Reddit doesn't need a sales funnel. It's owner Conde Nast does that's one problem.

The users have a very different set of expectations set long before the new owner walked in.

Prior to the big sale, which raised a lot of expectations, which may not actually be met very well at all given how users actually use Reddit,the site was self-sustaining based on gold and intra Reddit ads.

The idea of billions of page views, based on largely organic online discussion, equaling massive dollars, isn't one proven valid.

That's a problem too.

The reason it's a problem, is curating a very compelling discussion site for advertisers runs in conflict with what makes for a very compelling discussion site.