James Goodman

@goodman_dandc

Alexis Ohanian, who co-founded Reddit, a platform for online discussions, has written how the "Internet helps people help themselves."

Ohanian has done just that in a big way, at the age of 33. Reddit has about 245 million unique viewers a month. And Ohanian has been involved in other successful startups as well as having invested in about 200 companies.

As a featured speaker Friday at Rochester Institute of Technology's Brick City Homecoming & Family Weekend, Ohanian shared some words of wisdom with a crowd of about 250.

His address, "Think like a startup: Insights from a digital entrepreneur and startup investor," began with telling how, during the end of his senior year at the University of Virginia, he and a classmate, Steve Huffman, came up with the idea of Reddit.

And Ohanian offered some do's and don'ts for aspiring entrepreneurs as he gave his PowerPoint presentation, pacing about the stage of the Student Alumni Union's Ingle Auditorium. The event was hosted by RIT's Saunders College of Business.

Failure, he noted, should not be feared.

"Sucking is the first step to being sorta good at something," said Ohanian.

His own career required him to listen and learn.

During spring break of his senior year in college, Ohanian and Huffman traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to hear a presentation by entrepreneur and investor Paul Graham.

They met with him afterward, and while their first idea — a plan for ordering food on cell phones— was rejected, Graham invited them to apply to a new seed venture firm, Y Combinator.

With $12,000 in venture capital, Ohanian and Huffman started Reddit in 2005. This platform for online communities to share links and have discussions was sold to Condé Nast 16 months later.

After a number of additional successful ventures, Ohanian said he now spends most of his time at Reddit. He also wrote a book, Without Their Permission. How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed.

"Read this book to find out how to chart your own course or to avoid becoming obsolete," wrote Ohanian, in the book's introduction.

His RIT presentation touched on themes developed in his book.

The internet, he told his RIT audience, often does not effectively connect users.

"It is basically handing all of us a megaphone — but not engaging us in dialogue," said Ohanian.

Reddit tries to establish this sense of connectivity, providing online platforms for people with shared interests.

"People want to be part of the conversation between real, authentic people," said Ohanian.

Those wanting to launch a startup shouldn't "play house," doing things that make them feel like entrepreneurs but not actually getting the product they are developing out for comment.

"There are two buckets: Improve the product and talk to users," Ohanian said.

Ohanian compared computer technology of today with that of the printing press in the 15th century.

"Today, the new literacy is software," he said.

Urging college students to learn how to program computers, Ohanian said students need to be literate in the "new printing."

Instead of building a factory, the entrepreneur of today can "open a laptop," he noted.

But having the necessary tools isn't enough.

In launching a startup, Ohanian said, "You have to make something people want."

JGOODMAN@Gannett.com