LOS ANGELES — Abraham Piper never planned to become an entrepreneur. A decade ago, he was driving a forklift in a Minneapolis warehouse, unsure of his career path. Today, the 36-year-old runs a digital media empire projected to hit $30 million in revenue this year.
The Accidental Blogger
Piper’s journey began in 2008 while working a desk job at a mailing warehouse. Between shifts, he wrote a personal blog about his long walks through Minnesota’s harsh winters. Frustrated by verbose online content, he experimented with ultra-concise storytelling—publishing quirky, 22-word posts on a free WordPress site he named 22 Words.
“It was just for fun,” Piper told CNBC Make It. But when traffic surged, he saw potential. By 2010, his blog hit 1.3 million monthly pageviews, fueled by viral kid videos and oddball human-interest stories.
From Side Hustle to Multi-Million-Dollar Business
Monetization started small—Amazon affiliate links earned him a few thousand dollars in 2009. But after selling 22 Words to a Denver startup in 2011 (and later buying it back in 2013), Piper scaled aggressively. He hired writers, brought on CEO Josh Sowin, and expanded into viral quiz sites like MagiQuiz.
The bet paid off: 22 Words now draws 200 million monthly pageviews, with ad revenue pushing the company’s 2016 earnings to 17million∗
∗.ParentcompanyBrainjolt—whichownsmultipledigitalproperties—expects∗
∗30 million in 2017 revenue.
Life in the Fast Lane
Piper relocated his family to Los Angeles, where Brainjolt opened an office. “Houses cost twice as much here,” he quipped, but he reinvests most profits into growth. The site’s audience—75% female—devours listicles like “30 People You’ll IMMEDIATELY Want To Hang Out With.”
“We’re an entertainment site. We want to surprise and delight the Internet,” Piper said.
The Pressure of Success
Despite the windfall, Piper admits the stakes are high. “You can’t level off and succeed. You have to keep growing,” he said. “The pressure is constant—but when it works, it’s exciting.”
From forklifts to Fortune, Piper’s story proves that even accidental entrepreneurs can strike gold—one viral post at a time.
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