Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin

Michael TechCrunch Arrington welcomed Spring by decrying “Silicon Valley could use a downturn right about now”:

“Times are good, money is flowing, and Silicon Valley sucks…Silicon Valley is no longer any fun, In fact, it’s turned downright nasty.”

REALLY? As the Summer heats up, Arrington seems to be having lots of fun in (not so) big, bad Silicon Valley!

TechCrunch is helping plunk down $50,000 in startup prize money for its upcoming conference, has acquired InviteShare to help spur beta adoption of startups, AND is floating $20 million buyout valuations of the TechCrunch startup itself.

WHY THE APPARENT ABOUT FACE? But two months ago, Arrington solicited at TechCrunch:

It may be time for some of us to leave for a while and watch the craziness from the outside again.

Arrington did not identify in his TechCrunch post WHO he thought should “leave for a while.” He Twittered his inner most ”runaway” secrets, however:

SO, what’s the real TechCrunch deal? I asked just that in May, underscoring it wasn’t April Fools Day, so Arrington couldn’t use THAT “excuse,” again.

The TechCrunch Siilicon Valley hot, or not, timeline:

March 2007, Heather Harde, ex SVP of Mergers and Acquisitions at Fox Interactive Media, named CEO of the TechCrunch Network; “Heather’s job will be to leverage the opportunities that we have sometimes let slip by, and to manage our organic and acquisition growth going forward. More announcements are coming soon.”

May 2007, Arrington declares “Silicon Valley sucks” and threatens to leave.

July 2007, TechCrunch acquires startup to boost Silicon Valley startups.

September 2007, TechCrunch 20 startup conference kicks-off, at $2,495 a ticket.

Arrington’s actions, and money, speak louder than his words; Could he just have been having a ”bad day” that fateful May 22, 2007?

TechCrunch commenter Daniel at the time:

God, I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that TechCrunch itself is living in a bubble. What do you expect Michael? You report about the same class of startups over and over again.

This is your blog:

Video
Video
Social
Social
Party
Party
Beer Beer
BS BS

Dear GOD, you reported on a company that makes contact forms for other websites. While there are bootstrapped companies doing some fantastic things but never see the light of day on your site. Do you ever report on the emerging startups that will drive the business side of these companies you are reporting on? No. The sad fact is a lot of the companies you are reporting on will go bust and the greatest companies and stories, the companies that are bootstrapping, will slip through your fingers.

Look outside the box a bit and read your about page. This was never meant to be a blog about what VC funded who but it was supposed to be about new startups doing innovative things.

TechCrunch on Silicon Valley: Love it, or leave it?

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CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN