Hula-Hoop It Up

Web site: www.kittycam.com

Premiered: Summer 1997

Description: A digital camera photographs the JointSolutions conference room every two minutes. Kitty is JointSolutions' adopted office cat, known mostly for napping on the conference-room table or peering out the sliding glass doors.

Impact: Although Kitty has no connection at all with JointSolutions' high-tech client base, he has hit a nerve with the public at large. Written about not only in pet magazines, but also numerous newspapers worldwide, Kitty gets mail from around the globe. One woman wrote that, in caring for her bedridden husband, visiting Kitty is her only "window to the world." The site has had almost 2.3 million hits to date.

Today: JointSolutions plans to sell Kitty office accessories, including coffee mugs and, yes, mousepads. As with other celebrities, Kitty's time in the spotlight has led to some soul-searching-this month, the site starts featuring letters from Kitty's own spiritual therapist.

This article was originally published in the July 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Hula-Hoop It Up.