Lessons on failure from King of Kittehs

Berit Anderson

Berit Anderson Jul 4, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Lessons on failure from King of Kittehs</h1>
                <h2><p>Ben Huh is the founder and CEO of Cheezburger. (You know, the Seattle-based company behind all of those funny online cat memes. Also FAILblog.) Today, Cheezburger launched its iOS app, which lets users create and interact with the company's many funny photos of kittehs. That, however, is not</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/berit-anderson-crosscut-com/">Berit Anderson</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Ben Huh is the founder and CEO of <a href="http://www.cheezburger.com/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Cheezburger</a>. (You know, the Seattle-based company behind all of those funny online cat memes. Also FAILblog.) Today, Cheezburger launched its iOS app, which lets users create and interact with the company's many funny photos of kittehs. That, however, is not why I'm writing. The most notable thing about the launch of Cheezburger's new app is actually the way Huh announced it — through a <a href="https://medium.com/backchannel/rewriting-cheezburger-saved-my-life-76fa09404916?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">heartfelt Medium post </a>that details all of the hard, frustrating, depressing ways he screwed things up on the way to this launch. It's a refreshing, vulnerable treatise on what it's actually like to run a company that cuts through all of the misogynistic valley swagger. Worth reading even if you're not planning a digital cat empire of your own. — B.A.</p>
          </article>

Ben Huh is the founder and CEO of Cheezburger. (You know, the Seattle-based company behind all of those funny online cat memes. Also FAILblog.) Today, Cheezburger launched its iOS app, which lets users create and interact with the company's many funny photos of kittehs. That, however, is not why I'm writing. The most notable thing about the launch of Cheezburger's new app is actually the way Huh announced it — through a heartfelt Medium post that details all of the hard, frustrating, depressing ways he screwed things up on the way to this launch. It's a refreshing, vulnerable treatise on what it's actually like to run a company that cuts through all of the misogynistic valley swagger. Worth reading even if you're not planning a digital cat empire of your own. — B.A.

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By Berit Anderson

Berit Anderson was Managing Editor at Crosscut, following tech, culture, media and politics. She founded Crosscut's Community Idea Lab.   Previously community manager of the Tribune Company’