Reddit CEO Steve Huffman Says Workers Beforehand Had been ‘Not Working Very Arduous’

Reddit is price practically $21 billion after final week’s megahit earnings. Its CEO mentioned success took twenty years, an enormous management change, and reminding staff they must work arduous.

In an episode of the “Prof G Pod” podcast launched on Sunday, Reddit’s cofounder and CEO, Steve Huffman, talked in regards to the platform’s founding journey. He additionally answered a query in regards to the largest adjustments he made that had probably the most impression on the firm.

He mentioned the most important change was utilizing frequent sense, debating whether or not their product was really good, and being prepared to alter issues to get there.

“One other massive change for Reddit was we weren’t operating as a enterprise. We have been actually idealistic, and I believe in some ways the idealism has been excellent, however we have been additionally idealistic about not being a enterprise — which isn’t a good way to run a sustainable enterprise,” Huffman mentioned about rising the corporate after he returned as CEO in 2015.

“Wrapped up in a few of that idealism was additionally like, not working very arduous,” Huffman added.

Huffman recalled telling staff: “Look, now we have to work actually, actually arduous. We’re in a aggressive area.”

He added: “If we do not work actually arduous and work actually sensible and make this factor profitable each from a consumer viewpoint and enterprise viewpoint, then we do not get to do that, and we’ll by no means obtain our mission.”

Huffman cofounded Reddit together with his school roommate Alexis Ohanian in 2005 and oversaw its 2006 acquisition by Condé Nast. He left the corporate to cofound the journey web site Hipmunk earlier than returning to Reddit as its CEO in 2015. Huffman was tasked with turning the corporate round after it confronted a slew of challenges, together with problem recruiting and dangerous publicity due to controversial content material on the platform.

Reddit went public in March 2024 and rose as a lot as 70% on its first buying and selling day. Since then, its inventory is up 147% and is price about $113.

On Sunday’s podcast, Huffman mentioned the sense of “idealism” Reddit confronted in its early days is an issue in Silicon Valley as a complete.

“Within the Bay Space broadly is that this, it is nearly an entitlement of, ‘I work at these firms however I haven’t got to work very arduous and I am right here for myself,'” he mentioned.

Huffman added that tech staff, together with Reddit engineers, had a bent to take concepts from different profitable firms. He mentioned his engineers adopted Apple’s philosophy of “it is carried out when it is carried out” and used the phrase when he requested for product timelines.

“However then the model I get is not this artisanal world-class product,” Huffman mentioned. “It is like late and shitty.”

The CEO mentioned that he, too, did not like being rushed as an engineer, and setting practical deadlines was a part of his maturation as a frontrunner.

On Thursday, Reddit reported first-quarter earnings that despatched its inventory surging 19% after hours. Income elevated 61% year-over-year to $392.4 million.

One of many largest drivers of Reddit’s success is that customers deal with the platform like a search engine for his or her queries and infrequently add “Reddit” on the finish of their Google searches. Prior to now 12 months, adjustments to Google’s algorithm have each boosted and damage Reddit.

On Thursday’s earnings name, Huffman mentioned the corporate does “count on some bumps alongside the way in which from Google,” however mentioned the platform will all the time meet the wants of individuals on the lookout for the “subjective, genuine, messy, a number of viewpoints that Reddit offers.”