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TC40 Sounds Like a Joke

No offence to all of those who busted their asses to present at TC40 (or the demo pit, or whatever), or to those who worked hard behind the scenes to pull it all together. At the end of the day, though, TC40 sounds more and more like a TC insider-club joke, mainly because the winner - “Mint”:

1. Mint had ties to TechCrunch (old TC writer working there).;
2. Mint had two investors on the TC40 voting panel (nice edge).
3. Mint is a branded version of white label financial app Yodlee with some sketchy, poorly working functionality hastily tacked on top. (see Yodlee MoneyCenter).
4. Mint had already taken $5M in funding.

So - from a field of hungry startups, TC40 chose the one heavily connected to the panel, with a marginal value proposition, little innovation (their business model is freaking credit card referrals), and little need for $50k. I can see why TechCrunch has a small but vocal crowd of detractors - the choice of Mint as a winner is - from where I’m seated - a credibility hit against Calacanis, Arrington, and TC.

arrington, calacanis, mint, tc20, tc40, techcrunch, uncov yodlee

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You Have the Choice

The granddaddies of the tech blogosphere are lamenting both the pressure of their success, and that of the whole 2.0 scene - both Michael A. and the Scobleizer have disillusioned navel-gazing posts up this AM, wishing for the simple, post-dot-com-boom days of 2001 and 2002 when Web2.0 was a valley cafe phenomenon and the bust had cleansed the valley of much of the Type-A ambitious personalities that make the current boom feel corrosive.

To Michael and Robert, I’d offer simple advice: Success (or failure) are what you make it; each day you live is a choice.

1. Don’t be afraid to let go: I wouldn’t want to be in Michael’s shoes, having the power of life or death over startups, and getting despondent phonecalls from people desperate for coverage. Talk about pressure. Its not a fair position to be put in by startups, and I can’t imagine dealing with those calls - but it goes with the territory when you reach a certain size. So - they (Michael, Robert) have a choice: embrace the challenge, and look to traditional and innovative ways to manage these relationships, or walk away: there is no shame in saying “this is no longer for me” and moving on to something new. I envy the professionals in music, acting, and sports that know when they’ve had enough and exit the mainstream: its classy and respectable.
2. Find the Next Cafe Scene: Web2.0 is not the terminal endpoint for the technology world, the web-tech is only one facet anyway. The next iteration is brewing right now in a cafe somewhere, or a University lecture hall, or a computer-strewn basement. Is it the “semantic web?” Is it some type of biotech? Is it GMO crops? Or some type of new economics, like micro-lending, that can change the world? If you want a break from the mainstream, find the fringe again and be there.
3. Change It: Robert and Michael have the collective power to influence the valley environment; if its pernicious and poisoned, perhaps they should be asking again how to bring it back? You’re both awash in choices: finances, influence, relationships, and audiences - how can you use all of that to either change the valley environment back to “friendly,” or create your own friendly microclimate in the next silicon valley? Can you “wag the dog” so to speak?
4. Embrace It: Frantic Industries points out that the valley is a little pocket universe all to itself, which doesn’t extend very far beyond its walls. Remember this fact: the garbage that you may be exposed to there, however disheartening it may be, is only the tiniest slice of the wider internet and technology world. Any community that you are a part of will have its ups and downs as it grows and changes over time; the most dedicated members of that community will maintain their poise through-out and enrichen it the whole way through, taking the good with the bad, and paying attention to the best. OMC suggests that the real 2.0 movement is bypassing the valley craziness anyway.

There’s a good parallel in music: Whenever a new genre gets “hot” - Rock & Roll, Hip Hop, Techno, whatever, there are the pioneers that founded it, and then the whole crazy scene that follows with glam, bling, money, whatever. There are pioneers that choose to walk away - that’s cool (Cat Stevens?). There are pioneers that just keep doing their thing without worrying about the scene - that’s cool too (Bob Dylan?). There are also those that get caught up in it and go nuts (Elvis?) - that’s cool too, if that’s what you want (hopefully without a lame, self-destructive finish).

So - at the end of the day, Robert and Michael, however dreary your poisitions may feel, you’ve got nothing but great options to choose from - so chin up, and make the most of it.

advice, arrington, boom, bust, michaelarrington, robertscoble, scoble, scobleizer, techcrunch valley

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The Techcrunch Circus: Losing Focus?

This blog, and many, many other “2.0 tech” blogs owe much of our inspiration and popularity to Techcrunch, who’s reporting popularized both the ethos of web 2.0, and the concept of writing about it. I’ve been a long-time TC reader and fan.

TC’s “obsessive profiling” of new companies was what made it an icon of the web 2.0 movement, but as of late, growth seems to be pushing TC into the territory of MSM “lifestyle” site, complete with circus tent celebrities, filler posts, and inoffensive reporting.

1. MC Hammer - a great buzz building mechanism around TC20 (it got my linkback, didn’t it?) but is a move like this turning tech into a circus?
2. Unopinonated reporting - many TC articles are now “just the news,” without the opinions and insight that used to make TC more than just a PR tool.
3. Focus Dilution - there’s been a number of Apple/iPod articles this week, which seemingly escaped from Crunchgear. Why?

Has TC gone mainstream? Should true 2.0′ers stick to reading Uncov? Probably not. There’ll always be a place in my blogroll for TC, but its starting to get pushed down the list.

arrington, mchammer, michaelarrington, tc20 techcrunch

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Still Light Posting - Truemors and more in the pipeline

Hey hey. Still posting light. My grandfather passed away late last night - sad, but a welcome release for him - and a chance to celebrate a long life well-lived.

Looking forward to getting back to regular posts; after TechCrunch started posting Truemors screenshots, I was sorely tempted to blow the embargo myself, but managed to restrain myself. I’ll have a full report on May 16th for those interested in Guy Kawasaki’s latest venture. I’ve been in the site and played around with it, and while I don’t think the 2.0 web elite will be drawn to it, that’s not the site’s primary audience anyway.

To TechCrunch: I still think this is lame:

We’ve now gotten into the private beta via some “borrowed” credentials and have had a look around for ourselves. The site, which is built on the Wordpress platform, is a category-based rumor site where anyone can phone, text or email in a rumor.

…and this is not an excuse:

# Michael Arrington
May 8th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
I just want to be clear on a point: I was not part of the private beta. if I was I certainly would have complied with any request not to post before a certain time. I also want to point out that I did not post the credentials that I received for the site. I also took other steps to protect the company that I won’t discuss here.

I suppose I’m annoyed at being scooped (per se), but as a q-lister I’m used to that anyway. I suppose it bugs me because its a disrespectful disregard for someone’s respectful request. Oh well - TC has star power, so post away.

Rock & roll,
-R

arrington, kawasaki, techcrunch, techfold truemores

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TechCrunch’s worst post

Cool - TechCrunch is running a contest: point out TC’s worst post, and win tickets to the Web 2.0 expo.

IMHO, the worst type of post is the breathless, sychophantic, hyperbolic “enthusiasm” post. In TechCrunch land, the post - or rather stream of posts - that brings it altoghether is the coverage of Ning’s initial launch.

Starting in October with the quivering “ZOMG they just launched, were profiling now!!11!!!one” post by Michael, TC quickly followed with Fred O’s fawning launch missive.

Then - hahaha - the post in the search results is the following Febuary - with “Ning R.I.P.?” from Michael. Whoops - in retrospect, TC recognized that keyword-ballistic press releases and Internet celebrity backers do not a successful venture make. In fact, Ning sucked, being a strange mishmash of un-functionality and missed opportunities. Eventually, Ning switched courses entirely, dumping the “web-development for the layperson” battle cry and re-purposing themselves a social network white-labeller.

So that’s it. People ride on Scoble and Rubel for falling head over heels for whatever the day’s buzz-worthy technology is, but TC does it too. Call me a snarky person, but my favorite posts are the honest appraisal one’s, like TC’s coverage of Google Base - golden!

arrington, contest, ning, techcrunch techfold

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