All I have to say is if you can spend a couple years working on a business that is very popular with customers (or as we call them members), and if you can keep up the popularity while making it a profitable business, and then you find an amazing group of investors to help you add knowledge and fuel to your endeavor, you’ll find you get quite a bit of industry recognition.

The press has been overwhelming. Here’s a run down:

• » New York Times “It’s Dogster, for When Family Pets Network“
• » CNN Money “Dogster gets $1M treat from investors“
• » Reuters “Dogster.com takes $1 mln in early stage funding“
• » ZDNet “Dogster plans to embrace all critters“
• » GigaOm “Dogster Gets Big Eyes“
• » Blog Herald “Can Dogster Teach the Web2.0 Any New Tricks?“
• » VentureBeat “Dogster raises $1M to expand - Woof!“

Thanks also to everyone who has taken the time to write, call, visit, report, take pictures and hear the Dogster and Catster story!

We really do want to thank our investors for understanding why this truly is about the dog and cat lovers out there and giving us the opportunity to offer this huge community so much more. All we can say is: keep an eye on us! We’ve been working on an awesome list of features and services for years, and now we can make those happen!

I also want to acknowledge the people out there that have been critical of Dogster and/or the investors. The critiques have covered the full spectrum - from experienced, wise skepticism to self-described haters. This comes with the territory of course. Although, it is commonly said that I started this as a joke (I may have even made this quip myself in the past), in truth it was started out of a love for pets and the fact that there was no one place online to share them. Moreover, from a business perspective, my co-founders and I very clearly remember the lessons learnt from the boom and burn days of the roaring ’90s. That is why Dogster has always been, from day 1, about creating a real community and building a sustainable business with real revenues and real earnings. Servicing a wonderful community and building a viable, long-term business are the cornerstones of Dogster, Inc. I should also point out that profitability does not mean a company has the resources to do everything it can as fast as its customers want. We knew, however that we had built a solid foundation that was ready for much more than our existing growth patterns would allow us. By taking an investment now we’ll be able to significantly increase our momentum and expand our team to include some of the best and brightest investors in the industry to help us reach those new heights.