LOLCats... Yes, you can haz $30m • Hacker News Board

Re: LOLCats... Yes, you can haz $30m

#21

Post by radicaldreamer » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 7:24 PM UTC

Bud wrote: post #10

JonnieCache wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of us will never be able to really accept the idea that $30m isn't a metric shitload of money, for anything, let alone a faddish humour website. Whenever I see these numbers I can't help but think about how much food you can buy for $30m. I know economics is obviously more complex than that, building wealth helps the world etc. but I still find it impossible to get over this. Just being honest.

It's true that lolcats could be viewed as "faddish", but if so, it's a very long-lived and popular fad. Guess what a long-lived and popular fad is? A gold mine, at least for a while...

Plus it could have long term appeal... like knock-knock jokes.

Re: LOLCats... Yes, you can haz $30m

#22

Post by hugh3 » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 7:24 PM UTC

jkeel wrote: post #20

ergo98 wrote: post #2

What bubble?

So here's question for the HN crowd. What if someone advised you to "not look for funding" for your startup because "there is a bubble and when it pops you will be screwed"?

I don't understand the question. If the bubble pops that's a problem for the investors, not the founders.

Re: LOLCats... Yes, you can haz $30m

#23

Post by jkeel » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 7:34 PM UTC

hugh3 wrote: post #22

jkeel wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So here's question for the HN crowd. What if someone advised you to "not look for funding" for your startup because "there is a bubble and when it pops you will be screwed"?

I don't understand the question. If the bubble pops that's a problem for the investors, not the founders.

That was my response too when someone made the statement to me.

The only downside I could think of would be the possibility that additional funding may be more difficult to get after a "pop" (unless you have a profitable business of course). That in turn could mean that growth of a startup would slow without additional capital for marketing and hiring.

Re: LOLCats... Yes, you can haz $30m

#24

Post by zacharycohn » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 9:30 PM UTC

WillyF wrote: post #17

Yes, there's probably a bubble right now. And this is the kind of investment that will make you look like an idiot if it blows up. But I have to think someone like Brad Feld, whose firm was part of this investment, is pretty confident in the business if he is willing to put his money and his reputation at stake on this. Funny movies, funny books, and funny tv shows have all proven to be big money makers over a long p…

I agree. If The Cheezburger Network is a profitable business that is showing growth, I don't see why everyone is jumping to claim this is a bad investment.

Re: LOLCats... Yes, you can haz $30m

#25

Post by zaidf » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 10:21 PM UTC

JonnieCache wrote: post #7

TomOfTTB wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see why everyone's so skeptical of this. How is this any different than other social sites? Basically what they're doing is crowd sourcing humor and that seems like a better plan than a lot of other startups I've seen. Give the huge audience potential (who doesn't like a good laugh?) and their proven record of success (3 years) it doesn't seem like a terrible investment to me.

Some of us will never be able to really accept the idea that $30m isn't a metric shitload of money, for anything, let alone a faddish humour website. Whenever I see these numbers I can't help but think about how much food you can buy for $30m. I know economics is obviously more complex than that, building wealth helps the world etc. but I still find it impossible to get over this. Just being honest.

As of right now you can only predict that it's a fad. Some investors predict otherwise. At least investors take risks into account while you seem convinced beyond doubt that it is a fad.

Re: LOLCats... Yes, you can haz $30m

#26

Post by ebiester » Thu, Jan 20, 2011, 11:43 PM UTC

JonnieCache wrote: post #7

TomOfTTB wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see why everyone's so skeptical of this. How is this any different than other social sites? Basically what they're doing is crowd sourcing humor and that seems like a better plan than a lot of other startups I've seen. Give the huge audience potential (who doesn't like a good laugh?) and their proven record of success (3 years) it doesn't seem like a terrible investment to me.

Some of us will never be able to really accept the idea that $30m isn't a metric shitload of money, for anything, let alone a faddish humour website. Whenever I see these numbers I can't help but think about how much food you can buy for $30m. I know economics is obviously more complex than that, building wealth helps the world etc. but I still find it impossible to get over this. Just being honest.

It's not just one website. It's a collection of humor websites building on a theme that is certainly not a fad: humorous commentary on a photograph. Lolcats may come and go, but the bet (and a good one, I believe), is that their humor staff can keep ahead of the trends. http://cheezburger.com/sites shows their attempt.

I believe this 30m is also going to help them go further into content creation.

Re: LOLCats... Yes, you can haz $30m

#27

Post by ghost3 » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 1:08 AM UTC

zacharycohn wrote: post #24

WillyF wrote: post #17

Yes, there's probably a bubble right now. And this is the kind of investment that will make you look like an idiot if it blows up. But I have to think someone like Brad Feld, whose firm was part of this investment, is pretty confident in the business if he is willing to put his money and his reputation at stake on this. Funny movies, funny books, and funny tv shows have all proven to be big money makers over a long p…

I agree. If The Cheezburger Network is a profitable business that is showing growth, I don't see why everyone is jumping to claim this is a bad investment.

Because there's just no way it's going to be a $100M kind of company. reddit was probably the source of much of their initial traffic. And reddit was worth, what, $10m, in pre-bubble money?