Give A Damn, Damn It: Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian
Alexis Ohanian shares lessons learned from years of building three startups from scratch. Making a customer's day should be obligatory throughout every organization, he urges. Whether you mail swag to early users (like Hipmunk) or add fun to the otherwise mundane (like Wufoo), everything should have a personality that wins over users and, as a side effect, is more effective than any other kind of "traditional" marketing.
"No one ever forgets their first 100 users," he says. "Let them know that you give a damn."
0:16 - Make something people love, and give a damn
1:01 - Create a personality for your products
2:01 - The Groupon Cat as evidence of holding on to a company's personality
2:43 - Reddits advertising budget of $500 over 6 years
3:30 - User art
4:10 - Build a community and the marketing will take care of itself
5:02 - No one forgets their first 100 or so users. Let them know you give a damn.
7:20 - Most of your users won't generate content
8:00 - If you're not social, it's a bit harder. Why he mailed luggage tags to Hipmunk users
09:20 - Making someone's day should be obligatory throughout the company. Empower your staff with a small budget to do this.
10:20 - Use social media to be helpful to your customers
11:18 - Look for opportunities to delight people, even in the mundane.
13:29 - Tell tiny stories using your products.
17:01 - Those stories can affect your fans in unexpected ways.
17:32 - It doesn't have to be only interesting and goody-goody stuff.
18:18 - Thank you note, Friday at Wufoo.
19:26 - Look for an excuse to give it a personal touch
20:03 - As an underdog you don't have that much going for you, but you can focus and give a damn.
About Alexis Ohanian
Alexis is the co-founder of Reddit (now on the Board of Directors) and presently founder of Breadpig. After helping launch Hipmunk.com in 2010, he's now an advisor. Today he's the author of the book Make Something People Love and is an active startup advisor and investor with Das Kapital Capital.
About 99U
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Alexis Ohanian shares lessons learned from years of building three startups from scratch. Making a customer's day should be obligatory throughout every organization, he urges. Whether you mail swag to early users (like Hipmunk) or add fun to the otherwise mundane (like Wufoo), everything should have a personality that wins over users and, as a side effect, is more effective than any other kind of "traditional" marketing.
You are building something. I hope that you want to make the thing you are making, and as Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian says, do it so you can surprise and delight. You do that by giving a damn.