The New York Times chronicles the rise of the Cheezburger empire, telling the story of Seattle's quirkiest Internet startup through the eyes of founder Ben Huh, investor Geoff Entress, chief revenue officer Todd Sawicki, editorial employees and devoted fans of the fast-growing humor sites. The Cheezburger Network -- made up of 53 sites which last month attracted 16 million visitors -- has turned into a bit of a media darling in the past 18 months.

Wired, Slate and others have profiled the profitable company, and Huh was the recent guest speaker at the University of Washington business plan competition awards ceremony.

"We probably would have been laughed out of the room if we had applied for this competition," Huh told the student entrepreneurs last month, noting that most people don't really view funny cat photos with captions as a real business.

NYT reporter Jenna Wortham, however, correctly points out that Cheezburger is very much a force on the Internet. And she notes that Cheezburger has expanded beyond online advertising, with best-selling books and soon-to-be-released greeting cards and desktop calendars. Wortham writes:

One secret to the company’s success is the way it taps into the Internet zeitgeist. It seeks clues to what is funny right now by monitoring the Web for themes bubbling up on community forums, blogs and video sites. Then it spins off new sites devoted to the latest online humor fads.

Worth a read.

Related: "Cheezburger Network's new book and other tales from Ben Huh"