What Do You Meme?®
Created by Elliot Tebele and co-founders Ben Kaplan and Elie Ballas in 2016, What Do You Meme? is a multi-million dollar gaming enterprise that produces games and toys for all ages. Driven by the digital age and inspired by pop culture, What Do You Meme? designs products that bring internet-style humor from your phone to your living room.
The History of What Do You Meme?
What Do You Meme? originally launched as a Kickstarter campaign for the simple, yet highly relatable card-game “What Do You Meme?” Being strategic by nature, when it was brought to the young entrepreneur’s attention that party games had been highly successful on the platform, he and his two cohorts jumped at the challenge. Once back in their office, Elliot and partner Ben Kaplan began deconstruction memes from their multi-platform comedy entertainment brand Fuckjerry.
Inspired by the popular “judge’s choice” play pattern, they quickly realized that miss-matching captions and images created opportunities for even funnier content than their original memes. Realizing that they had magic in the palm of their hands, they immediately launched their Kickstarter campaign. There, they quickly achieved their goal of raising $10,000 in less than a week. Elliot, Ben and Elie took this as a sign to transform their concept from one game to a full on gaming enterprise.
Elliot Tebele’s Role at What Do You Meme?
Elliot wears many hats over at What Do You Meme? but he is most focused on marketing and product development. He enjoys developing novel products as well as cutting-edge marketing tools that can be used to promote his iconic brands.
When it comes to game creation and ideation, Elliot shares that it truly is a collaborative effort among he and his team, and that inspiration comes from all over. A vast majority of ideas come from internal team members, although players are encouraged to send in their own ideas for new games and products as well. Once an idea is presented, the creative team brainstorms and fleshes it out to test for viability. The company also collaborates with outside inventors who regularly pitch to us.
“The most rewarding part about What Do You Meme? is watching the team grow. Learning how to scale the company has been a steep learning curve but watching all the pieces fall into place has been extremely gratifying,” shared Elliot.
What’s Next For Elliot and What Do You Meme?
What Do You Meme is in its 6th year of production and plans to continue on in its mission to create products that bring joy and laughter to all its customers. With over 65 employees and over 100 products for sale that cross plush, outdoor sports, greeting cards, health & wellness, pet toys industries and more. Elliot and his team are consistently innovating and expanding the brand’s creative bandwidth. “Our team is incredible and innovative, and with our marketing engine, we don’t see ourselves slowing down anytime soon,” says Elliot.
Elliot’s Favorite Games From What Do You Meme?
As new and innovative products continue to launch each year, Elliot’s favorites tend to rotate. “‘What Do You Meme?’ is a classic of course but a couple of my favorite games at the moment are “Stir The Pot and Hot Takes.”
