Before reddit was serving up billions of pageviews and hosting the President of the United States for Q&A sessions, it was just a simple link aggregator being artificially pumped up by its creators. Well, it’s still just a link aggregator, but as you probably know, that narrow definition doesn’t really come close to explaining reddit’s current influence on news and culture.

If you have never heard the story of reddit, here it is from its creators. The story takes us from the University of Virginia dorms, to Harvard, through dealings with Y Combinator, failed startups ideas, and finally the launch of frontpage of the internet.

If you are a frequent reddit user or simply have an interest in internet culture, this sitdown with site founders Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman is well worth your time:

[A TOTAL DISRUPTION via The Verge]