Without Their Permission: The Story of Reddit and a Blueprint for How to Change the World

Before that, I probably could look up that he was the founder of reddit but I didn't really use it very much, so I didn't pay attention. I now follow him on Twitter and see what he's using his platform to speak about. He talked about the sequel to this book being called Permissionless, which intrigued me. I didn't know this book existed, so I scooped it up at a very attractive price point.It's a frank talk about how he co-founded reddit, which has ballooned in value since he wrote this book. I liked his talk about his legislative efforts, too. I remember the blackout on Wikipedia. It's a fun, well-written book about being a tech entrepreneur in America. I liked how he talked about maintaining a free Internet. I also found it fascinating to read the part at the end where he talked about how a lot of Americans could not afford to have access to high speed Internet, which I take for granted. During the pandemic, a lot of kids took their AP tests from McDonald's parking lots. That hasn't changed since he published this book. I hope he continues to use his platform to drive American innovation and growth, as he has since he left the University of Virginia.

Alexis Ohanian, 'mayor of the internet' and co-founder of Reddit, shares his life story so far and his insight into what makes a successful startup and his vision for the future fertility of tech innovation for humanity. This book will give a good insight for any aspiring entrepreneur in our context of click-bait culture. As an undergrad student at University of VA, Ohanian learned the value of actively participating in class and life. One day while sitting in a waffle house, he was struck by the notion that he should abandon the more rooted and conventional path of law and instead set sail on the seas of entrepreneurship. He and his friend Steve pitched and failed, then pitched again and succeeded big with Reddit. Ohanian goes on to share his wisdom gained over the following years creating and investing in over 60 startups through his work with Ycombinator. He gives essentials of modern entrepreneurship theory such as how to focus more on solving major problems for potential customers, with the added advice that in this culture of overlapping tech, there is plenty of opportunity to solve major problems that your customers don't even know they have. Ohanian expresses this enthusiasm for presentation, execution, and proper collaboration with genuine passion. I feel "Without Their Permission" is an important read to understand what's driving value and innovation in our world, yet if it was a novel, I would be a bit disappointed with the hero character. As the title suggests, there is a rebellious element to the story. Ohanian goes to battle against the corrupt and entrenched interests that are stifling growth and innovation when he works to rally the citizens of the free internet to fight legislation such as the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA. His political-philosophic reflections in some ways remind me of other free-market rhetoric. His identity as a child of the nineties is evident and I can relate. I grew up in the same town as Ohanian around the same time with a similar passion for computers, networks, and the potential future we were all looking forward to. He mentions at one point the importance of timing for turning a good idea into a good opportunity and his character as "mayor of the internet" and hero of this story is missing a big opportunity in making the innovations' value more sustainable. However, this book is not a novel, though it is an illuminating, worthwhile, and enjoyable read.

My name is Mark Shoemaker and I am currently a student at the University of Baltimore. This semester I am taking an entrepreneurial class which required/recommended this book to be read on our own and outside of class in order to expand our knowledge of how to succeed starting up your own business. This book not only explains the story of Alexis Ohanian and how by chance created Redit with his college friend Steve, by also incorporates how both individuals grew from the experience and pushed themselves father in the business world. Starting off, Alexis Ohanian uses a lot of his past experiences in order to explain and give a better understanding to the reader of starting a startup. I think this aspect because its relatedtable, it closes the gap between author and reader. Alexis also likes to break down information and include humor to make the material simpler for the reader to understand. For example, he makes the metaphor that choosing business partners for start up are just as important as choosing a significant other in marriage. There is a lot of good aspects of this book but there is a lot some things i didn’t like. The book at many spots becomes quite unprofessional, more as if a friend is trying to give you advice. Ohanian also gives some misleading advice like ignore the competition and never turn down cannoli. The book is also very vague about what his first start up (reddit) is, I had to google it in order to finally gain exactly what it was. The book loses the reader in some spots just due to the vast amount of the authors personal thoughts. Overall, this book is useful to other entrepreneurial students or anyone interested in being an entrepreneur. This book describes someone who was once in our shoes and gives step by step of what Ohanian did in order to succeed. Even steps of how he failed in the past before Ohanian succeeded. This book relates to its users with a combination of sincerity, geekiness and a lot of enthusiasm. In the end, this book can be nothing but a great tool in order to help better explain how to create a startup and how to maintain it in its early and matured state.

Todo bien, gracias.

It's easy enough these days to fall into a techno-depression and to see demons in technology and the internet with cyber-bullying, revenge porn, mass surveillance, and other terrors frightening us. But the internet can also bring out the best in people. Ohanian has writen an excellent book that shows how he went from being just a college/university student to helping create a site, Reddit, that brings hundreds of thousands of semi-anonymous people together and delivers happiness.One thing that I particularly liked is that he encourages you to go out and take advantage of the Internet. A lot of people just use it to Google around or sit on Wikipedia for hours or watch Youtube videos, but Ohanian says you should do more and start creating your own stuff and putting it out there.The optimism in this book is something we need more of.

Highly recommend this book for anyone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur. The secret is to just go for it and deal with the bumps on the road along the way. Especially if you have no idea what you're doing. Very entertaining style of writing makes you want to know what happened next.

If you're looking for clues to how people will function and succeed in the future, read Ohanian. This book is much cheaper than an MBA :)

the first third was by far the best part,but other two thirds don't fall too far behind. really well written, great personality in it too.