5 ms·

Michael Arrington reportedly to launch “CrunchFund” to invest in startups

34 points by tilt 15y ago

rsingel 15y ago
Someone recently wrote that you know you are in a bubble when reporters start their own startups. Maybe that should be revised to be "when reporters start their own venture funds." (that said, this ain't the same as the last tech bubble, and the issues around Arrington/access/other angels are only going to get more and more complicated.)
- vibrunazo 15y ago
  Well, it's no exact science to measure whether there's another bubble or not. There's plenty of arguments for both sides. But if someone as insightful as Michael Arrignton himself is willing to make this bet. Shouldn't this give you hint that maybe we're actually not in a bubble? Or at the very least, that a bubble bust is likely not imminent for the near future? Imho, reading this news makes me a bit more hopeful.
- rokhayakebe 15y ago
  I disagree with tat someone's statement. I think MA has more connections that could be beneficial to startups that most angels. I for one would give him ownership in exchange for introductions to people he knows. I do not see what makes MA less qualified than most angel investors. He spent 5 years interviewing founders, being the first to learn about their ideas, seeing the ones he wasn't fond of (Twitter. Mike used to talk shit about Twitter, granted in a friendly way, all day long). I think he is very well placed to start his own angel fund. If you can start the platform where companies like Mint launched, and have Marissa Mayer show up for your conference, I think you can launch a startup fund.
  - ignifero 15y ago
    Interesting. Let's see how his first startup goes, and how it ends up. Remember the crunchpad? The main problem i see with him is that he's not technical. Also how popular are his conferences/blog going to be if others see him as a competitor? Anyway, best of luck to his endeavors.
- ecaron 15y ago
  Agreed. If MG Siegler starts one I'm going to start stuffing my mattress. But Arrington deservingly should be seen as the business owner/CEO more than as a "reporter."
- mhashim 15y ago
  Did you forget about this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moritz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moritz Not too shabby for a reporter.
timxpp 15y ago
Interesting. I guess each investment includes 10 free TC blog posts for the company ;-)
- rwolf 15y ago
  It's funny because it's unethical. With any luck, he'll get greedy and push the "reporting on companies I invest in" needle so far that it gets too noisey we stop reading (and posting everything he does on HN).
  - petercooper 15y ago
    Where do you draw the line between someone mentioning their own company on their own blog and unethical conduct? It's not as if it hasn't happened before. He used to write about Edgeio on TechCrunch without much of a problem: http://techcrunch.com/2007/12/06/edgeio-to-shut-down-in-the-deadpool/ http://techcrunch.com/2007/12/06/edgeio-to-shut-down-in-the-...
molecule 15y ago
but does it have AOL Legal's stamp of approval?
coderdude 15y ago
He's in a good position to do this. Connections and fame aside, he has the perfect avenue to give exposure to the startups he invests in. I think this is critical. Part of the reason why many tech startups "go big" is because they're given broad exposure and are shown in a good light from the beginning. For example, Y Combinator has Hacker News to promote their investments. I've said before that without HN you probably wouldn't hear about very many YC companies. (I think I said something along the lines of "you simply don't front-page stories about every YC company on Reddit.") Michael Arrington will have TechCrunch to promote his investments and I think he will be able to give them a good chance for success if he promotes them well. You might also say that Arrington has TechCrunch and Hacker News given how easily TC front-pages around here.
- vaksel 15y ago
  not really...the new Techcrunch is putting up a ton more stories...so the TC coverage won't be as useful, since it'll hit the 2nd page within a few hours.
  - coderdude 15y ago
    It's true that they have a high volume of stories but those stories are: 1) Shown to a huge number of people. Their traffic, I'm sure, dwarfs HN's traffic. 2) They have an enormous amount of people subscribed via RSS who will be able to read the news at their leisure. 3) Their stories are also shared via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, you name it. 4) TC articles make their way to HN and Reddit as well, providing additional exposure. The second page of TechCrunch will still provide you with more than enough eye balls.
    - erikpukinskis 15y ago
      1) Shown to a huge number of people. Their traffic, I'm sure, dwarfs HN's traffic. This is definitely true. My startup was at the top of the front page on HN for a day or so (a year ago), and that sent us something like 1500 visits. The subsequent TechCrunch writeup garnered something around 5000.
vaksel 15y ago
I'm surprised he didn't do it sooner. That said it just screams of me too, jumping on the bandwagon to cash in before it's too late
diogenescynic 15y ago
This reminds me of Glen Beck telling his audience to invest in gold.
orofino 15y ago
While I think the exposure would be great for startups, but his attitude and approach on things just seems to be toxic. I'm all for not beating around the bush on things, but I'm not sure I'd like someone like Arrington providing guidance (or even associated with me).
- johnrob 15y ago
  While he might be a fine advisor (I wouldn't know), I would assume his main value add is PR. He definitely knows that space inside and out.
cynusx 15y ago
so, is he still going to cover competitors of 'his' startups?
trotsky 15y ago
Why not cut to the chase and just offer a substantial block of positive Tech Crunch coverage for a fixed % of the startup?
kloncks 15y ago
CrunchFund.com, which according to the article was only recently registered, is about a product called CrewBuyer. What is that?
- rburton 15y ago
  crewbuyer.com is a startup focused on group sales where members establish groups (otherwise known as a crew) to buy products. They have an setup that'll let members refer friends in return a 1% discount for each member referred. I hope that helps.
fedd 15y ago
what does "angel fund" mean? will it accumulate other angels' personal money? like Yuri Milner's...

34 points by tilt 15y ago

Someone recently wrote that you know you are in a bubble when reporters start their own startups. Maybe that should be revised to be "when reporters start their own venture funds." (that said, this ain't the same as the last tech bubble, and the issues around Arrington/access/other angels are only going to get more and more complicated.)

vibrunazo 15y ago
Well, it's no exact science to measure whether there's another bubble or not. There's plenty of arguments for both sides. But if someone as insightful as Michael Arrignton himself is willing to make this bet. Shouldn't this give you hint that maybe we're actually not in a bubble? Or at the very least, that a bubble bust is likely not imminent for the near future? Imho, reading this news makes me a bit more hopeful.
rokhayakebe 15y ago
I disagree with tat someone's statement. I think MA has more connections that could be beneficial to startups that most angels. I for one would give him ownership in exchange for introductions to people he knows. I do not see what makes MA less qualified than most angel investors. He spent 5 years interviewing founders, being the first to learn about their ideas, seeing the ones he wasn't fond of (Twitter. Mike used to talk shit about Twitter, granted in a friendly way, all day long). I think he is very well placed to start his own angel fund. If you can start the platform where companies like Mint launched, and have Marissa Mayer show up for your conference, I think you can launch a startup fund.
- ignifero 15y ago
  Interesting. Let's see how his first startup goes, and how it ends up. Remember the crunchpad? The main problem i see with him is that he's not technical. Also how popular are his conferences/blog going to be if others see him as a competitor? Anyway, best of luck to his endeavors.
ecaron 15y ago
Agreed. If MG Siegler starts one I'm going to start stuffing my mattress. But Arrington deservingly should be seen as the business owner/CEO more than as a "reporter."
mhashim 15y ago
Did you forget about this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moritz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moritz Not too shabby for a reporter.

timxpp 15y ago

Interesting. I guess each investment includes 10 free TC blog posts for the company ;-)

rwolf 15y ago
It's funny because it's unethical. With any luck, he'll get greedy and push the "reporting on companies I invest in" needle so far that it gets too noisey we stop reading (and posting everything he does on HN).
- petercooper 15y ago
  Where do you draw the line between someone mentioning their own company on their own blog and unethical conduct? It's not as if it hasn't happened before. He used to write about Edgeio on TechCrunch without much of a problem: http://techcrunch.com/2007/12/06/edgeio-to-shut-down-in-the-deadpool/ http://techcrunch.com/2007/12/06/edgeio-to-shut-down-in-the-...

molecule 15y ago

but does it have AOL Legal's stamp of approval?

coderdude 15y ago

He's in a good position to do this. Connections and fame aside, he has the perfect avenue to give exposure to the startups he invests in. I think this is critical. Part of the reason why many tech startups "go big" is because they're given broad exposure and are shown in a good light from the beginning. For example, Y Combinator has Hacker News to promote their investments. I've said before that without HN you probably wouldn't hear about very many YC companies. (I think I said something along the lines of "you simply don't front-page stories about every YC company on Reddit.") Michael Arrington will have TechCrunch to promote his investments and I think he will be able to give them a good chance for success if he promotes them well. You might also say that Arrington has TechCrunch and Hacker News given how easily TC front-pages around here.

vaksel 15y ago
not really...the new Techcrunch is putting up a ton more stories...so the TC coverage won't be as useful, since it'll hit the 2nd page within a few hours.
- coderdude 15y ago
  It's true that they have a high volume of stories but those stories are: 1) Shown to a huge number of people. Their traffic, I'm sure, dwarfs HN's traffic. 2) They have an enormous amount of people subscribed via RSS who will be able to read the news at their leisure. 3) Their stories are also shared via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, you name it. 4) TC articles make their way to HN and Reddit as well, providing additional exposure. The second page of TechCrunch will still provide you with more than enough eye balls.
  - erikpukinskis 15y ago
    1) Shown to a huge number of people. Their traffic, I'm sure, dwarfs HN's traffic. This is definitely true. My startup was at the top of the front page on HN for a day or so (a year ago), and that sent us something like 1500 visits. The subsequent TechCrunch writeup garnered something around 5000.

vaksel 15y ago

I'm surprised he didn't do it sooner. That said it just screams of me too, jumping on the bandwagon to cash in before it's too late

diogenescynic 15y ago

This reminds me of Glen Beck telling his audience to invest in gold.

orofino 15y ago

While I think the exposure would be great for startups, but his attitude and approach on things just seems to be toxic. I'm all for not beating around the bush on things, but I'm not sure I'd like someone like Arrington providing guidance (or even associated with me).

johnrob 15y ago
While he might be a fine advisor (I wouldn't know), I would assume his main value add is PR. He definitely knows that space inside and out.

cynusx 15y ago

so, is he still going to cover competitors of 'his' startups?

trotsky 15y ago

Why not cut to the chase and just offer a substantial block of positive Tech Crunch coverage for a fixed % of the startup?

kloncks 15y ago

CrunchFund.com, which according to the article was only recently registered, is about a product called CrewBuyer. What is that?

rburton 15y ago
crewbuyer.com is a startup focused on group sales where members establish groups (otherwise known as a crew) to buy products. They have an setup that'll let members refer friends in return a 1% discount for each member referred. I hope that helps.

fedd 15y ago

what does "angel fund" mean? will it accumulate other angels' personal money? like Yuri Milner's...