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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2011 version)

  The Cheezburger Network

  John Deighton, Leora Kornfeld, John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

  Cheezburger Network was a Web publisher of humorous, user-contributed content, using social media for dissemination, and selling advertising against the traffic of 1 billion page views per quarter. In January 2011, it raised $30 million in venture capital for the network of 50 websites that featured an entertaining array of user-generated content. Beginning with a site based on pictures of cats with whimsical captions, it had grown into a small but impressive digital empire, riding waves of viral content. CEO Ben Huh prided himself on his ability to go from idea to implementation in just a few days, but this just-in-time method made strategic planning difficult. Profitable from day one and with $5 million of revenue across 50 brand identities, Huh's challenge was to evaluate his growth to date, to look critically at the digital media landscape, and to figure out how to best to spend the $30 million.

  Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Online Advertising; Customer Relationship Management; Venture Capital; Emerging Markets; Strategic Planning; Sales; Online Technology; Web Sites; Publishing Industry; Web Services Industry;

  Citation:

  Deighton, John, and Leora Kornfeld. "The Cheezburger Network." Harvard Business School Case 511-091, May 2013. (Revised from original February 2011 version.)

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2011 version)

  The Cheezburger Network

  John Deighton, Leora Kornfeld, John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

  Cheezburger Network was a Web publisher of humorous, user-contributed content, using social media for dissemination, and selling advertising against the traffic of 1 billion page views per quarter. In January 2011, it raised $30 million in venture capital for the network of 50 websites that featured an entertaining array of user-generated content. Beginning with a site based on pictures of cats with whimsical captions, it had grown into a small but impressive digital empire, riding waves of viral content. CEO Ben Huh prided himself on his ability to go from idea to implementation in just a few days, but this just-in-time method made strategic planning difficult. Profitable from day one and with $5 million of revenue across 50 brand identities, Huh's challenge was to evaluate his growth to date, to look critically at the digital media landscape, and to figure out how to best to spend the $30 million.

  Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Online Advertising; Customer Relationship Management; Venture Capital; Emerging Markets; Strategic Planning; Sales; Online Technology; Web Sites; Publishing Industry; Web Services Industry;

  Citation:

  Deighton, John, and Leora Kornfeld. "The Cheezburger Network." Harvard Business School Case 511-091, May 2013. (Revised from original February 2011 version.)

  CiteView DetailsPurchase

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2013 version)

  Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google

  John A. Deighton, Leora Kornfeld, John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

  Four businesses had, by 2012, grown to dominate the infrastructure that all firms rely on to reach online customers. Will the balance of power among the four persist, will one take command at the expense of the other three, or are all four more vulnerable than they seem to outside forces? What are the implications for the pace at which consumers go online? Amara's Law claims that we tend to overestimate change in the short run, and underestimate it in the long run.

  Citation:

  Deighton, John A., and Leora Kornfeld. "Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google." Harvard Business School Case 513-060, April 2013. (Revised from original January 2013 version.)

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