17 ms·

Reddit Founder: “I Wish I Still Owned Reddit Now”

190 points by AndrewWarner 16y ago

8ren 16y ago
Another great interview, Andrew. I think it's the combination of fantastic guests, and you asking the really interesting questions (that are often somewhat uncomfortable), and sort of harping on them a bit until you get it across. That's what I tend to do also. I want to give some negative feedback too: I read the transcript this time instead of watching. (1). It was a little slow to start, so I skimmed a bit near the beginning, but it quickly got interesting (I don't know how to fix this - I do the same thing with many great theatlantic articles). (2). One reason I read the transcript was that I do feel a little uncomfortable with the probing questions - but that's also what I value most. (so again I can't offer a solution). (3). Another reason to not watch the video is that I feel really uncomfortable when you look away from the guest while they are talking (while eg. googling something) - it feels really rude (even though I know it's not). And for this one, I have a solution to suggest! I think it's really demanding on you to maintain eye-contact throughout a long interview, and TV interviewers don't need to do this, because it's edited to cut between the interviewer and guest. So it's your format, of showing both heads, that creates this problem. So a simple solution is to just cut to the guest when you google or otherwise need to look away (assuming your video software has a hotkey for that). Anyway, the ratio of my negative vs. positive comment length doesn't reflect my opinion, which was that this was another excellent interview - thanks very much!
timcederman 16y ago
Full context of quote: Andrew: Have you ever regretted selling when you did instead of holding on for a little bit longer? Steve: A little bit longer, no. Also, when we sold it was the fall of 2006, right before the economy totally tanked. And so, if we had held on a little longer, I think we would have had dark days ahead. If we could have seen the whole future that in four years things would recover and Reddit would be huge and traffic would be great, yeah, I wish I still owned Reddit now and owned it for the last four or five years. For everything to have gone right for us, to have the stomach to survive that economy, I mean, who knows, like Conde Nast’s umbrella helped us during that economy. We could still hire and pay market salaries when a lot of people couldn’t. So, maybe we wouldn’t have even survived. It’s hard to say.
- vaksel 16y ago
  well the hiring thing, they only had like what 4 employees?
  - redthrowaway 16y ago
    Yeah, but they've always been reticent to capitalize on traffic with ads, and the ads they do have are empty half the time. I think they could very easily make quite a bit of money, but it would require monetizing their traffic and selling user data to advertisers. This could likely be done in a way that didn't exploit the trust that the community places in the admins, but it would have to be done carefully, openly, and with a significant development investment.
    - ryanelkins 16y ago
      I wonder what percentage of Reddit users run Adblock - I imagine it's much higher than your typical site.
      - aerique 16y ago
        Yes, but how many have specifically whitelisted Reddit?
        points 16y ago
        That's not really the issue. The fact they have adblock installed makes them the type of demographic that's hard to monetize. Whitelisting Reddit doesn't magically make them a better demographic.
        bennysaurus 16y ago
        I'm not so sure about that - you have a community that is very tech-oriented and actually volunteering to view ads knowing it is doing the community a benefit. Such people are more likely to pay attention to what is being advertised as well as they're conscious the advertisements are there by choice. Marketing done carefully on such sites can lead to a much more effective turnover if it identifies with the group it's targeting. A few good examples are the beef jerky company and the Reddit soap rescue done about 12 months ago. Forgotten both their names but can do a search if need be :-)
mahmud 16y ago
Personally I see reddit more as a liability than a commercial asset. The community is the loveliest on the internet, but also extremely self-conscious and suspicious of change, much less one dictated from the top. Whoever owns reddit will have to foot the development, support and hosting fees, while remaining subservient to a moody and very sophisticated user-base. Better cash out and be a community hero.
- endtime 16y ago
  >The community is the loveliest on the internet I hope you're being sarcastic. reddit's been a sordid mix of conspiracy theorists, political extremists, and 4chan users for the last year or two.
  - ericflo 16y ago
    This whole notion that Reddit is one personality is ridiculous. Reddit has idiots, philanthropists, rapists, and startup founders. And those probably overlap.
  - jonursenbach 16y ago
    Reddit's community is dependent upon what subreddits you're part of.
    - endtime 16y ago
      I agree. But surely "the [reddit] community" without qualifiers refers to the entire community, not some subset thereof.
      - mkr-hn 16y ago
        It's a good place on average with a few loony subreddits.
        endtime 16y ago
        Well, if in "a few" you include most of the largest ones, including /r/reddit.com, /r/politics, and /r/worldnews.
aditya 16y ago
Brings up another question, though. Is Conde Nast the right place for Reddit?
- pavs 16y ago
  You know, if you asked me this 2-3 years ago, I would have said definitely no. But they have been mostly (they were few incidents) off-hand. I honestly don't see most other company doing it. If it weren't for the link at the bottom of the page, outsiders wouldn't even know that reddit is owned by Conde. I say, they definitely deserve some kudos.
Jun8 16y ago
Steve gave a talk at the MidVentures LAUNCH event in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. My take-aways: (i) This guy is just a kid :-) (goes to show how quickly one can build things, note to self: if reborn, don't waste time on a PhD); (ii) He is very modest and unpretentious, as far as I can see no cocky Zuck thing going on here; (iii) He also looks like Brian Johnson in The Breakfast Club :-) He talked about his experiences in founding Reddit, when their original idea was turned down by YC.
AndrewWarner 16y ago
Sorry. The site is having trouble. I'm not sure why, but maybe it's because my hosting company had a power outage somewhere. Here's a Google Doc with the transcript: http://bit.ly/9gRoGl http://bit.ly/9gRoGl
radioactive21 16y ago
He could have pulled a Kevin Rose and shot himself in the face. There are people who are good at certain things, knowing when to walk away is very important. There are entrepreneurs that are great at creating startups, but beyond that they are horrible. There are countless stories of founders who dont know how to lead companies pass certain points and refuse to hire anyone else, watching their business fail.
jonathanjaeger 16y ago
The conversation about selling Reddit was very interesting, but I definitely thought a more intriguing part was the discussion about how some startups fail in Y-combinator (not having the stamina to try a new idea, not sticking long enough with an idea that was good in the first place, etc.).
dools 16y ago
This was a fantastic interview and I'm going to set aside 1 hour a week to watch more on Mixergy.com I think his interview technique is very polished and this interview was incredibly watchable. Anyone concerned about the "context" of the quote should also note: he explicitly asks what headline to give the interview in order to "game reddit" and increase hits - I think he did pretty well, don't you?
rms 16y ago
Steve, if hipmunk does well maybe you and friends and the reddit users can buy reddit back.

190 points by AndrewWarner 16y ago

8ren 16y ago

Another great interview, Andrew. I think it's the combination of fantastic guests, and you asking the really interesting questions (that are often somewhat uncomfortable), and sort of harping on them a bit until you get it across. That's what I tend to do also. I want to give some negative feedback too: I read the transcript this time instead of watching. (1). It was a little slow to start, so I skimmed a bit near the beginning, but it quickly got interesting (I don't know how to fix this - I do the same thing with many great theatlantic articles). (2). One reason I read the transcript was that I do feel a little uncomfortable with the probing questions - but that's also what I value most. (so again I can't offer a solution). (3). Another reason to not watch the video is that I feel really uncomfortable when you look away from the guest while they are talking (while eg. googling something) - it feels really rude (even though I know it's not). And for this one, I have a solution to suggest! I think it's really demanding on you to maintain eye-contact throughout a long interview, and TV interviewers don't need to do this, because it's edited to cut between the interviewer and guest. So it's your format, of showing both heads, that creates this problem. So a simple solution is to just cut to the guest when you google or otherwise need to look away (assuming your video software has a hotkey for that). Anyway, the ratio of my negative vs. positive comment length doesn't reflect my opinion, which was that this was another excellent interview - thanks very much!

timcederman 16y ago

Full context of quote: Andrew: Have you ever regretted selling when you did instead of holding on for a little bit longer? Steve: A little bit longer, no. Also, when we sold it was the fall of 2006, right before the economy totally tanked. And so, if we had held on a little longer, I think we would have had dark days ahead. If we could have seen the whole future that in four years things would recover and Reddit would be huge and traffic would be great, yeah, I wish I still owned Reddit now and owned it for the last four or five years. For everything to have gone right for us, to have the stomach to survive that economy, I mean, who knows, like Conde Nast’s umbrella helped us during that economy. We could still hire and pay market salaries when a lot of people couldn’t. So, maybe we wouldn’t have even survived. It’s hard to say.

vaksel 16y ago
well the hiring thing, they only had like what 4 employees?
- redthrowaway 16y ago
  Yeah, but they've always been reticent to capitalize on traffic with ads, and the ads they do have are empty half the time. I think they could very easily make quite a bit of money, but it would require monetizing their traffic and selling user data to advertisers. This could likely be done in a way that didn't exploit the trust that the community places in the admins, but it would have to be done carefully, openly, and with a significant development investment.
  - ryanelkins 16y ago
    I wonder what percentage of Reddit users run Adblock - I imagine it's much higher than your typical site.
    - aerique 16y ago
      Yes, but how many have specifically whitelisted Reddit?
      - points 16y ago
        That's not really the issue. The fact they have adblock installed makes them the type of demographic that's hard to monetize. Whitelisting Reddit doesn't magically make them a better demographic.
        bennysaurus 16y ago
        I'm not so sure about that - you have a community that is very tech-oriented and actually volunteering to view ads knowing it is doing the community a benefit. Such people are more likely to pay attention to what is being advertised as well as they're conscious the advertisements are there by choice. Marketing done carefully on such sites can lead to a much more effective turnover if it identifies with the group it's targeting. A few good examples are the beef jerky company and the Reddit soap rescue done about 12 months ago. Forgotten both their names but can do a search if need be :-)

mahmud 16y ago

Personally I see reddit more as a liability than a commercial asset. The community is the loveliest on the internet, but also extremely self-conscious and suspicious of change, much less one dictated from the top. Whoever owns reddit will have to foot the development, support and hosting fees, while remaining subservient to a moody and very sophisticated user-base. Better cash out and be a community hero.

endtime 16y ago
>The community is the loveliest on the internet I hope you're being sarcastic. reddit's been a sordid mix of conspiracy theorists, political extremists, and 4chan users for the last year or two.
- ericflo 16y ago
  This whole notion that Reddit is one personality is ridiculous. Reddit has idiots, philanthropists, rapists, and startup founders. And those probably overlap.
- jonursenbach 16y ago
  Reddit's community is dependent upon what subreddits you're part of.
  - endtime 16y ago
    I agree. But surely "the [reddit] community" without qualifiers refers to the entire community, not some subset thereof.
    - mkr-hn 16y ago
      It's a good place on average with a few loony subreddits.
      - endtime 16y ago
        Well, if in "a few" you include most of the largest ones, including /r/reddit.com, /r/politics, and /r/worldnews.

aditya 16y ago

Brings up another question, though. Is Conde Nast the right place for Reddit?

pavs 16y ago
You know, if you asked me this 2-3 years ago, I would have said definitely no. But they have been mostly (they were few incidents) off-hand. I honestly don't see most other company doing it. If it weren't for the link at the bottom of the page, outsiders wouldn't even know that reddit is owned by Conde. I say, they definitely deserve some kudos.

Jun8 16y ago

Steve gave a talk at the MidVentures LAUNCH event in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. My take-aways: (i) This guy is just a kid :-) (goes to show how quickly one can build things, note to self: if reborn, don't waste time on a PhD); (ii) He is very modest and unpretentious, as far as I can see no cocky Zuck thing going on here; (iii) He also looks like Brian Johnson in The Breakfast Club :-) He talked about his experiences in founding Reddit, when their original idea was turned down by YC.

AndrewWarner 16y ago

Sorry. The site is having trouble. I'm not sure why, but maybe it's because my hosting company had a power outage somewhere. Here's a Google Doc with the transcript: http://bit.ly/9gRoGl http://bit.ly/9gRoGl

radioactive21 16y ago

He could have pulled a Kevin Rose and shot himself in the face. There are people who are good at certain things, knowing when to walk away is very important. There are entrepreneurs that are great at creating startups, but beyond that they are horrible. There are countless stories of founders who dont know how to lead companies pass certain points and refuse to hire anyone else, watching their business fail.

jonathanjaeger 16y ago

The conversation about selling Reddit was very interesting, but I definitely thought a more intriguing part was the discussion about how some startups fail in Y-combinator (not having the stamina to try a new idea, not sticking long enough with an idea that was good in the first place, etc.).

dools 16y ago

This was a fantastic interview and I'm going to set aside 1 hour a week to watch more on Mixergy.com I think his interview technique is very polished and this interview was incredibly watchable. Anyone concerned about the "context" of the quote should also note: he explicitly asks what headline to give the interview in order to "game reddit" and increase hits - I think he did pretty well, don't you?

rms 16y ago

Steve, if hipmunk does well maybe you and friends and the reddit users can buy reddit back.