{"id":11830,"date":"2020-01-15T14:33:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T19:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/content-manager\/?p=11830"},"modified":"2020-01-15T14:34:38","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T19:34:38","slug":"alexis-ohanian-created-the-hipmunk-chipmunk-and-renthop-wally-mascots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/alexis-ohanian-created-the-hipmunk-chipmunk-and-renthop-wally-mascots\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexis Ohanian Created the HipMunk ChipMunk and RentHop Wally Mascots"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

HipMunk just announced they will be shutting down next week<\/a>. Back in 2010 when they first launched, they were by far the best site for searching for flights. They also had the chipmunk mascot – who people have told us strongly resembles RentHop’s<\/a> Wally the Wallaby.\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Turns out they are brothers! Or long lost cousins, or something. Alexis Ohanian created both, back when he was the Y Combinator Ambassador to the East<\/a>. Obviously NYC<\/a> is home to many startups now, including YC Alums. But back in 2011, there was still huge bias towards staying in the Bay Area after graduating from YC. Office hours and all the investors and other founders were still near Mountain View (or SF), so moving back to New York meant giving up many of the alumni network benefits.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Early NYC Years For YC Alums<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

RentHop was among the first to lead the charge to New York, along with a handful of the old guard: Octopart, OMGPop (Draw Something), The Muse, Amicus, and TutorSpree. Aaron Harris’s TutorSpree at the time hosted Alexis Ohanian and Kat Manalac in their sweet SoHo<\/a> office spaces, and there we would have our office hours which led to RentHop Wally’s creation!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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