I agree that they should make money, since they're a business.
However, when paid (imgur pro) subs also get redirected and their uploads also get redirected, and "I created imgur because the other image hosting sites forced you to see their ad-ridden pages (TinyPIC). I would never do the same to you. If you want to direct link to the image, then by all means do so."[0] no longer applies, it somewhat bothers me.
I don't really believe that. I know people circulate that alot but I know based on the time cost to build the site was likely 5 figures at market rates.
I doubt he brought that in. Discounting his labor? Sure it was profitable on Day 1.
But that is like saying I have a hobby that brings in 5% of my annual income and its "profitable". The fact I have to spend ~8 hours a week on it [about 20% of my $DayJob], means I'm still net negative in financial terms.
If I was doing contract work instead for those 8 hours, I'd come out with 300% more money.
That's why we're probably bound to replace our image hosting services every few years. It's a waste of good links though, that will get broken in the desperate attempt to recoup for fleeing users.
Greed is always optional. The thing that is not is free and strong will to stand against VCs. Thats why VCs love to get in to sturtups run by geeks instead of business veterans.
That said, I do find myself using alternatives [e.g. mediacrush] more and more. Its just not worth bothering with Imgur.