Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian remembers talk from over a decade ago amid book mention

Serena Williams' husband and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian recently went down memory lane as he celebrated being included in a new book. Ohanian also looked back at his 2012 TEDxMidwest speech, "How to Make the World Suck Less," amazed at how fast time has passed since his speech.

Ohanian has been a prominent figure in technology and venture capital. Following the sale of Reddit in 2006, he shifted to the investment industry, co-founding Initialized Capital and then founding Seven Seven Six in 2020, a culture-led investment firm.

Expressing his enthusiasm on social media, Ohanian shared a picture of a book page featuring his achievements. Accompanying the photo, he reminisced about his 2012 TEDxMidwest speech, writing:

"I'm in a book! Was my Chicago Ideas Week talk really 12 years ago???"

In his TEDxMidwest speech, Ohanian stressed the power of the internet to create positive change. He spoke of his entrepreneurial life, pointing to the success of Reddit and the impact of internet communities. Ohanian contends that classic, guilt-ridden models of charity, like those based on emotional appeals, are a relic of the past.

Instead, he advocated transparency, activism, and using digital tools to mobilize action. He ended by emphasizing that people can contribute positively by accepting the transparency and efficiency of the Internet.

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Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian breaks down what fuels a winning startup

In Picture: Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian (Source: Getty)

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, offered his take on what makes successful startups. In an X (formerly Twitter) post on March 19, 2025, Ohanian emphasized that startups are not only about ideas but also about finding pressing problems to solve.

"Startups aren’t about ideas—they’re really about problems. Find a pain so deep people can't live without your solution. Do that, and the world bends to your will," Serena Williams' husband wrote.

A user rebutted, contending that leading consumer and social media firms tend to develop completely new ideas instead of solving current issues, writing:

"The one sector where this thinking does apply as neatly is consumer/social. Often the winners create something new that didn’t solve a problem people had."

Ohanian agreed but added that certain innovations reveal issues people didn't know they had—becoming indispensable upon introduction, writing:

"Yeah it's definitely a unique pain folks may not know they have until you show them that solution — and then the key is they also feel terrible if you'd disappeared. Flirting with college peers (Facebook), What's new online (Reddit), Disposable messaging (Snap)," Serena Williams' husband replied.

In other news, Alexis Ohanian revealed how Airbnb’s CEO influenced his approach to leadership.