Before building the online platform that evolved into a billion-dollar company, Alexis Ohanian, like many teenagers, started with a less-than-glamorous first job, and he wasn't great at it.

"My first job was at a CompUSA demo-ing software, and it was the worst public speaking experience a teenager going through puberty could have," the Reddit co-founder tells David Gelles of the New York Times. "Every 30 minutes I'd have to get on a mic and demo to the whole store some lame piece of hardware or software and literally get ignored by people."

His second high school job was at Pizza Hut, where he cooked and washed dishes. He worked his way up to become a waiter, he recalls, "where I learned basically everything I've ever needed to know about customer service."

When Ohanian declared a major in history at UVA, he was convinced he was going to be a lawyer, he tells Guy Raz on NPR's podcast "How I Built This": "As a history major, I thought the only way I was going to have a career was to go to law school."

It was during an LSAT study break at Waffle House when he realized he didn't actually want to go to law school. "It's a great place for epiphanies — and waffles," the entrepreneur tells Raz. "And I had both there that morning, and realized if I wanted these waffles more than the LSAT, I probably shouldn't be a lawyer."