Cheezburger co-founder and CEO on how internet culture has become a part of everyone’s content diet
Ahead of the Activate New York Summit 2013, Ben Huh, the founder and CEO of the Cheezburger spoke to us about mobile, memes and internet culture.
Can you tell us a bit about the Cheezburger and why you founded it?
To be honest, I didn’t intend to create a humour destination or get into the user-generated content world. I didn’t even know how to pronounce meme. I was looking for a job with a startup in the Valley, and happened to develop an online friendship with Eric Nakagawa who started icanhascheezburger.com. From there, I was able to get some angel investors interested in acquiring sites like it, and created an opportunity to start a company in Seattle. There wasn’t much vision about who we were or our business until months after we started the company.
Cheezburger now has over 50 online humour sites, what factors have contributed to your success?
Keep trying new ideas. We really had nothing to lose, so we kept on developing new sites, acquiring interesting ones that came up. We were efficient and we were fearless. We had some obvious “duh” moments of failure, but we learned it fast and first-hand. We were able to take that experience and develop it into a business model.
What have the challenges been along the way, and how have you solved them?
Scaling up myself and the business has been incredibly humbling. What works when you’re a 10-person company stops working at 25 people. The same is true at every 2 to 3x increase in scale. I’ve learned that its key to bring in experienced managers and leaders to successfully grow a business. One of the critical parts of my job is to convince them that working at Cheezburger is an amazing opportunity and a fun place to exercise their creativity, ambition, and autonomy. I’ve changed my job from being about delivering results directly to delivering results through highly talented people.
You have been credited with bringing internet memes to the mainstream. What changes in internet culture have you seen since you started?
The rapid shortening in the lifespan of a meme is apparent. It used to take months for a meme to run its course. Now, it’s a good meme if it lasts a week. But the biggest change is how quickly internet culture has become a part of everyone’s content diet, yet media companies have been slow to change and adapt to this shift. Most of media is still stuck in the broadcast model.
How important is mobile to your current strategy?
Our mobile usage has doubled in the past year, so it’s definitely a priority for us. I expect that mobile will be about 65-70% of our traffic within a couple of years. Mobile also isn’t just phones or tablets. There’s a proliferation of new hardware formats coming and as a company, we have to learn how our users are going to use them. And each new format will generate a different consumption pattern and expectation.
What’s next for the Cheezburger?
We’re tackling two challenges. First, becoming mainstream. Back in 2008, we predicted that internet culture will merge with pop culture. The idea was that memes, viral videos, and remixed content will move from the fringes to an integral part of everyone’s content diet. We see our role as leading that merger. Second, redefining the humour category to be more inclusive. We will continue to champion a more participatory form of entertainment and we don’t believe that humour is just a male-dominated category and our data clearly shows that both men and women like humor. Contrary to popular tenants in advertising and media, women like to laugh too.
Finally, what is your message for the delegates attending the Guardian’s Activate New York Summit?
Cultural change doesn’t just happen to us – we have a hand in it. Creating a culture of active participation will create a better world for the public, and incredible opportunities for media and brands. Businesses, as well as policy-makers, can help create more space for dialogue, creativity, and participation.
Ben Huh is the founder and CEO of the Cheezburger