, and it changed everything. A club, owned mostly by women, which had not been done that way before.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving began with a rejection: the idea he actually pitched was turned down, and the one he went back with became the front page of the internet.

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Alexis Ohanian: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Alexis Ohanian's character arc?

He walked out of the law exam he had been preparing for, decided in a Waffle House to start a company instead, had his first idea rejected by Y Combinator, and came back with Reddit. It was acquired by Conde Nast in 2006, when he was twenty three.

Did Alexis Ohanian found Reddit?

Yes, with his college roommate Steve Huffman. It joined Y Combinator's first batch of startups in the summer of 2005, after the pair's first idea, a food ordering application called MyMobileMenu, was turned down by the same investors.

Why did Alexis Ohanian not become a lawyer?

He had planned to. He walked out of the LSAT, went to a Waffle House in Charlottesville, Virginia, and worked out while he was sitting there that he wanted to start a company instead. He graduated from the University of Virginia the following year.

What is Alexis Ohanian's Armenian heritage?

His paternal grandparents fled Bitlis and Kharput during the Armenian genocide and reached the United States as refugees, settling in Binghamton, New York. In 2010 he spent three months working in microfinance as a Kiva fellow in Yerevan.

What has Alexis Ohanian built besides Reddit?

Breadpig in 2007, which gives its proceeds to charity, Das Kapital Capital in June 2010, and the third Initialized Capital fund with Garry Tan in 2016. He also helped launch the travel search website Hipmunk in 2010.

Does Alexis Ohanian own a football club?

In July 2020 he became the founding control owner of a primarily female ownership group that was awarded a new football franchise. Ownership groups of that shape were close to unheard of at the time.

What did Alexis Ohanian study?

Commerce and history at the University of Virginia, graduating in 2005, with a minor in German. He took the only computer science class his high school offered and lost confidence in the subject at university, which he has said in retrospect was a mistake.

Where does this timeline of Alexis Ohanian's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Alexis Ohanian isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Alexis Ohanian, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
Y Combinator first batch records, summer 2005, and the Conde Nast acquisition of 2006.
University of Virginia degree record, 2005.