Here’s an idea: Grab a funny picture of a cat off the web. Imagine what the cat might say if it could talk (complete with bad grammar and spelling) and add it as a caption. Then wait for the hits to come rolling in.
Not many people would envision such a concept. But then again, Ben Huh isn’t your average entrepreneur. His site, called I Can Has Cheezburger? (named after the caption on the site’s first photo), has spawned a new online form of pidgin-like phonetic English called “lolspeak” (“laugh out loud” + “speak”). The captions and “lolcat” images, all generated for free by users, are full of silly puns that make sense mostly to internet-forum and video-game aficionados.
Huh’s feline journey began in early 2007, when he was a product manager for a personal pet blog and noticed a sudden surge in hot-linked traffic. The source? A little Hawaii-based website called icanhascheezburger.com. Unaware of the lolcat meme at the time, Huh spoke with ICHC’s founders, Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami, who were both contemplating abandoning their weird hobby.
“They had great traffic, loyalty and content,” Huh explains. That was reason enough for Huh to pounce—a degree in journalism and a violent allergy to cats be damned.
Backed by angel investors, Huh purchased ICHC last year for an undisclosed amount (some reports estimate $2 million) and enhanced its interactive features. His site generates 3.9 million daily page views and receives up to 8,000 submissions a day, which a 15-person staff must whittle to just 35 daily posts from its Queen Anne headquarters.
ICHC is breaking even via ad sales, but Huh says a diversified approach will push the site into the black. Besides expanding into other pet-themed sites (e.g., ihasahotdog.com), Huh is considering an ICHC book and a tie-in with Jones Soda.