When thinking about what the next big technological advancement that takes the world by storm will be, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian tends to rely on an unexpected source: his father.
Yep, that’s right — not a tech expert, his peers or a guy on Wall Street. Just his good ol’ pops, a 30-year veteran travel agent.
[Related: Reddit co-founder wants to reach profitablity with membership program, not ads]
During a fireside chat at Seattle’s Town Hall Monday night, GeekWire’s Todd Bishop asked Ohanian what he’s most excited about as an investor.
Bitcoin, an emerging decentralized, digital currency gaining popularity and making mainstream news headlines lately in light of the FBI shutting down Silk Road, was the first thing that came into his mind.
“I am cautiously optimistic about it — but I am intrigued,” said Ohanian, who has put money into more than 60 startups so far after selling Reddit in 2006.
Bishop brought up the fact that a Seattle foodtruck recently began accepting Bitcoin, and Ohanian said he knows of a bar in New York City that does that same.
But he’s not totally sold yet — that is, until his father starts talking about it.
“If it can get to the point where my Dad is like, ‘Hey, tell me about this Bitcoin thing, I’m really intrigued by it’ — then I’ll be like, ‘OK, all right,'” he said. “That’ll be the moment.”
Ohanian, who also noted crowdfunding as a space he’s optimistic about, was in town promoting his new book, Without Their Permission. We’ll have more from his talk later today on GeekWire.
