Alexis Ohanian, Founder of Seven Seven Six and Co-Founder and Former Executive Chairman of Reddit, will be sharing pearls of wisdom with the graduating class of 2024 at the USC Iovine and Young Academy commencement ceremony on May 10. Before he takes the stage for his address, Ohanian is offering a glimpse at what can be expected in the form of some bite-sized questions with impactful answers, touching on everything from advice for founders to how he balances business with purpose. 

IYA: What’s a significant piece of advice you wish you had received when you were starting out and how do you think it would have affected your path? 

Alexis Ohanian: Choose your co-founders wisely — don’t just pick the person closest to you — because you need to expect at least a 10-year journey with your partner and entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. You should also not just be complementary in skills, but also values-aligned, which I think is ultimately more important. I wouldn’t change anything in my life, but it surely would’ve made the first 15 years of my professional life very different. That said, everything is a learning experience and I’m grateful for all of it.

What is the most meaningful piece of advice you did receive?

When my mom got sick with brain cancer a few months into my founding Reddit, she told me to make sure that I always lived a life I wanted to live, not live for her or anyone else — it was her confidence in me, from my earliest memories until her death a few years later, that convinced me I could do anything I wanted with my life as long as I devoted myself to it.

How do you define success? Has that definition evolved over time?

Now that I’m a dad, I just want my kids to love me and be proud of me. I used to care so much – due to creating Reddit, being the face of it – about what millions of strangers on the internet thought, because building this massive online community was the job. But it’s so liberating to now only care about these little humans I love.

How do you balance and stay true to your values/purpose with your approach to business?

I realized being one vote out of five on a board that didn’t agree with me on key issues like violence and hate wasn’t sustainable for me, so I resigned in protest and got my values aligned with my work and, WOW, the last 4 years have been blessings on blessings. It makes me think that I should’ve done it sooner, of course, but I’m grateful for where I am now and the momentum that aligning values with execution has provided me.

What are your hopes and dreams for this graduating generation of innovators and young thinkers? 

No spoilers for my speech, but this is truly a pivotal decade for humanity and this graduating generation has a chance to get their fingerprints on some very big and important things — but that will require rolling up their sleeves and getting to work (how else will those fingerprints get there?).

What are you looking forward to on IYA commencement day? 

Seeing all the proud friends and family in the audience; the culmination of their young peoples' hard work and the start of their big new journey.

Before he takes the stage for his commencement address, Alexis Ohanian is offering a glimpse at what can be expected in the form of some bite-sized questions with impactful answers, touching on everything from advice for founders to how he balances business with purpose. 

Keynote Q&A: 2024 IYA Commencement Speaker Alexis Ohanian on Meaningful Advice, Defining Success, and More

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