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Tag: Michael Arrington

  • Google Looks At Apparent IE Sponsored Post Spam

    Tech blogger/investor Michael Arrington revealed that someone who claimed to be a “social strategist on behalf of Microsoft” tried to get him to write about Internet Explorer for payment.

    The message he got says:

    Hi Michael,

    I work as a social strategist on behalf of Microsoft, and I wanted to invite you to collaborate on a sponsored post opportunity for Internet Explorer.

    We love your aesthetic and blogging style, and think you’d be the perfect partner to spread the word on the new Internet Explorer browsing experience!

    The new Internet Explorer is a brand new experience with many different features. This reworked Internet Explorer lets you search smarter and do more with its cool new features, such as multitasking, pinnable sites, and full-screen browsing.

    In this program, we are looking to spread the word about the new Internet Explorer web experience in a cool, visual way, which is where you come in! Internet Explorer has teamed up with many partners in gaming, entertainment, and more, and we’d love to see you talk about your opinions on these collaborations.

    If you accept our invitation to work on this program, we would like for you to write a blog post by July 10th, in addtion to sharing links to the new Internet Explorer across your social channels.

    Compesnsation for this post is available, and there will also be ample opportunities for fun prizes and rewards throughout the duration of the program.

    To learn all about the details of this program, please visit this page (http://unbouncepages.com/7975010c-edb3-11e3-b3e0-12314000cce6/).

    I look forward to working together.

    As Arrington notes, “This is just layers of stupid.”

    This is, after all, the founder of TechCrunch, who has referred to people being paid to shill products on their blogs as “pollution” in the past.

    When Arrington responded, asking if this was real, they replied that they weren’t sure how Arrington wound up on the list, and “Go TechCrunch!”

    The URL in the message has since been taken offline, and Google is even investigating what could be webpspam from its biggest competitor.

    Google’s Matt Cutts tweeted:

    He was then in contact with SocialChorus program strategist Gregg Hanano.

    As you may recall, Google actually had to penalize its own Chrome browser a while back for pretty much the same thing. The story there was that an outside agency was soliciting such posts on the company’s behalf.

    It doesn’t look like Internet Explorer has suffered such a penalty so far.

    Of course, Google’s competition with Microsoft adds a whole other layer to this. Microsoft is a big part of the FairSearch lobbying group that constantly tries to see antitrust regulation brought against Google.

    To be continued…

  • Michael Arrington Sues Rape Accuser Jenn Allen

    Jenn Allen, an ex-girlfriend of Techcrunch/Crunchfund Founder Michael Arrington, recently took to Facebook to make abuse allegations against him. While rape was not mentioned in the initial post, she later brought that up in comments on a Gawker article about her first post. Arrington, who has strongly denied any abuse or rape, has now filed a suit against Allen.

    Here’s what Allen said in her initial post:

    Last post on someone i’m completely over. I’ve never been lonelier in my entire life. To all my friends who loved me for who I am – thank you. Power hungry people, I loved Michael Arrington for 8+ years starting when i implemented Eurekster search at the time on Techcrunch in 2006 and throughout the years i didn’t know he cheated on me multiple times, then tells people it was me immediately after he did it. It hurts when you love someone borderline and they can’t feel anything at all for you, and threaten to murder you if you told anyone about the physical abuse – all for keeping his reputation. The emotional abuse was equally bad. On a positive note, it can’t get any worse than this and I can’t get myself of this bed.

    And here’s what she said in the comments on the Gawker article:

    I’ve looked inward and outward long enough to finally say something and know exactly why I had to say it. His lies, abuse, threats and what he did to a friend of mine 5 months ago was unforgivable as well. He raped her, and she told me in person he called her to confirm he did it after the fact. I’ll leave it up to her if she ever wants to report it or say anything. This madness needs to stop, or he needs to start controlling his rage and rape ‘disorder.’

    Arrington remained quiet for a period, while others rushed to throw in their judgments of his character, until finally, he put out a statement saying:

    There have been some extremely serious and criminal allegations against me over the last week. All of the allegations are completely untrue, and I’ve hired a law firm to represent me in the legal actions against the offending parties.

    I know this isn’t, for now, much information. I will have a full and complete response to these allegations sometime later this week. My goal will be to direct as much sunlight as possible on the issues so that the absolute truth can be known and I can begin to put my life back together.

    I’ve also asked my attorneys to contact appropriate law enforcement agencies about these false allegations. Given the gravity of the claims, I think it’s important that the police be involved in this now.

    The whole thing had largely been ignored by the media and blogs other than a select few, until Arrington’s statement, then everyone started covering it. Likewise when former TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde jumped to Arrington’s defense. She wrote:

    During my five years at TechCrunch, there were no complaints or cases of sexual harassment or misconduct against Michael Arrington. If there had been any rumors of misconduct from staff or other third parties, I would have taken the matters seriously and investigated them. Many people, including Michael’s friends and girlfriends, sought me out as a confidante for disagreements or challenges they faced with Michael, so I would have been aware of rumored bad behavior.

    You can read her full post here.

    About a month ago, Arrington posted a detailed letter refuting the allegations. Here’s that letter:

    Demand Letter to Jennifer Allen

    And now this week, the lawsuit has been filed. In it, Arrington alleges that Allen felt “betrayed and slighted,” and aimed to “destroy his reputation and to deter third persons from associating with him.” The suit includes a demand for jury trial, and seeks $75,000 in damages.

    Here’s the court document:

    Arrington

  • Michael Arrington Posts Detailed Letter with Evidence Refuting Abuse Allegations

    TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington has just published an extensive letter sent to Jenn Allen by his lawyers, presenting a highly detailed explanation of his side of the story.

    As you may recall, Arrington’s former girlfriend Jenn Allen recently alleged that he had been physically abusive, and accused him of rape. In a short response last week, Arrington called the allegations “completely untrue” and said that he would have a full response in a few days. It appears that he has made good on that promise.

    “You have posted statements about Michael that are false and defamatory, and that have caused significant harm to his good name. It is my hope that you immediately will take corrective action, by retracting those statements. I have examined your posted statements, and compared them with provable facts. This comparison shows without any doubt whatsoever that, among others, the following of your statements about Michael are false,” says Arrington’s attorney Eric M. George in the letter.

    The letter breaks down Allen’s accusations one-by-one, providing emails, photos, texts, and social media communications that refute her story. For instance:

    (1) You stated that “he was physically abusive [on] March 5th [of] last year” (April 1, 2013, 2d posting, Gawker.) “[H]e did rape me, on March 5 last year, when he invited me over to make amends from a major catastrophe a couple months prior.” (April 1, 2013, 3d posting, Gawker.)

    Your twice-repeated allegation of rape/physical abuse by Michael is not only false, but factually impossible. On March 5, 2012, Michael was in Washington and you were in California. Michael’s whereabouts are confirmed by travel records and credit card statements in my possession, and your whereabouts are proven by a photo of you at a San Francisco party at 1:05 a.m. on March 6, 2012. This photo was posted online but has been removed in the past several days. (The photo, together with screenshots of your Facebook page in March 2012 before and after it was deleted, are appended hereto as Attachment A.)

    The letter calls for Allen to retract her accusations publicly by April 15th or face legal action. You can check it out in its entirety below:

    Demand Letter to Jennifer Allen

    For her part, it doesn’t appear that Allen is backing down from the allegations, as judged by her recent tweets:


  • Former TechCrunch CEO on Michael Arrington: “I Simply Do Not Believe Any of the Allegations to Be True”

    At what we can imagine is only the beginning of the Michael Arrington abuse allegation saga, former TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde has publicly backed Arrington in a lengthy Facebook post.

    “I simply do not believe any of the allegations to be true,” says Harde.

    If you haven’t been following the new about Arrington, here’s a brief rundown:

    Last week, Arrington’s former girlfriend Jenn Allen posted to Facebook, claiming that Arrington has physically abused her and threatened to kill her if she every went public with it. Gawker first spotted the post, and covered it. Allen then commented on the Gawker article, making additional allegations that Arrington was guilty of rape.

    Later, a couple of “former friends” of Arrington’s also spoke out on the claims, stating that it fit a pattern and Arrington had physically abused another one of his former girlfriends. One accuser called it “the worst kept rumor in the valley for years.”

    Today, Arrington posted a brief response, saying that “all of the allegations are completely untrue, and I’ve hired a law firm to represent me in the legal actions against the offending parties.”

    Now, Harde has taken to Facebook to defend Arrington. Here’s her post in full:

    As to recent allegations that have been leveled at my former business partner, Michael Arrington:

    Michael recruited me to be his CEO. TechCrunch was a calling for him, not just a business venture. That he trusted me to grow it from his bedroom-based hobby to a leading media outlet speaks most authentically of his regard for women. In the five years that I worked with Michael, I can say he treated me as tough and true a business partner as one would hope to example for the field of gender studies. If anything, on more than one occasion I secretly wished that Michael trusted me less completely with tough calls for the business!

    We operated TechCrunch out of Michael’s house for the first two years, so to say that I’ve seen the inner workings of Michael Arrington’s personal life is a gross understatement. As any startup, we worked long hours, and I overlapped significant blocks of time with Michael’s roommates, friends and girlfriends. I would have detected patterns of abusive physical behavior if they had been present.

    During my five years at TechCrunch, there were no complaints or cases of sexual harassment or misconduct against Michael Arrington. If there had been any rumors of misconduct from staff or other third parties, I would have taken the matters seriously and investigated them. Many people, including Michael’s friends and girlfriends, sought me out as a confidante for disagreements or challenges they faced with Michael, so I would have been aware of rumored bad behavior.

    I simply do not believe any of the allegations to be true.

    “Former Friends” Jason Calacanis and Loren Feldman have been estranged from Michael Arrington longer than they ever were friends, and they are not reliable character witnesses on this matter. Jason should limit his bluffing to poker. Usurping a woman’s emotional breakdown for purposes of pursuing a personal agenda to disparage a former business partner is wrong.

    I write in full support of Michael Arrington. He has done much to advance women in tech leadership, and I hope others who have similar feelings will share their direct experiences with the community. It’s important we set the record straight.

    [Photo via Heather Harde, Facebook]

  • Michael Arrington: Abuse Claims ‘Completely Untrue’

    TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington has finally responded to recent accusations from a former girlfriend and former friends and acquaintances he was physically abusive on numerous occasions.

    Last week, former girlfriend Jenn Allen made the claims on her Facebook page, alleging the Arrington physically and emotionally abused her and even threatened to kill her if she told anyone. She later left additional comment on a Gawker article, reiterating the allegations and also accusing Arrington of rape.

    Later, one of Arrington’s former friends and tech entrepreneur Jason Calacanis came out and said that he’d heard of these sorts of stories for a while. Other people from Arrington’s life surfaced, one claiming that it was the “worst kept rumor in the valley for years,” and that the abuse extended to multiple women.

    Now, Arrington has posted a brief response to the accusations. In it, he calls the allegations “completely untrue,” and says that he has instructed his lawyers to contact the proper authorities.

    Here’s the full response:

    There have been some extremely serious and criminal allegations against me over the last week. All of the allegations are completely untrue, and I’ve hired a law firm to represent me in the legal actions against the offending parties.

    I know this isn’t, for now, much information. I will have a full and complete response to these allegations sometime later this week. My goal will be to direct as much sunlight as possible on the issues so that the absolute truth can be known and I can begin to put my life back together.

    I’ve also asked my attorneys to contact appropriate law enforcement agencies about these false allegations. Given the gravity of the claims, I think it’s important that the police be involved in this now.

  • Michael Arrington’s Ex-Girlfriend Makes Abuse Allegations on Facebook

    TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington is facing some serious allegations made in a Facebook post.

    Jenn Allen, founder and CEO of RTist.com, claims in a recent post that Arrington was physically and emotionally abusive in a past relationship. She also claims that he threatened to murder her if she told anyone about the abuse.

    You can read the entire post below:

    Last post on someone i’m completely over. I’ve never been lonelier in my entire life. To all my friends who loved me for who I am – thank you. Power hungry people, I loved Michael Arrington for 8+ years starting when i implemented Eurekster search at the time on Techcrunch in 2006 and throughout the years i didn’t know he cheated on me multiple times, then tells people it was me immediately after he did it. It hurts when you love someone borderline and they can’t feel anything at all for you, and threaten to murder you if you told anyone about the physical abuse – all for keeping his reputation. The emotional abuse was equally bad. On a positive note, it can’t get any worse than this and I can’t get myself of this bed.

    Gawker, who first spotted the post, was able to confirm that the two did in fact date at some point – specifically in 2006. Allen’s Facebook post indicates that the relationship lasted for “8+” years. There are plenty of photos of the two together back around 2006 – you can check them out on Flickr. So it doesn’t appear that the relationship is in question – but these are some pretty serious allegations for a public figure.

    Obviously, this is a developing story.

    UPDATE: Allen commented on the original Gawker post, making more allegations against Arrington, including rape.

    [Image of Allen via Facebook]

  • AOL Looking To Sell TechCrunch, Engadget…Or Not [Report/Rumor/Update]

    Update: According to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, the company is not looking to unload TechCrunch or Engadget. AdAge spoke with him, sharing the following quote:

    “We are planning to invest in those properties, not sell” them, Mr. Armstrong said in an interview with Ad Age. He admitted that the company has spoken with outside entities about partnerships that would lead to increased investments in TechCrunch and Engadget, but that right now AOL is leaning toward “investing ourselves.”

    Update 2: TechCrunch has put out its own article on the topic now. It equates to “We’re not for sale.”

    Will the AOL/TechCrunch drama ever end? For now, it continues.

    The latest in the saga is a report from Sarah Lacy of PandoDaily (formerly of TechCrunch), who says she’s hearing from two independent sources that AOL is looking to sell Engadget and TechCrunch for somewhere between $70 million and $100 million. She says that they could be sold as AOL Tech, possibly with other sites like TUAQ and Joystiq.

    “AOL is hoping to make something off the drama of the past couple of years: $70 million would net the struggling Internet company about $10 million profit on what AOL originally paid for both TechCrunch and Engadget’s original parent Weblogs Inc,” Lacy writes. “According to one source, AOL management has been seriously considering the move since early this year. The news also sheds light on why Arianna Huffington was so relaxed about relinquishing responsibility for the division last month, according to reports.”

    Huffington reportedly talked about wanting to focus more on Huffington Post at Business Insider’s recent conference. This came about a month after conflicting reports emerged about just how much power she would have going forward.

    If AOL really is looking to sell the tech properties, one would have to imagine that TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington might be interested, though he’s not saying as much. Lacy quotes him directly:

    “I don’t know anything. No one tells me anything. I am not in the least bit interested [in buying back TechCrunch]. I was Team Pando all the way until Sarah Lacy fired me. That does not change my position on TechCrunch.”

    Arrington, who famously called Huffington a touchy psychopath, will appear at the upcoming TechCrunch event, Disrupt (with former TechCrunch writer MG Siegler). Given the drama, it should be interesting to see what kinds of episodes emerge from that.

    “MG and I will be doing on stage interviews with famous tech people in our signature styles, and helping to run the Battlefield,” Arrington said in a recent post on TechCrunch itself, titled “I’m Back”.

    Will that title have even more meaning that first thought?

    Former Mashable editor Ben Parr chimed in on the discussion on Twitter:

    @benparr
    Ben Parr    You just opened a very entertaining can of worms, @sarahcuda. Should be interesting to see how this plays out – http://t.co/888ZoRtt 10 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @benparr
    Ben Parr    @sarahcuda — One more thought — think about the price point in comparison to the Mashable-CNN rumors 10 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @sarahcuda
    Sarah Lacy    @benparr yeah but i heard that was always BS 10 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    This tweet from Siegler seems appropriate (though he was actually tweeting about a Lakers game):

    @parislemon
    MG Siegler    Win or lose, those types of endings are awesome. 7 hours ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Of course, it’s not over yet…

  • Michael Arrington, MG Siegler Out at PandoDaily

    Out of the AOL / TechCrunch drama factory came PandoDaily earlier this year. The news site launched as one focused on startups and it looked a lot like “TechCrunch All-Stars.”.

    Part of the plan was to have TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington as well as fellow CrunchFund partner and current (sometimes) writer for TechCrunch MG Siegler jump (and stay) on as contributors – a plan that apparently went awry on Monday. According to a post on PandoDaily by Founder and CEO Sarah Lacy, Arrington and Siegler are out at the new site after shareholders voted to yank Arrington as a director.

    As of Monday, April 9 the shareholders of PandoMedia voted to remove Michael Arrington as a director. Given the change in relationship we feel it’s inappropriate for CrunchFund’s partners Michael Arrington and MG Siegler to continue contributing to PandoDaily. We thank MG for his many stellar contributions to date and Michael for his support in the early days of the company.

    The announcement was abbreviated and they disabled comments on the post. There hasn’t been anything more from PandoDaily’s end on the matter.

    But Arrington and Siegler both posted about the move, and they seem to agree on a root cause: their participation in TechCrunch Disrupt.

    Here’s what Arrington had to say on Uncrunched:

    This wasn’t a complete surprise to me, the company notified me last week that they weren’t happy that I and MG Siegler (my partner at CrunchFund) were going to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt this coming May.

    Part of the reason that I’m speaking at Disrupt is that I have a contractual commitment to do so as part of my break with them last year, which Sarah knew about before our involvement in Pando. But MG and I are also speaking there because we still love TechCrunch. And we both speak at many other conferences as well.

    Siegler echoed this on his blog:

    Lots of questions about the PandoDaily situation. To be completely honest, I’m a bit surprised by how this went down. I think Michael’s response is appropriate.

    The problem seemed to be us participating in TechCrunch Disrupt (and I assume more Michael than myself since I’m still a TechCrunch contributor). But we both speak at a lot of conferences. And I view it as valuable that we speak at a wide range of conferences.

    Both Arrington and Siegler also mention that they think PandoDaily has potential to succeed, even though neither will be a part of it. At this point, nobody seems to be shocked by any drama that comes out of this bunch:

    @nikcub
    nik cubrilovic    This whole Techcrunch/Pando/Arrington thing needs an infographic 11 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Michael Arrington: Arianna Huffington Is A Touchy Psychopath

    TechCrunch has been leaking writers for some time now, and yesterday the leak moved up the food chain as the site’s Editor in Chief Erick Schonfeld stepped down. He’s been replaced by Eric Eldon, who says that his plan is to “build on the best of what the site has been over the years.”

    When the news broke on TechCrunch, Founder Michael Arrington wrote “Who the hell is Eric Eldon?” in the comments. That was obviously a joke, as he later said that the editor position was “the perfect position for Eldon.”

    Arrington, who was fired from TechCrunch back in September of 2011, doesn’t mince words in a blog post published today. Speaking on the topic of Schonfeld stepping down from his position, Arrington had some pretty harsh words for Huffington Post Media Group President Arianna Huffington.

    @arrington
    Michael Arrington    Tips For Keeping Your Job As Editor Of TechCrunch: http://t.co/yRgNUxHC via @Uncrunched 10 hours ago via Tweet Button ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Here’s what Arrington had to say on his Uncrunched blog:

    Putting the why aside, one thing’s clear to me. Arianna Huffington seems to enjoy fucking with TechCrunch in her leisure time. She put all her weight behind Schonfeld when I left. But within a few weeks the rumors were that she was furious at him for the way the news broke about MG Siegler joining CrunchFund.

    I doubt Erick even realized, but he was a marked man from that day on. Yes, something that petty can piss her off.

    He goes on to explain how he feels about Huffington’s leadership:

    …in the modern era [The TechCrunch staff] also have to watch their back, because they have a very touchy psychopath conducting a game of musical chairs to the death. In other words, she has the TechCrunch staff running around in circles, afraid they’ll be the next one out.

    As the post closes, Arrington gives some advice to Eldon. He says:

    Now, if things do go sideways, I do have some public advice for him. Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight with Arianna. She’s smart and she’s mean as hell and she tends to win her fights. I lost. Erick had no chance whatsoever. The poor guy woke up yesterday thinking that everything was peachy. He went to bed without a job.

    As of now, Arianna Huffington hasn’t publicly responded to this post.

  • PandoDaily: New Tech News Site From TechCrunch All Stars

    The “four biggest voices” who left TechCrunch (Sarah Lacy’s words) have started PandoDaily, a new tech site aimed at covering start-ups that sounds, well, exactly like TechCrunch.

    Lacy is leading the charge, and the site will also feature writing from Michael Arrington, MG Siegler and Paul Carr.

    In a post by Lacy, called “Why I Started PandoDaily,” Lacy says:

    We have one goal here at PandoDaily: To be the site-of-record for that startup root-system and everything that springs up from it, cycle-after-cycle. That sounds simple but it’ll be incredibly hard to pull off. It’s not something we accomplish on day one or even day 300. It’s something we accomplish by waking up every single day and writing the best stuff we can, and continually adding like-minded staffers who have the passion, drive and talent to do the same.

    As a founder, I have a personal goal that’s just as important and just as core to our culture: I do not want to sell this company. I have opened nearly every meeting by telling potential investors and potential employees this, so I guess readers should know it from the beginning as well.

    Of course, there’s the caveat that if someone calls me tomorrow and offers $1 billion, I might cave. I do have investors after all, and everyone has a price. And I’ve been around enough entrepreneurs to know the journey changes you in ways you can’t expect. I’m as aware as anyone this resolve might soften over time.

    Arrington adds on his Uncrunched blog:

    Pando Daily has a single overriding goal – to be the paper of record for Silicon Valley. That means every story of importance will be covered with an unbiased look at the facts. Along with a healthy dose of the analysis that you’ve already come to expect from her and the people she works with.

    There’s a big void in Silicon Valley right now, and I believe readers are aching for something to fill that void. Pando Daily is going to do that.

    Speaking about TechCrunch in a video interview with AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher, Lacy said, “I think it’s on a downward path obviously or would have stayed. They’re not breaking news as much as they used to be…”

    It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how the new site competes with the established TechCrunch, which does still retain some of its writers from the pre-AOL days.

    They’re also going to have a monthly series of events (with fireside chats).

    Arrington’s CrunchFund, by the way, is also an investor in PandoDaily. Other investors include: Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Tony Hseih, Zach Nelson, Andrew Anker, Chris Dixon, Saul Klein, Josh Kopelman, Jeff Jordan, Matt Cohler, Greylock Discovery Fund, Accel’s Seed Fund, Menlo Ventures Talent Fund, Lerer Ventures, SV Angels and Ooga Labs.

    One more interesting aspect of PandoDaily is that it says it will honor embargos to put stories in its “PandoTicker,” but will require something exclusive for the main blog part. TechCrunch has been known to break an embargo or two in the past, under Arrington. Granted, Arrington was very up front about this in a post called “Death to the Embargo“.

    It will be interesting to see how this strategy plays out. My guess is that it will work pretty well, given the fame its writers already have within the industry.

  • Heather Harde Officially Out At TechCrunch (AOL)

    Heather Harde Officially Out At TechCrunch (AOL)

    Last month, reports emerged that TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde, who since TechCrunch was acquired by AOL, has actually been general manager of AOL’s technology properties, had handed in her resignation.

    Today, it’s official. She’ll be stepping down at the end of the year. TechCrunch Editor Erick Schonfeld wrote his goodbye in the form of a TechCrunch post. “I am truly sorry to see her go. She is an amazing business partner and a rare talent. Just one example: Last year, when Heather was negotiating the final deal terms with AOL to purchase TechCrunch, she ran the conference during the day without a hiccup, and then literally stayed up all night to get the deal done in time for it to be announced on stage the next day,” he wrote.

    “AOL GM Jay Kirsch, who oversees Autos, Finance, and Industry on the business side, will be adding Tech to his responsibilities,” Schonfeld noted. “Editorially, TechCrunch will remain independent under me. (Editorial and business groups are separate at AOL).”

    On the post, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington commented, “It’s like watching the movie Titanic. You know exactly how it all ends, but you keep hoping it won’t.”

    AOL is probably loving comments like that, especially being an investor in Arrington’s CrunchFund.

    Arrington also wrote a lengthy post about the situation beginning with, “I’m so angry.”

    He goes on to sing plenty of praise for Harde, rehash previous AOL/TechCrunch drama, imply that everything is falling apart because of Arianna Huffington’s ego, and say that he believes AOL CEO Tim Armstrong will still figure everything out and “save the day”.

    He also throws in a reminder that he’s a shareholder in AOL.

    “Other than dial up, TechCrunch is/was the most profitable and fastest growing business unit inside of Aol,” he wrote. “That, ultimately, is why everything fell apart.”

  • Will Uncrunched Become the New TechCrunch?

    Will Uncrunched Become the New TechCrunch?

    A couple weeks ago, it became official that TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington is no longer a part of AOL, after (and before) much drama unfolded. TechCrunch, so far, is going along with most of the same writers,though columnist Paul Carr quit in dramatic fashion. He’s already got a new startup with backing from Crunchfund, which kicked off this whole ordeal to begin with.

    Now, Michael Arrington has found a new blogging home. He started “Uncrunched“. In a post titled, “What exactly am I doing here at Uncrunched?” he says:

    I’m going to do the same thing I’ve been doing since 2005. I’m going to write about startups, and the people who build them, and the people who fund them, and the people who use them. I’m going to break stories and I’m going to write my opinion, and I’m going to write whatever the hell else I feel like in between. If people want to read what I write, yay. If they don’t, I can live with that too.

    So, basically, it sounds like he’ll be competing with TechCrunch, and one might wonder if there will be any guest posts from his friends popping up. Could this simply turn into the next TechCrunch? What if more writers follow Paul Carr’s example and leave the AOL-owned tech blog, only to do the same thing with Arrington again at Uncrunched? There’s nothing indicating this is going to happen yet, but it doesn’t seem that far-fetched.

    It doesn’t look like that’s the route Arrington’s taking this time, unless he changes his mind:

    @whataboutbob
    Bob Ngu    @arrington is it possible that Uncrunched could turn into another TechCrunch or do you plan to keep it a 1 man show? 16 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @arrington
    Michael Arrington    @whataboutbob one man show. I’m out of the blogging for business business. 16 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Still, in the comments of his blog post, Arrington says he misses TechCrunch “a lot”.

    TechCrunch itself (surprisingly) hasn’t talked about Uncrunched a whole lot so far. They did run an article pointing out its launch, where Arrington’s choice of comment system was essentially the main focus of the piece. Writer Mike Butcher did tweet the following:

    @mikebutcher
    Mike Butcher    .@arrington has launched #uncrunched http://t.co/d74lh9Vf – he just can’t NOT use Crunch in anything… 2 days ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    It’s going to be interesting to see just how the “Uncrunched” story unfolds, and how much Arrington will be blogging himself. If he’s going to be breaking stories, as he says, that does make him a direct competitor with TechCrunch, but at the same time, how can one man compete with the blog’s whole staff?

  • Arrington No Longer Part of AOL [Now Official]

    Arrington No Longer Part of AOL [Now Official]

    AOL and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington have officially parted ways, at least on an employer/employee basis, though the company will continue in its investment in Arrington’s “CrunchFund” . The official statement from AOL as posted on TechCrunch:

    “The TechCrunch acquisition has been a success for AOL and for our shareholders, and we are very excited about its future. Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch has decided to move on from TechCrunch and AOL to his newly formed venture fund. Michael is a world-class entrepreneur and we look forward to supporting his new endeavor through our investment in his venture fund. Erick Schonfeld has been named the editor of TechCrunch. TechCrunch will be expanding its editorial leadership in the coming months.”

    It’s worth noting that the TechCrunch post which shares this statement uses quotations aren’t “Deciding” in the title “‘Deciding’ to Move On”.

    @erickschonfeld
    Erick Schonfeld    Honored and humbled to be taking the full reins at Techcrunch. 20 minutes ago via Twitter for iPad · powered by @socialditto

    Some other TechCrunch writer responses:

    @paulcarr
    Paul Carr    “A statement from AOL”. Ugh. Just fucking UGH. http://t.co/mmHtmBi 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @paulcarr
    Paul Carr    I would need 1000 tweets to unpack the bullshit from that statement. 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @mikebutcher
    Mike Butcher    Well, there you go RT @TechCrunch: “Deciding” To Move On http://t.co/QdddAnQ 1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @jasonkincaid
    Jason Kincaid    Thanks for everything, Mike. RT @TechCrunch: “Deciding” To Move On http://t.co/HZB1Icr 1 hour ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto

    @alexia
    Alexia Tsotsis    Unpaid Blogger http://t.co/y0kpeJD 1 hour ago via Instagram · powered by @socialditto

    @robinwauters
    Robin Wauters    Really sad @arrington will no longer be part of @techcrunch but @erickschonfeld will be an awesome editor. Sad day, however. #tcdisrupt 1 hour ago via Twitter for Android · powered by @socialditto

    @LeenaRao
    Leena K. Rao    Really going to miss @arrington. Learned so much from him over last 2 years. And excited to work under the leadership of @erickschonfeld! 1 hour ago via Seesmic · powered by @socialditto

    Kara Swisher has posted yet another leaked internal company memo, this from AOL CEO Tim Armstrong. The part about TechCrunch reads:

    “Finally, I’d like to announce that Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch, has decided to move on from TechCrunch and AOL to his newly formed venture fund. TechCrunch continues to be a part of the AOL Huffington Post Media Group. AOL will maintain its initial investment in Michael Arrington’s fund and AOL Ventures will oversee our investment in the fund.”

    For more background on the events that led up to this, view past coverage here.

    And as a bonus, let’s review that Next Media Animation video one more time:

    Schonfeld was already co-editor of TechCrunch, so it stands to reason that the site will remain relatively similar to how it’s always been, though that part about expanding editorial leadership in the coming months might have more bearing on that, depending on just what is in store.

  • Arrington and AOL: The Final Chapter

    The latest word on the TechCrunch/AOL saga is that TC founder Michael Arrington has been fired from the company and that AOL will not sell TechCrunch back, as he had requested.

    As previously reported, Michael Arrington presented two options to AOL: either reaffirm editorial independence of TechCrunch as “promised at the time of acquisition” or sell TechCrunch back to the original shareholders.

    According to an article from Fortune, it appears that AOL went with option C: canning Arrington and keeping TechCrunch. Dan Primack reports:

    Instead, Fortune has learned that AOL executives have decided to terminate Arrington. It is unclear how this will officially occur. Maybe a pink slip. Maybe Arrington submits a (public?) letter of resignation. Maybe Tim Armstrong simply gives Arrington a phone call, and he quickly dashes off a note to TechCrunch employees on his iPad.

    In other words, the ending has been written but much of the final chapter remains blank. This includes the fate of CrunchFund, which still includes that pesky AOL commitment (which it technically could default on, but that would lead to all sorts of other problems).

    Of course, as Primack also admits, there’s no telling if the decision is final. There has been so much back and forth here, who knows? Kara Swisher, who has been very vocal in her criticism of the whole ordeal, is skeptical:

    @karaswisher
    Kara Swisher    CrunchFund wizard might be out per fortune, but seems chaotic still as to what’s going on there, acc to my sources: http://t.co/izt0Q7n 11 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    Either way, the story up to now has already been immortalized by Taiwanese animation:

    Note: The title of this article is a reference to Friday the 13th Part IV: The FInal Chapter, which as any horror fan knows, was not even close to being the final chapter.

    @arrington
    Michael Arrington    My life feels very strange to me. 10 hours ago via Twitter for Android · powered by @socialditto

  • Arrington to AOL: Sell TechCrunch Back

    The TechCrunch drama continues, interestingly enough with a TechCrunch post from founder Michael Arrington himself.

    More here and here for some background.

    A year ago when it was revealed that AOL would be acquiring TechCrunch, a big deal was made about how TechCrunch would continue to operate as it always had, free from editorial oversight by AOL. That would mean TechCrunch could say whatever nasty things it wanted to about AOL and get away with it.

    Arrington writes in a fresh post, “As of late last week TechCrunch no longer has editorial independence. Some argue that the circumstances demanded it. I disagree. Editorial independence was never supposed to be an easy thing for Aol to give us. But it was never meaningful if it shatters the first time it is put to the test.”

    @arrington
    Michael Arrington    Editorial Independence http://t.co/Ju68GRW via @techcrunch 1 hour ago via Tweet Button · powered by @socialditto

    It does still appear to be editorially independent enough to let air all of this internal turmoil for the masses, including this very post by Arrington, so I guess that’s something.

    @karaswisher
    Kara Swisher    @manan me too. we operate exactly the same except for the glaring conflict of interest VC fund 1 hour ago via Tweetie for Mac · powered by @socialditto

    According to Kara Swisher at All Things D, who has been very vocal about her disdain for the whole mess, says that Arrington has reached out to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong to try and buy TechCrunch back. She says her sources say that he would have to pull together the funding to do so, and that things are currently at a “stalemate”.

    In Arrington’s post, he proposes two options to AOL:

    1. Reaffirmation of the editorial independence promised at the time of acquisition. Given the current circumstances, that means autonomy from Huffington Post, unfettered editorial independence and a blanket right to editorial self determination. To put it simply, TechCrunch would stay with Aol but would be independent of the Huffington Post.

    or

    2. Sell TechCrunch back to the original shareholders.

    “If Aol cannot accept either of these options, and no other creative solution can be found, I cannot be a part of TechCrunch going forward,” signaling that this could be his last TechCrunch post.

  • TechCrunch Says TechCrunch “As We Know It” May Be Over

    TechCrunch Says TechCrunch “As We Know It” May Be Over

    Popular tech blog TechCrunch, which was acquired by AOL about a year ago appears to be in major turmoil, following news late last week that founder Michael Arrington is likely out of the company after launching CrunchFund, venture capital fund.

    Previously, we looked at a lot of the chatter taking place throughout the industry expressing various viewpoints about the whole thing, but now TechCrunch writer MG Siegler has written a pair of posts lending perhaps the most interesting point of view yet.

    “TechCrunch is on the precipice,” he writes on TechCrunch itself. “As soon as tomorrow, Mike may be thrown out of the company he founded. Or he may not. No one knows. And if he is, he will be replaced by — well, again, no one knows. No one knows much of anything. Certainly no one at TechCrunch. This site is about to change forever and we’re in the total fucking dark. I’ve been able to piece together little bits of information here and there, and it’s not looking good. Hence, this post.”

    He goes on to discuss how TechCrunch actually works as a publication and the editorial process, which has been the subject of critique by the mainstream media. Siegler calls out a particular article by The New York Times’ David Carr, which he discusses even more in a post on his personal blog.

    On that blog, ParisLemon, Siegler writes, “Journalists seem to think they can write about TechCrunch as if they’re looking in a mirror. That is to say, they think our operation runs in a similar manner to theirs and they use that as a jumping off point for misguided (but predictable) outrage. In reality, what they’re looking at when they look at TechCrunch is a crystal ball.”

    “First and foremost, the concept of an ‘editor’ at TechCrunch is essentially just a title and nothing more. Generally speaking, neither Mike nor Erick (TC’s two ‘co-editors’) are overlords that dictate what everyone else covers. With a few exceptions (mainly for newer writers), no one person even reads posts by any other author before they are posted,” Siegler explains. “Traditional journalists may be appalled to learn this. But this is a big key of why TechCrunch kicks their ass in tech coverage. We’re fast and furious in ways they can’t be, because they’re adhering to the old rules. Are there benefits to those old rules? Sure. But in my opinion, the benefits of the way we work far outweighs the benefits of the way they work.”

    He makes some pretty good points, and has a whole lot more to say about them in that post.

    Back in the TechCrunch post – property of AOL – he concludes that AOL may “TechCrunch as we know it may be over.”

    “AOL seems to think that by cutting off the biggest conflicts — ones so big that they’d obviously have to be disclosed — that they’ll be a bastion of integrity in the editorial landscape. What a bunch of horse shit,” Siegler says. “The conflicts we need to worry about are the ones not disclosed. They’re far more prevalent and they do actually deceive readers because they’re far more subtle. But that’s an impossible task. AOL can’t fix that — no one can. So instead they’ll slaughter the lamb everyone can see to gain puffery amongst the old media peers who also live to die another day.”

    When it was first announced that AOL would acquire TechCrunch, it caused quite a stir, and many wondered how TechCrunch would manage to keep doing things the way it had always done under the control of a huge media conglomerate. And that was before the Huffington Post was part of the equation.

    “I remember hanging out with the staff a year ago before the announcement was made that AOL had purchased Techcrunch and the rumors were just rolling over the staff,” says Robert Scoble in a Google+ post. “Some of the staff were dismayed (to put it lightly. At least one was crying). They thought that Techcrunch as we knew it was over then. Turns out they may have been right, although they kept a brave face on it for almost a year.”

    Some wondered, would TechCrunch be afraid to criticize AOL if it needed to be criticized? TechCrunch said this would not be the case, and AOL practically encouraged it.

    TechCrunch held true to its word, even going out of their way to spark blog wars with other AOL-owned properties like Engadget and Moviefone.

    Now, who knows?

    “It has almost been exactly one year since AOL acquired us,” Siegler writes. “At the time, they promised not to interfere with the way we do things. For 11+ months, they’ve kept their word, and things have run beautifully from our end. Our business is one of the few sterling ornaments on their mantel. Now they may break their promise to us. And if that promise is broken, it will break TechCrunch.”

    It’s going to be very interesting to see how things unfold, and how it affects AOL’s future acquisition strategy.

  • Michael Arrington and AOL: What They’re Saying

    Update: Arrington is “not employed by Aol” according to this report quoting a Huffington Post spokesperson.

    Update 2: Peter Kafka at AllThingsD is reporting that Arrington is indeed an AOL employee, though he no longer works for AOL’s Huffington Post Media Group. He writes: “That’s consistent with what the company said yesterday, but contradicts what AOL HuffingtonPost spokesman Mario Ruiz told the Business Insider this morning. But since Sullivan reports directly to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, we’ll take her word on this.”

    Here’s the TechCrunch post about the whole thing, finally. Written by Paul Carr.

    Reports came out from Fortune and the New York Times that famed blogger and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington is launching a new venture fund to invest in early-stage startups.

    According to Fortune, his partner is Patrick Gallagher of VantagePoint Venture and the goal is to raise about $20 million.

    While the NYT reported that Arrington “will take a backseat role at TechCrunch, which is hiring a new managing editor,” and that “He will continue to report to Arianna Huffington, who runs AOL’s media properties,” Henry Blodget is reporting that Huffington said in an email that Arrington isn’t being paid by TechCrunch, won’t report to TechCrunch editors and won’t export to Huffington or other AOL Huffington Post Media Group Personnel.

    Arrington himself has been pretty quiet about his plans. His tweets since the news came out have consisted of:

    @arrington
    Michael Arrington    slow news day. 12 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @arrington
    Michael Arrington    @chirag_mehta hah. 12 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @arrington
    Michael Arrington    @eastdakota I haven’t actually said anything. 7 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    There has been plenty of outside chatter, however. Here are some tweets from others:

    @davemcclure
    Dave McClure    whoa! congrats & welcome 2 the party mike @arrington !!! #VCcrunch (celebration drinks @Bin38 ? 😉 cc @mhelft @danprimack 15 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @nichcarlson
    Nicholas Carlson    The reason what Arrington is doing is OK is that readers who care know they have a choice. 12 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    @gaberivera
    Gabe Rivera    .@nichcarlson I think all pubs have conflicts, even hidden ones. TC’s are now more complicated, and deeper. But TC is no less a good read. 11 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @dannysullivan
    Danny Sullivan    AOL, if you’re going to make an exception to your “traditional” journalism standards, then you don’t have standards http://t.co/qvQDV0q 14 hours ago via Seesmic twhirl · powered by @socialditto

    @karaswisher
    Kara Swisher    Hopelessly troubled AOL’s new biz plan is apparently taking egregious conflicts of interests to a new level. Go, Tim!: http://t.co/Zx5cwxq 15 hours ago via Tweetie for Mac · powered by @socialditto

    @parislemon
    MG Siegler    I swear I’m never reading TechCrunch again… until they have that massive scoop and I’m one of the few million reading tomorrow. 9 hours ago via Twitter for iPad · powered by @socialditto

    Jeff Jarvis lists “a few things to keep in mind” regarding Arrington in a Google+ post:

    • Arrington started as a VC who happened to write a blog to keep track of companies he was interested in for investment. It turned into a media property by accident (but with much hard and purposeful work).
    • Arrington has long rejected the title “journalist.” At Disrupt, I tried to get him to take on the uniform. He adamantly would not.
    • NYTimesCo also invests in startups (including one where I am a partner, Daylife) and the NYTimes covers startups. NYTimes lab also created a startup with Betaworks (News.me). It, too, is in the business of startups.
    • One difference: Arrington’s fund accepted capital from other VCs’ funds. An added layer of complexity, to be sure.

    Robert Scoble says, “One thing, entrepreneurs will have a tough time with: He can be tough to work with if you aren’t very adept at PR and don’t know how to handle his personality. Getting questioned by him isn’t something that will be fun, either in a board meeting, or in public on a blog.”

    That personality has been on public display in past Tech Crunch posts and tweetrs, where he has had plenty of “blog wars” for lack of a better term with other AOL staff (namely Engadget).

    Swisher also had a whole lot more to say about the whole thing.

    Note: The screenshot with the broken image on Arrington’s bio is real. Note 2: It’s not broken anymore. Probably meaningless, but still seems appropriate enough for a screenshot.

  • Another Shake-Up in the AOL Content Leadership Department

    AOL recently lost a couple of editors of its popular gadget blog Engadget. Now, an even bigger player in the company’s content strategy is leaving. President of AOL Media and Studios, David Eun told staff he is leaving the company in an email. The letter started:

    I wanted to reach out to you personally about my decision to leave the company. I came to AOL last year to be the leader of the media organization. With the historic acquisition of The Huffington Post, my role and responsibilities as President, AOL Media are changing. Tim and I have discussed at length how I might continue within the new organizational structure, but ultimately there isn’t a role that matches what I am seeking to do.

    I believe this acquisition is great for AOL, and I’ve been happy to count Arianna as a friend for a number of years. This deal would never ave happened without all of your hard work and accomplishments this past year. From our Homepage relaunch to massive video growth to significant increases in external traffic, you have been at the forefront of digital media- and this is only the beginning.

    AOL’s TechCrunch has the entire thing posted. Unlike the Engadget editors who stepped down, citing the infamous "AOL Way" as a catalyst, Eun expresses nothing but pride, respect, and admiration for what AOL has accomplished in the content field during his tenure. 

    AOL Exec David Eun Out – Here’s His Email To Staff http://t.co/L1tZ7zz via @techcrunchless than a minute ago via Tweet ButtonMichael Arrington
    arrington

    Arrington, who is generally not shy about speaking his mind (having blasted Engadget itself in the past, as well as suggesting that AOL may have been responsible for an annoying ad that appeared on his site) says, "As much as I made fun of David, I have huge respect for him. One thing he didn’t do was mess with TechCrunch. He never told us what to write, or not write, or in any way interfered with our editorial process. That’s all I really asked for when we were acquired, and he kept his promise."

    What’s that mean in light of Eun’s absence and the "AOL way"? 

    Upon AOL’s acquisition of The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington was appointed president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which includes all Huffington Post and AOL content, "including Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog, Patch, StyleList, and more."

    An internal AOL email from CEO Tim Armstrong (shared by Arrington here) reaffirms that Huffington is indeed in charge of content, and adds that AOL exec Jon Brod will be COO of the Huffington Post Media Group once the acquisition has closed.

  • TechCrunch Not Worried About Stepping On AOL Toes

    TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington hasn’t been afraid of pissing off AOL since the company acquired the popular tech blog late last year. 

    Earlier this month, Arrington waged a blog war of sorts against fellow AOL tech blog Engadget, which drew a lot of media attention, and got other tech bloggers asking questions like, "How long will Mike Arrington possibly last as an AOL employee?"

    Now, Arrington has used his popular blog to criticize more (possible) internal workings of AOL – the ad sales team. In a blog post yesterday called "Real Blogs Don’t Have Interstitial Ads", Arrington talked about an interstitial Dell ad that had been appearing on the site. When users first visited the blog, they would be greeted with an in-your-face ad that they had no choice but to acknowledge. 

    TechCrunch Posts About Annoying Ad

    While acknowledging that the ad was annoying, Arrington wrote: 

    In the past our sales guys have brought up these kinds of ads, and our CEO Heather has shot them down. In this case I’m not sure who’s responsible. AOL has now taken over some of our ad sales, I believe. And our awesome sales team (who has to put up with stuff like this) is handling the rest. I think so anyway, normally I don’t pay much attention to that side of the business. So far my internal requests for more information have been ignored.

    Whoever did it, I’m going to try to stop it. Which will probably involve six hours of internal meetings and at least one power point deck. So at least you know that it’s going to cause me a lot more pain than it’s causing you.

    We’ve seen no indication that AOL is pissed off, and they knew what they were getting when they brought Arrington and his blog on board. In fact, they made it clear from the get go that TechCrunch wasn’t expected to hold back on AOL criticism just because it was part of the team.

    Clearly, Arrington is happy to stand up for the integrity of his blog regardless of the corporate ownership that paid to have it. He took a lot of criticism for his flame war with Engadget, but you can’t say he doesn’t care about TechCrunch. 

    You have to wonder how Dell, the advertiser feels about the whole thing. 

  • A Fake Eric Schmidt And A Fake Mark Zuckerberg

    Michael Arrington of TechCrunch created a fake Facebook account for Google CEO Eric Schmidt, showing that Facebook probably needs to do more to verify users. I’m guessing that Schmidt still has access to more personal information on Arrington, however. 

    On Saturday, Saturday Night Live ran a couple Facebook-related sketches – one, a Weekend Update interview with Mark Zuckerberg (played by Andy Samberg), the other, a sketch about a Facebook filter to hide stuff from your mom. Both are provided by Hulu:

    Microsoft unveiled nine new devices today from a variety of manufacturers and carriers, that will feature its Windows Phone 7 operating system. There is plenty of speculation about how successful this will be. Engadget has provided a nice little roundup of noteworthy apps for Windows Phone 7.

    TechCrunch reports that it’s probably going to be a while before Apple releases an iPhone that works on 4G networks. This appears to be unconfirmed speculation, but not without reason. 

    The Unofficial Apple Weblog reports that Apple has been awarded a trademark for the phrase, "There’s an app for that". If only there could be a fine issued everytime it’s spoken aloud. 

    Rapper Eminem’s publisher is trying to get money out of Apple for downloads of his music (via). The publisher has reportedly asked a US District Court judge in Detroit to enforce a $2.2 million settlement reached in a lawsuit against Apple.

    Chris O’Brien at MecuryNews has an interesting piece about why cell phones may be more dangerous than you think. Along with the article itself, there are some interesting comments debating both sides of the argument. 

  • More “Super Angel” Fun

    Update 2: This story is getting more and more interesting. See these reactions from Ron Conway and McClure, as well as this post by Robert Scoble. 

    Update: VC and founding partner at 500 Startups, Dave McClure, has written a colorful response to Arrington’s claims. Here’s an excerpt:

    – mike arrington is a friend, an imposing figure, and a hard-nosed, hard-working journalist. that said, he’s dead fucking wrong about there being some story around " collusion" (def’n). makes for great red meat on TechMeme & Twitter, but it’s just so much horseshit.

    – yesterday i was invited to a dinner with some well-known startup investors to discuss the latest & greatest in tech & startups. the agenda was drinks, good food, & shooting the shit… it wasn’t to collude, to price fix, to put out a hit on Paul Graham, or generally bust a cap in any founder’s ass (ok maybe Zuck & Jobs have it coming, but people might notice if we shoved them furtively into Davy Jones’ Locker). Yes: it was a private affair, and No: mike wasn’t invited. neither was Barack Obama, your mom, nor any of 500 other friggin’ awesome people in silicon valley or around the world.  meh… whatever — i don’t get to go to every cool kid party in the valley either.  sorry, mike… but if you want, i’ll knock one back with you before we go onstage Monday morning at Disrupt.

    We can only assume Arrington is crafting his response to this. 

    Original Article: Michael Arrington at TechCrunch has caused a stir, claiming he went to a bar and found a "secret meeting" taking place with a group of "Super Angels", which he does not name, but says "together account for nearly 100% of early stage startup deals in Silicon Valley."

    While he didn’t hang around for the meeting, he says he spoke with three people that were in it, some of which were "uncomfortable" with what was being discussed. The discussion, according to Arrington’s account of it, included "complaints about Y Combinator’s growing power", "how to counteract competitiveness in Y Combinator deals", complaints about rising deal valuations and acting as a group to drive them down, and keep out new angel investors and venture capitalists – basically eliminating competition. 

    Obviously, this kind of thing is frowned upon, and these are big allegations against a group of people Arrington calls "friends".

    Fred WilsonSome appear to be skeptical of the whole thing, however. Well-known VC Fred Wilson says, "It’s the kind of blog post that Mike has become famous for. It’s a good read and even if it is partially true, it’s a slap in the face of the individuals involved."

    "The very fact that some of the most active and respected angels in silicon valley were meeting to discuss the changing dynamic of their business suggests to me that the opposite is happening," he says. "I suspect that the good old days when they could all get together and do a deal are gone. And they are not happy about what they see happening to their market. I wasn’t at the meeting and I don’t know for sure what was discussed. But I know most of these investors and I know what is on their minds right now."

    Others are applauding the exposure of such a meeting. Even Wilson says he applauds Arrington for bringing up the subject. Arrington says after speaking to an attorney, he has confirmed that the laws that exist were designed to protect against the very types of meetings that he discusses.