4 ms·

I worked for TC for a long time and lived and worked in the same house as Mike for almost 4 years, so I know how he works very well. First, Compete totally get

by nikcub 16y ago

I worked for TC for a long time and lived and worked in the same house as Mike for almost 4 years, so I know how he works very well. First, Compete totally gets Techcrunch traffic wrong. Not only the numbers, but the trends would totally not match up with our own internal Google Analytics, and even the data such as top referrers etc. were way off. Compete should not be used as supporting evidence that Techcrunch is fading. The number of re-tweets, comments, referral traffic, twitter subscribers, Techememe headlines, HN headlines, story leads etc. is as high as ever. Monthly uniques are nowhere near the 1M compete would want us to believe they are. There are a few different types of blogger. Those who don't get access to stories and rely on press releases, generally boring. Then there are those who get access to information, but refuse to post about it for fear of pissing somebody off, just as boring and probably worse than the first type. Then there is the type of blogger who gets access to information, and has no problem stepping on toes to get the information out. Mike is of this variety. You could say that he is the prime example of the new breed of process journalist - he would rather a (now rather low) error rate on 1-2% of stories in order to get the other 98% out there for the audience. I have intimate knowledge of how he works and how he puts stories together - to the extent that even now, with him on the other side of the world, I can read a story on headline and put together what went on behind the scenes to get this story out (such as the Facebook stock story). He is constantly on the phone and emailing people. He literally has hundreds of people on speed dial, on skype and in his email contact list - he would send dozens of single-line emails each day building information up around the story, and over the years has gotten very good at both extracting responses from people first, and then figuring out what is really happening by triangulating. Sometimes the stories are posted a little early, and you see that process play out through a post being edited or through multiple posts that make up a larger story (like Scamville, and almost certainly this Facebook stock story). Arrington and his stories reflect the scene - if he is pumping a startup, it is because through talking to dozens of investors he keeps hearing about it. He rarely is the first to step out, but is a lot better at capturing mood and opinion and then amplifying it. He can also put his finger on what is wrong and what is right - and Angelgate was an example of that. That also applies to this Facebook stock story. Do you really think he would just pick on him for no reason? Or is it more likely that he got a tip about it, confirmed it with one more person, phoned Facebook to talk about it (who asked to be off the record), contacted the guy in question, and then posted the story? A blogger who just makes things up and is wrong would never have an audience. You only ever have to talk to anybody who has worked with Mike, any startup who has gone through the process with him, or any other blogger who respects that process, to understand that there is something special going on there. Mike has a lot of people he can count on in his circle and within the industry because of that. I watched him approach almost every word in a post with a lawyer's caution - he would constantly review even after a post is published and the possibility of not getting something right totally eats at him (to the point where he can't sleep). You have completely mischaracterized him as being careless, from a guy who used to wake me up at 5am just to check the smallest details of a story. Just shows that you totally do not understand what and who you are trying to diss at. If you don't like this style of story - then don't read it. There are plenty of blogs that just churn out press release after press release and appease those who don't want to see the boat rocked. But don't attempt to string together poor traffic stats and two or three misses from a collection of thousands of hits into some narrative about Techcrunch failing. If Techcrunch earned a dollar for ever blog post that has been written about it failing or jumping the shark then it could easily double revenue. Fact is that right now it still dominates startup news, is one of the main outlets to reach a startup audience if your are launching a product, and even with Mike writing less it is not fading anywhere - since his style is contagious and has been picked up by other writers. I have seen this trend cycle of things being cool when new, and then suddenly uncool when popular, play out too many times not to be wise to it. There is nothing wrong with reading Techcrunch and other blogs, this isn't winner takes all. I enjoy reading HN, Reddit, The Startup Foundry, etc. This isn't grade school where you need to pick a team to be on and do your best to fight the other tribe (especially including personal attacks, which completely makes you cheap) - if you think you can do better in any way, try it, keep writing with Venturebeat and don't bitch about it - the readers and audience will decide based on quality not on preaching.

ignifero 16y ago
Agreed, Arrington is not afraid to write interesting things. Wish he wrote more often. btw, its not just compete that shows the drop in readership in the end of 2010
bootload 16y ago
"... There are a few different types of blogger. Those who don't get access to stories and rely on press releases, generally boring. Then there are those who get access to information, but refuse to post about it for fear of pissing somebody off, just as boring and probably worse than the first type. Then there is the type of blogger who gets access to information, and has no problem stepping on toes to get the information out. ..." So which explanation did TC use for it's lack of reporting on Omnidrive? "Omnidrive - Is This The Sad End?" (technation: story now dead) ~ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=309892 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=309892 For the backstory cf: Gawker, Jackson West, "The Omnidrive story you won’t read on TechCrunch" ~ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p12eHH2qeGAJ:valleywag.gawker.com/%3F_escaped_fragment_%3D387470/the-omnidrive-story-you-wont-read-on-techcrunch+The+Omnidrive+story+you+won%27t+read+on+TechCrunch&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p12eHH2... and http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/
- nikcub 16y ago
  Still the same type - or are you asking why Techcrunch didn't cover a story from Valleywag? I marked Omnidrive as deadpool in CrunchBase, and it isn't uncommon for Techcrunch to not cover a story that has been covered elsewhere, esp since Mike was an investor and was wary of conflicts
  - bootload 16y ago
    "... I marked Omnidrive as deadpool in CrunchBase, and it isn't uncommon for Techcrunch to not cover a story that has been covered elsewhere, esp since Mike was an investor and was wary of conflicts ..." My tone is skeptical Nik because I read stories, information and posts with my BS detection at maximum when I detect ambiguity. I'm interested in ambiguous stories because it's possible to find in them both the truth but sometimes non-truths. Take for instance a story which I posted on HN 3 years ago, "The Google Way: Give Engineers Room". [0] I posted the story because it was interesting. But it took a fellow HN'r Karzeem [1] to suggest something wasn't quite right. You can read the post for yourself. I wasn't thinking Google is bad or looking for subterfuge by the New York times. But that's what we got. I emailed the New York times for clarification and it turns out because the story was in fact a "Submarine". A plant by Google and the Times to make Google appear a great place to work in the guise of an interview. Except it wasn't. You can read it yourself on HN.[2] karzeem and myself agreed this was a great article not because of the content, but because it exposed the mechanism the Times could paid placement as stories by hiding it in the Fashion section (not the hard news section) and how Google positions itself. The story behind the closure of Omnidrive is ambiguous. I first picked up the inconsistencies when an article in a conservative local business magazine, BRW mentions Omnidrive not only in the top 100 Web 2.0 companies in Australia, but in the top 50.[3] How could this be? Omnidrive for all intensive purposes was in the deadpool? So I contacted Renai LeMay a local journalist who worked at ZD Net to ask, "why was Omnidrive inclused?". His reply Omnidrive was active. Timing matters here. I asked LeMay in 2008JUL08 but the deadpool lists Omnidrive as "officially closed in September of 2008" [4][5][6] Which is it? The duplicity makes me think the ambiguity was for a reason. It might not be, but I'm suspicious. Is it possible in the ambiguity in this story was used as a smoke screen for other reasons? As the major investor in Omnidrive I am stunned not to have received any information from Nik on what’s been happening over the last few months. I have emailed him a number of times, but have not had a single reply. The last I heard he was flying around the world, after launching Techcrunch IT, and also building the Techcrunch tablet for Michael Arrington. [7] I'll let you, the reader ponder the reasons for ambiguity by pointing you to Clay Cook, a fellow Australian and ex-angel.[8] I follow through with stories like the closure of Omnidrive, not because I have any particular interest in Omnidrive or (you) Nik, but for reasons of clarity. If I read a story with a degree ambiguity, I like the clarify the reasons why, to analyse and understand. If a statement is made, test for it's validity against what I know. Will it stand up to a degree of scrutiny? I like follow-up posts like this because I think it's a good real-life lesson for fellow HN's to not take information at face value. Startups are by their nature complex but fragile things that constantly fall over and fail. Lesson: Your investors are here to help you, keep them informed and you have a much higher likelihood of receiving help. [9] They are run by optimistic, risk taking individuals who like take charge with technology, who value making new things and maybe, just maybe short circuit the "money-problem". The trip from technologist to entrepreneur to successful entrepreneur is complex and requires many skills, technical and personal. I think the most important skill to foster is to "be-good". "Be good", not to be virtuous, be good because the algorythm is stateless and as a strategy, it works. [10] Reference [0] Bharat Mediratta, Julie Bick, "The Google Way: Give Engineers Room" [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=70827 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=70827 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ [1] karzeem, HackerNews [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=karzeem http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=karzeem [2] "The Google Way: Give Engineers Room", et.al. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=70827 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=70827 [3] "Official launch of the Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list" [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2008/06 http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2008/06 /official_launch.html [4] Where I (@bootload) ask "@renailemay how did Omnidrive make the list? ~ http://tinyurl.com/6f3cx8* http://tinyurl.com/6f3cx8* [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] https://twitter.com/#!/bootload/statuses/850502396 https://twitter.com/#!/bootload/statuses/850502396 [5] and @renailemay replies "@bootload omnidrive is still functioning"* [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] https://twitter.com/#!/renailemay/statuses/850550575 https://twitter.com/#!/renailemay/statuses/850550575 [6] At a later point Ross Dawson a blogger who noted the top 100 in the BRW article also chimed in with some more detail, "At the time that the list was compiled Omnidrive was still functioning, so merited being on the list pending further notice. ... And yes, it certainly does appear to have died now... ". [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ [7] Clay Cook, "Nik Cubrilovic Omnidrive lesson", [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://www.claycook.net/2008/10/16/nik-cubrilovic-omnidrive-lesson/ http://www.claycook.net/2008/10/16/nik-cubrilovic-omnidrive-... [8] Clay Cook, "My experience investing in Nik Cubrilovic..." [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://www.gooruze.com/members/claycook/blog/119381/My-experience-investing-in-Nik-Cubrilovic-and-Omnidrive/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/claycook/blog/119381/My-exper... [9] Clay Cook, "Nik Cubrilovic Omnidrive lesson", et.,al. [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://www.claycook.net/2008/10/16/nik-cubrilovic-omnidrive-lesson/ http://www.claycook.net/2008/10/16/nik-cubrilovic-omnidrive-... [10] Paul Graham, Be Good, last paragraph, "Compass" [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://paulgraham.com/good.html http://paulgraham.com/good.html

by nikcub 16y ago

ignifero 16y ago

Agreed, Arrington is not afraid to write interesting things. Wish he wrote more often. btw, its not just compete that shows the drop in readership in the end of 2010

bootload 16y ago

"... There are a few different types of blogger. Those who don't get access to stories and rely on press releases, generally boring. Then there are those who get access to information, but refuse to post about it for fear of pissing somebody off, just as boring and probably worse than the first type. Then there is the type of blogger who gets access to information, and has no problem stepping on toes to get the information out. ..." So which explanation did TC use for it's lack of reporting on Omnidrive? "Omnidrive - Is This The Sad End?" (technation: story now dead) ~ http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=309892 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=309892 For the backstory cf: Gawker, Jackson West, "The Omnidrive story you won’t read on TechCrunch" ~ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p12eHH2qeGAJ:valleywag.gawker.com/%3F_escaped_fragment_%3D387470/the-omnidrive-story-you-wont-read-on-techcrunch+The+Omnidrive+story+you+won%27t+read+on+TechCrunch&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:p12eHH2... and http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/

nikcub 16y ago
Still the same type - or are you asking why Techcrunch didn't cover a story from Valleywag? I marked Omnidrive as deadpool in CrunchBase, and it isn't uncommon for Techcrunch to not cover a story that has been covered elsewhere, esp since Mike was an investor and was wary of conflicts
- bootload 16y ago
  "... I marked Omnidrive as deadpool in CrunchBase, and it isn't uncommon for Techcrunch to not cover a story that has been covered elsewhere, esp since Mike was an investor and was wary of conflicts ..." My tone is skeptical Nik because I read stories, information and posts with my BS detection at maximum when I detect ambiguity. I'm interested in ambiguous stories because it's possible to find in them both the truth but sometimes non-truths. Take for instance a story which I posted on HN 3 years ago, "The Google Way: Give Engineers Room". [0] I posted the story because it was interesting. But it took a fellow HN'r Karzeem [1] to suggest something wasn't quite right. You can read the post for yourself. I wasn't thinking Google is bad or looking for subterfuge by the New York times. But that's what we got. I emailed the New York times for clarification and it turns out because the story was in fact a "Submarine". A plant by Google and the Times to make Google appear a great place to work in the guise of an interview. Except it wasn't. You can read it yourself on HN.[2] karzeem and myself agreed this was a great article not because of the content, but because it exposed the mechanism the Times could paid placement as stories by hiding it in the Fashion section (not the hard news section) and how Google positions itself. The story behind the closure of Omnidrive is ambiguous. I first picked up the inconsistencies when an article in a conservative local business magazine, BRW mentions Omnidrive not only in the top 100 Web 2.0 companies in Australia, but in the top 50.[3] How could this be? Omnidrive for all intensive purposes was in the deadpool? So I contacted Renai LeMay a local journalist who worked at ZD Net to ask, "why was Omnidrive inclused?". His reply Omnidrive was active. Timing matters here. I asked LeMay in 2008JUL08 but the deadpool lists Omnidrive as "officially closed in September of 2008" [4][5][6] Which is it? The duplicity makes me think the ambiguity was for a reason. It might not be, but I'm suspicious. Is it possible in the ambiguity in this story was used as a smoke screen for other reasons? As the major investor in Omnidrive I am stunned not to have received any information from Nik on what’s been happening over the last few months. I have emailed him a number of times, but have not had a single reply. The last I heard he was flying around the world, after launching Techcrunch IT, and also building the Techcrunch tablet for Michael Arrington. [7] I'll let you, the reader ponder the reasons for ambiguity by pointing you to Clay Cook, a fellow Australian and ex-angel.[8] I follow through with stories like the closure of Omnidrive, not because I have any particular interest in Omnidrive or (you) Nik, but for reasons of clarity. If I read a story with a degree ambiguity, I like the clarify the reasons why, to analyse and understand. If a statement is made, test for it's validity against what I know. Will it stand up to a degree of scrutiny? I like follow-up posts like this because I think it's a good real-life lesson for fellow HN's to not take information at face value. Startups are by their nature complex but fragile things that constantly fall over and fail. Lesson: Your investors are here to help you, keep them informed and you have a much higher likelihood of receiving help. [9] They are run by optimistic, risk taking individuals who like take charge with technology, who value making new things and maybe, just maybe short circuit the "money-problem". The trip from technologist to entrepreneur to successful entrepreneur is complex and requires many skills, technical and personal. I think the most important skill to foster is to "be-good". "Be good", not to be virtuous, be good because the algorythm is stateless and as a strategy, it works. [10] Reference [0] Bharat Mediratta, Julie Bick, "The Google Way: Give Engineers Room" [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=70827 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=70827 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ [1] karzeem, HackerNews [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=karzeem http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=karzeem [2] "The Google Way: Give Engineers Room", et.al. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=70827 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=70827 [3] "Official launch of the Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list" [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2008/06 http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2008/06 /official_launch.html [4] Where I (@bootload) ask "@renailemay how did Omnidrive make the list? ~ http://tinyurl.com/6f3cx8* http://tinyurl.com/6f3cx8* [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] https://twitter.com/#!/bootload/statuses/850502396 https://twitter.com/#!/bootload/statuses/850502396 [5] and @renailemay replies "@bootload omnidrive is still functioning"* [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] https://twitter.com/#!/renailemay/statuses/850550575 https://twitter.com/#!/renailemay/statuses/850550575 [6] At a later point Ross Dawson a blogger who noted the top 100 in the BRW article also chimed in with some more detail, "At the time that the list was compiled Omnidrive was still functioning, so merited being on the list pending further notice. ... And yes, it certainly does appear to have died now... ". [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2913315731/ [7] Clay Cook, "Nik Cubrilovic Omnidrive lesson", [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://www.claycook.net/2008/10/16/nik-cubrilovic-omnidrive-lesson/ http://www.claycook.net/2008/10/16/nik-cubrilovic-omnidrive-... [8] Clay Cook, "My experience investing in Nik Cubrilovic..." [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://www.gooruze.com/members/claycook/blog/119381/My-experience-investing-in-Nik-Cubrilovic-and-Omnidrive/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/claycook/blog/119381/My-exper... [9] Clay Cook, "Nik Cubrilovic Omnidrive lesson", et.,al. [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://www.claycook.net/2008/10/16/nik-cubrilovic-omnidrive-lesson/ http://www.claycook.net/2008/10/16/nik-cubrilovic-omnidrive-... [10] Paul Graham, Be Good, last paragraph, "Compass" [Accessed Sunday 3rd April, 2011] http://paulgraham.com/good.html http://paulgraham.com/good.html