If there was ever a business idea that makes an English teacher wince and take another sip from the flask under their desk, it would be (I Can Haz) Cheezburger. This site, filled with cute pictures of animals alongside phonetically spelled comments, is a place people return to again and again. This is not a one-site wonder either — this business also publishes LOLcats, FAIL blog, and more.
Created in 2007 by Ben Huh, this site has become a sort of virus on the web, spreading its misspelled humor to Twitter, Facebook, and other websites as well.
According to recent reports, Cheezburger has raised $30M from Madrona Venture Group, Avalon Ventures, Foundry Group, and SoftBank Capital. Of course, when you have 375 million page views a month, it doesn't take a genius to see that this is where an investment will do well.
But with all of this growth, it seems like Cheezburger can't help but succeed. Or can they? The main issue a group like this has is letting their other ventures fall by the wayside. If you were to ask a person on the web if they have heard of Cheezburger, you would probably hear a 'yes,' but if you asked about LOLcats or the other ventures, you may not hear as many affirmative responses.
Why not? It might be because the other sites aren't as much a part of pop culture as Cheezburger. Others worry about having original content on each of the sites since there are so many viewers and so many people to entertain.
Cheezburger can haz suksess, but they need to also keep things fresh. Why else would people come back? (Besides for the adorable cat photos.)
