Cheezburger cuts 35% of staff as it looks to make transition from desktop to mobile

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Cheezburger today announced that it is cutting 24 employees, or about 35 percent of its staff, as it struggles with the changing economics of more people viewing content on mobile devices. “We have seen a pretty big transition in our audience from desktop to mobile, and we are going to continue to see that for… Read More…

Here’s a way to attract developers: Give away puppies

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Seattle startups have been pretty dang creative with how they hire talented developers. Two years ago, Cheezburger stood outside of an Amazon company meeting with free Dick’s cheeseburgers in hopes of luring talent away from the online giant. Then, now-defunct Giant Thinkwell tried giving away free cats in exchange for interviews. Scott Porad leads product development at dog sitting… Read More…

The cat’s out of the bag: Former Cheezburger CTO Scott Porad joins dog sitting service Rover.com

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In his previous life, Scott Porad ran the technical operations for one of the world’s largest cat blogs: I Can Has Cheezburger. But now Porad, who left Cheezburger last month, has leashed an entirely new opportunity. Of all places, he’s landed at Rover.com, the Seattle startup that specializes in matching pet sitters with dog owners…. Read More…

On the prowl for more laughs, Cheezburger gobbles up cash

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Cheezburger Network, the Seattle online comedy network behind Fail Blog, I Can Has Cheezburger, The Daily What and dozens of other sites, has raised an additional $5 million in funding. A SEC filing today notes that the new cash is part of a $6.1 million round. “The funds will be used to continue to build… Read More…

Cheezburger’s tech whiz Scott Porad to depart the company

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Cheezburger Chief Technology Officer Scott Porad is stepping down from the online comedy network after five years on the job, GeekWire has learned. “It’s sad to see an original member of our team move on, but we respect Scott’s desire to take a step back and spend some time with his family to decide what’s… Read More…

Cheezburger’s Ben Huh on angel investing: It’s not for me

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It’s a typical path for successful entrepreneurs — take some of the new-found riches and recycle it by bankrolling other entrepreneurs. But that’s not something that Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh believes is the right course for him. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Huh said he tried his luck at angel investing, but… Read More…

Review: Is Bravo’s new ‘LOLWork’ reality TV show a Fail for Cheezburger?

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As Bravo continues its march across tech land, it looks north to our own lovely Seattle and Cheezburger, the creators of the Daily What, FAIL blog, Memebase and more. Yes, the lolcat creators have landed on the network known for housewives, love gurus and house flippers. “LOLWork” debuts Wednesday, but it is already available on Hulu…. Read More…

Ben Huh: How to create an Internet meme in 3 easy steps

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(Video courtesy of Felice Lam) Ben Huh kicked up his black and white leather dress shoes and bounced onstage mimicing the pop singer PSY, whose “Gangnam Style” now has more than 600 million views and a record-breaking 4.6 million likes. It was a brilliant intro to his presentation on Internet memes at the Seattle Interactive Conference that —… Read More…

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse: Tech execs dance Gangnam Style

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How do you know when an Internet meme has run its course? Executives do stuff like this at conferences. In the span of two hours today, executives from two Seattle tech startups started their talks at the Seattle Interactive conference with “Gangnam Style” dances. First was Glenn Walcott, president of Seattle-based DoubleDown Interactive, who started… Read More…

Circa: A mobile app hoping to redefine news presentation

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For months, Ben Huh was uncharacteristically mum about his online journalism startup. But finally today, Circa swung its curtains open in hopes to redefine the way readers consume their news. Circa, which launched its app this morning, centers on the idea that traditional news format on a print product is a completely different beast than on… Read More…