Reddit Comes To Campus

BY, JUSTIN LEE

GW Tech collective hosted a talk with the co-founder of reddit and highly lauded entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian on Tuesday night in Funger Hall.

GW was just another spot for Ohanian to promote his new book, Without Their Permission, as well as spread his message of entrepreneurship.

“It has been made easier due to the rapid advancement of technology,” Ohanian said to a packed Funger Hall.

The meeting started off with Elliot Liskin, head of the Tech Collective, giving opening statements. Ohanian then took the stage to give his lecture.

Using both humor and personal anecdotes about his own start-ups, Ohanian explained what he believed to be to be the key components of beginning any business. “Businesses are founded with no actual long-term plan and that actually producing the physical product was more important than the idea behind it,” he said.

This was because ideas are often produced by anyone and that the will power and time used to create the product was what makes a start-up.  Ohanian also described how the fast moving world of technology allowed for any new business to step in, claiming that the tech industry allowed for many start-ups to emerge to take advantage of a new technological niche unseen in the years prior.

In a surprise move, Ohanian gave an interview to one of GWU’s own entrepreneurs who created the cost efficient bamboo bicycle, which received recognition from the Clinton Global Initiative.  Ohanian used the interview to confirm what he said earlier about how start-ups happen with usually no long term plan in mind.

“I hope to see many new start ups from the faces in this crowd,” said Ohanian. “I’m feeling highly optimistic about the future of the tech industry.”

Ohanian then spent the rest of his time fielding questions and signing books. He later talked to participants at the Black Rooster Pub.

The audience was a combination of GW students and small business owners, mostly from the tech industry.