Reddit has become a social powerhouse thanks to its mix of aggregation and user-submitted content, but the website was born out of a different idea altogether. Founders Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian explain that their initial goal was to develop a simple way to order food from local Sheetz gas stations using cellphones. The idea grabbed the attention of Paul Graham — co-founder of Y-Combinator — after the two college students approached him at a lecture. The plan was ultimately rejected when the duo formally pitched it to the startup investor in 2005, but Graham promised funding if they could devise something new.
Watch this: the origin story of Reddit
Three weeks and $12,000 created the front page of the internet
Three weeks and $12,000 created the front page of the internet
That “something new” turned into Reddit, what Huffman describes as a cross between Delicious and Slashdot that would aggregate as much content as possible across the web. Three weeks after receiving $12,000 from Y-Combinator and moving to Boston, Ohanian and Huffman pushed out a skeleton version of the site. The two even started submitting their own links under different usernames to give the illusion of a healthy site, but Reddit eventually became self-sufficient. If you’re itching for a small lesson in internet history, then make sure to watch the full account.
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