Without Their Permission

September 16, 2013
In his thoroughly engaging and insightful first book, Reddit cofounder Ohanian extols the importance of a free Internet and exhorts fellow entrepreneurs to follow their dreams. Starting title-free cover and continuing throughout, Ohanian cheerfully breaks numerous business rules. After detailing how he and college friend Steve Huffman created the site reddit.com as undergrads at the University of Virginia (later selling it to Conde Nast), Ohanian then presents a helpful blueprint for readersâincluding how to identify genuine need in the marketplace, doing the research, and attacking problems. While some pages are devoted to the fruits of Ohanian's labor, he passionately addresses what he sees as job- and innovation-killing legislation: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). Ohanian convincingly argues for vigilance regarding legislation designed to limit their personal freedomsâno matter how appealing the plans sound when coming from lobbyists. Despite some annoying asides, the book is worthwhile reading for all budding entrepreneurs.

October 1, 2013
A jazzy guide to getting your Internet startup off the ground, from one equipped with time-tested advice: reddit co-founder Ohanian. Entrepreneurs of the world, unite--the means of production are now in your hands: "Today, you can simply create and present your ideas online," writes the author. Goodbye to the gatekeepers who passed judgment on your inspiration; unless, of course, those gatekeepers are the buying public. That's the short of it, but Ohanian, whose hopped-up optimism rushes from almost every page, takes care of the long of it as well. While still in college, he and his partner conceived of reddit, "a place where anyone at any time could find what was new and interesting online." The author took to heart the words of early Internet experimenters--hire good people, make something people want, spend as little as possible, have a plan to outsell your competitors--and he presents all of these tenets in blueprint format, along with dozens of anecdotes that make it feel real and enabling. For example, there is the story of the genesis of reddit, which follows a well-worn timeline: Build, test, launch, enter the "trough of sorrow," ride the epic failures and false hopes, and ultimately, witness growth. The author pats his back enough ("I majored in history and business (graduating with high honors) and minored in German"; "Forbes magazine called me mayor of the Internet") to be appealingly insecure, and his many bromides--"Magic happens when you give a damn"; "excellent customer service is vital"; "ideas are worthless...execution is everything"--also happen to have heft. Even if Ohanian's arguments concerning intellectual property rights are unconvincing, everything else he has to say can only help aspiring 21st-century entrepreneurs.

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