William Shatner once asked me what exactly I was doing at TechCrunch, the blog I started in June 2005. Let’s put aside the fact that I was testing out a new service that got celebrity autographs and a video in exchange for cash. I actually never answered his question.
I never really did know what I was doing at TechCrunch. I was writing about startups while building a startup and investing in others. It never occurred to me that as the site became, almost immediately, an important part of the tech news scene, to figure out exactly what my plans were.
One thing I knew for sure was that I’d never trick readers, or lie to them, or otherwise be shady. It’s not me. And even if it was me, it’s too easy to get caught. The easy path was the one where transparency was shining brightly.
That was never enough to stop the journalism community’s antibodies from hitting TechCrunch hard over all the conflicts of interest that were inherently part of who I am. We fought through all that for years, and I kept fighting until my pen was removed from my hand, so to speak, by Aol a couple of weeks ago.
Now I’ve got a new pen, though. And a blank slate. Infinite choices, I get to choose my own path. All that jazz.
So as William Shatner would undoubtedly ask if I gave him another $149, what exactly am I going to do here at Uncrunched?
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.
This time, though, my eyes are open. I know exactly what I’m walking into, and I know how to play this game.
Here are the things you can expect from me:
– TRANSPARENCY: I will disclose, as I’ve always done, all financial conflicts of interest (I have lots and lots of those). I’ll also disclose other conflicts of interest, like friendships, when I can. I know a lot of you don’t understand why I can’t disclose all conflicts of interest. The answer is that if I did, not that many people would want to talk to me in the direct, honest way that I prefer. As a reader you must remain aware of the inherent bias in everything you read, and form your own opinions accordingly. Read this post on TechCrunch and the links for more about how I see the world.
– TRUTH: I always try to find the truth in a situation. That unvarnished, pure nugget of truth at the core of every issue that I write about. Sometimes this takes more than one post, and sometimes I have to go back and correct things I’ve gotten wrong. I’ll continue to do that. For more on this, read my post about process journalism.
– BIAS: I have lots of it, and I never try to ignore it or hide from it. The main thing to know about me is that I’m a champion of entrepreneurs and the startups they build. They are my rock stars. If in doubt I side with them, and that’s clear from my writing. For more on this, read my pirate post and my thoughts on how government can best help Silicon Valley.
Ok, now that we’ve got that stuff behind us, let’s do some blogging!
Uncrunched 
First.
indeed.
As a long-time reader of TC… I am pumped for more Arrington shit to read.
FWIW – would love to hear your thoughts of the Boston tech scene… if you have any.
Boris Revsin
CEO, CampusLIVE
I’m glad you’re so passionate about it as you’ll be doing it for a long time. It’s hard to imagine anyone ever buying your start up again.
Keep writing. I will read what you write. I have been to every TC party, and I don’t even live in SV. I wish you well.
Just think, if CrunchFund hadn’t invested in @paulcarr’s startup, you might have had a shot at getting a second Unpaid Blogger to keep you company…
.
.
.
what you should do here (IMO)
.
1. no censorships (delete only the Viagra-like comments)
.
2. change the blog layout (less separator lines, wider page, more compact comments, no top image, etc.)
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3. add a “send a tips” email
.
to be continued…
.
.
.
Agreed. Love the content (and can’t wait for more), but right now there’s way too much spacing in the comments in all directions.
I find it ironic that your complaint over the separation in comments is couched in multiple blank lines.
Me too, Ben. Wonder where I find someone (besides me) to blog about my non-tech fledgling business? Great post and congrats on breaking free of the restrictions! You are already on the big map thanks to Freshly Pressed 🙂
Hey! Good luck! I look forward to reading your blogs.
Second.
pointless
You don’t say.
it’s a ritual, shh =)
Second what?
Third.
Awesome Mike. All the Best.
June 2011?
fixed.
I am excited about your new blog. Looking forward to reading it.
Namesake twitter handle to release your posts i assume?
Good luck, Mike. Don’t forget to have fun too.
Mike – nice, but you didn’t start TechCrunch in June 2011 (oh and second)
or not (second that is)
Second comment on First post. Sorry for being the troll – but this is historic!
Drat!
“what exactly I was doing at TechCrunch, the blog I started in June 2011.”
Huh?
Good luck on the new journey! Looking forward for awesome posts and opinions here.
At least I don’t have to log into facebook to comment. A very good start.
Good luck with the blog.
Totally agree. I hate blogs that require me to login or that don’t allow me to post anonymously or under a pseudonym.
Way to go, Mike! Fight all those who want us to STFU! Truth forever!
Mike,
You continue to be an inspiration. Here’s to the rise of Uncrunched! Cheers! Thanks for doing everything you do, popular or not.
— Jaison
Second that!
Good luck.
nice. Good Luck!
let’s do some blogging!
^ #yup
Looking forward to this.
Good luck on Uncrunched Michael! Another must read site is born. I have to admit I’ve quit reading TechCrunch as much the past few weeks due to all the drama. It’s just another tech site now.
Agree, Techcrunch is pretty lame now…just another tech site. However, I am huge fan of Jason Kinkaid, MG Seigler, and Sarah Lacy. They have real personalities that show through their writing. Chris Dixon is pretty good too.
I find that the people I would like to hang out and drink beers with are the journalists I enjoy reading.
Agreed! Mike you should bring in Seigler, Lacy and Kinkaid onto the Uncrunched blog.
Michael, look forward to your future writings on this blog. You help make the startup tech scene exciting!
Hey Mike, we expect the same from you. Very best to you!
It’s good to see the Startup School 2008 dream coming alive 🙂 This could prove an interesting case study of the value personal brands have in the media in comparison to publications. A bit like how Scoble attracted (and maintains) a following, not the employers he’s moved between.
Any reason why you blocked me on Twitter? Just curious.
+1 I don’t even recall sending arrington any tweets and I appear to be blocked.
So exciting. It’s not the domain that matters especially because when you write, you do it with conviction and passion. I can’t wait to see where you take things. I am sure I’m not alone in wishing you best of luck! Look forward to the next post.
Good luck, Mike!
cool, stick with the no bullshit snark, fearless stuff we went to TC to get.
march on.
Glad you’re back, Mike. Looking forward to it!
looking forward to hearing about some great startups!
I think if all of your past, and future readers, were asked if they have or will ever care about perceived conflicts of interests, the overwhelming majority would say “No”. We just want to know what you know, delivered to us the way it always has been and with the occasional guest post by Paul and MG. 😉
Mike – as a young entrepreneur, you are an inspiration to me and many others. You fight for what you believe is right… and never give up. Thank you.
Awesomeness at its Best ! Mike is Back !
LOL
Best of luck Mr. Arrington
I love what you’re going here Mike, and good luck. I can feel another TechCrunch in development, but better. Can’t wait until you hire a staff, but for now reading from you will just be fine too. 🙂
Back in the game, excellent!
If only everyone could feel the feeling of “waking up everyday and doing whatever you want to do.” Congrats and I’m sure you will do great…….and that sums up the first post I have ever made on a page that isn’t one of mine.
If everyone could feel that, it wouldn’t be that special. I respect men who live their life by their own design, good for you Mike.
Congrats. A round of tequilas on me. 🙂
Hey Mike, I’m not sure about your long terms plans for this blog, but you might want to use a different domain, one that doesn’t prop up that old company – I keep forgetting its name. Start from scratch, build it up, without constantly reminding me about that other thing. Man… what’s it called again? Trekrunts, or something? It’ll come to me.
This will be fun!
As a tangent to the conflict-of-interest disclosure debate, I’d be interested to hear about any non-compete clauses or other issues you may or may not need to dance around, writing in this space so soon after said pen was unceremoniously removed from said hand.
Great job Mike, I kinda miss Facebook comments. Glad to see you’ll be continuing writing and i’ll continue reading and tweeting the posts.
lets get an RSS feed on this thing.
Gook Luck Mike!!
feed://uncrunched.com/feed/
http://uncrunched.com/feed/
Michael, I remember you said you hated the technical part of the business so if you need help I am willing to help for free or partner with you. arjan@deraaf.us
@arjan A Dutch offering his services for free: what’s the catch?
So, do you need some suggestions for start-ups to cover?
Good luck Mike! got my eyeballs for you right here. May Ms. Huffer rot….
Wind on your sails, Arrington. We know you’ll fight for the truth, and that’s all I care about.
Looking for contributors?
I got banned from TC comments because I posted ‘previous post is FB is making a phone’ on the post ‘we never said FB is building a phone’. I hope I get banned here too.
BTW, use Rewrd.com or Flattr for monetization. It’s the future man. Am I the only one seeing this. I feel like Steve Jobs. That’s annoying.
I’ll be bookmarking this site 🙂
Where are you going to start accepting news tips?
So do we get the “old school” Mike back? Sweet…!
I have never followed Techcrunch, but Leo Laporte has me interested in this…. Here I am.
So you still get to break stories, still get to disrupt the industry, and basically be the same alpha blogger. Nice.
Are you still going to be on the Gillmor gang? I hope so.
Congratulations and good luck with the new blog.
Nice! Good for you, and all the Lurkers on tc are sure to lurke here as well (myself included). There nothing more fun and beautiful that seeing someone “beat-down” (not that you didn’t come out of aol with a chunk of change, power in the community, etc) to get up and show how it’s done to the big bad business.
Good luck. (I’ll go back to my lurking now)
Best of luck!
We will keep track of all of Uncrunched’s latest updates @ http://www.twitter.com/uncrunchd
“I’m going to write my opinion, and I’m 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.”
hell yes. welcome back to blogging. i can’t wait to see what this will become.
but can you put the comment box at the top of the comments please?
definitely the best line of the blog.
Welcome back Mr Arrington, your fans will follow
Big fan Mr. Arrington, best wishes on your latest venture.
How can we subscribe? 🙂
go get ’em Mike
mike,
as soon as you can, please use a comment service that clearly highlights the authors replies, so we can quickly see your comments. i find that incredibly helpful and leads me to read comments more because i don’t spend as much time doing so.
thanks.
Michael, I appreciate your perspectives, voice, passion, spontaneity and the nearly infatigable energy you spend in making them public.
Mike, what’s your email now? I assume it’s no longer editor@techcrunch.com
Can’t wait until someone else spits in your face
The video will be priceless
not to be a debbie downer, but you know AOL is going to sue you over the name. But good luck anyway.
Please please leave the trolls at TC. Go get em!
Cool.
I like the Mike frontal and libertarian style from Silicon Valley. Just [re]start again and good luck!
He’s in cahoots with the Soviets, I tell you!
Best of luck Michael. I look forward to reading, following and enjoying your commentary. I will never forget how helpful Techcrunch was when we launched back in the fall of 2006.
Thanks for everything.
Alan Levy
Founder BlogTalkRadio/Cinchcast
Welcome back Mike!! I will be a subscriber and active reader. Your voice is too important to be silenced. The startup world thanks you for everything you have done, and will continue to do in the future.
Don Dodge
nice and simple….
and it’s already starting to be successful 🙂
gooooood luck Michael!
cheerio!
Detachment is so overrated–glad you are back !
Awesome. I can’t wait. Your honesty and breaking the rules is what always kept me coming back to TechCrunch. I knew something bad was going to happen when you sold to AOL though and I don’t know the reasons you did it but at least they can’t take your voice.
Sounds great!! Bring on the articles good sir!
This is the Mike that so many of us have grown to love over the years. With regards to transparency, etc., I think you will be judged on the right side of history on this one. Media is rife with hypocrites. There are few I trust. You have my vote of confidence for what it’s worth. So glad you haven’t lost yourself in all the nonsense. Also agree that Tim needs to read The Prince and fire Ariana. AOL isn’t big enough for both of them.
This is a nice theme.
And good luck on the independent globetrotting VC/blogger thing.
I’m still hoping you’ll come to CNET.
Congrats & good luck with your new baby!
Although I haven’t seen your old site, yet, good luck with this one, your clean straight, and I look forward to reading more.
Hey Mike… Glad to see you back at the game! Really shitty what happened. Many hopes that Uncrunched grows strong!
Good luck, Mike. And big thanks for not using Facebook comments!!!
Mike: Let start a tablet. Really!
Glad to see you back.
Another WordPress blog.
Mazedl
This is a good thing.
I really missed the pre-AOL days. All the best.
Your design is so much better than the last one you worked with.
Hi Mister Arrington, im not a big fan of techcrunch but from now on i will follow you and get rid of engadget techcrunch feed in my pulse on my iphone 4. Aol can go fu…ed theirself. I dont like big company how they treath their employe after they buy them up. So i hope this blog will be technology related. Have a nice continuation here.
Mike, we appreciate all you do for the community. Hopefully you can appreciate what we’re doing as well! 😉 http://angel.co/listener-approved
awesome awesome awesome. I am now following.
Best luck for you, my dear friend
I have read lots of your articles.
Great, now I have to open three tabs every morning: TC, UC, and SAI. Welcome back Mike.
Hey Mike, does linking to that post from 1 year ago mean you intend to write that follow up post to explain the tricks of audience manipulation? or did i miss it…
Whilst he was good, Arrington was deeply compromised and conflicted at Techcrunch, way beyond his “disclosures.” With him gone, Techcrunch is defanged. Just as well, so that some VC firms will not have an advantage over others. At least for a time.
This is crap, please know that I have waisted 2 minutes of my life reading your crap and will not bother waisting any more of my life reading your crap. Your Priceline character is a bigger Geek than you are, please save us any more of your drival.
Yeah! This is the last time I visit William Shatner’s blog.
So you went from TC down the alphabet to UC and VC…got it.
Bring out the bacon!!!!
I wonder if we will see a comment from Huff
When are you hiring?
I have said it before relating to news organizations, and applies here as well. There is nothing inherently wrong with bias. There is nothing wrong with opinion. Indeed, I have no interest in reading the work of someone who truly does not believe in anything. What is wrong is when a person hides their bias and, intentionally or unintentionally, uses their forum to push an agenda.
Here we have a person who believes in something. He has a bias, and has informed his readers of what that bias is so that they can analyze his work appropriately. This is an example that others should take note of.
Do Karl Rove and Al Gore have bias? Of course. Should they be silenced and barred from writing because they hold strong beliefs? I think not. But these people are not the real problem. Their ‘Conflicts of Interest’ – their potential bias – are obvious and therefore readers are presumed not to be misled. Yet, are we to accept that those in positions such as Huffington are unbiased? What is more dangerous, those who express their opinion overtly or through smoke and mirrors? I would submit the latter.
Long ago, the left argued that there was no such thing as objectivity, and that the mainstream journalists were only a bunch of shills for the power elite.
They’re right and they’re wrong. If you abandon the ideal of objectivity, you end up mostly with cacophony and in a dangerous position where no statement can be considered on solid ground. Of course, back then the far left was dreaming of a dictatorship of proletariat, where truth was firmly under the control of the Ministry of Truth.
The problem is that opinion (or some kind of vague bias) is not the same thing as self-interest. I’ve never heard anyone express an opinion that was directly harmful to their self-interest.
Still, objectivity is difficult.
So while we talk of bias, I point out that my new blog is called ‘unbiasedeye.com’.
No question there is a place for objectivity; certainly, there are situations in which pure objectivity must be strived for. The extreme if that is of course judges and justices in the courts.
However, as you say, self-interest is a difficult thing to get passed (although I would not go quite as far as you in saying it is impossible). Which is why, when someone is doing something related to journalism, I think it important that rather than silence the individuals, we ask that they simply be straight forward on their interests beliefs. In doing this, we may still ask that they try to remain objective. Yet, when covering an issue that overlaps with their core beliefs and interests, as readers we may be able to assess the work more accurately.
I used Gore as an example. There is no question that both his beliefs and self-interest are alligned with environmentalism. I do not believe he should be silenced because of this, yet due to this I view his work in this light. It does not give him an excuse to deceive; nor does it mean his work should not count for something. It just gives a more accurate picture.
Here we have somebody who has expessed a core belief in a particular idea, technology startups. I am simply saying we, as readers, are better off knowing this. It does not mean he should not attempt to be objective in certain circumstances.
And thus goes back to the central point that you touched on, self-interest and objectivity. There is no question that modern journalism is ripe with bias, part of that may be related to self-interest as you point out. I do not believe that the solution is to say everyone with an opinion should be silenced, as seems to be the prevailing wisdom today. All this does is promote the appearance of objectivity, not true objectivity. I believe the better solution is for people to just be straight forward in what their opinions are, and then to go from there.
Great idea – and nice clean site to do it from. Do you keep a conflicts register Mike – maybe you could make it an open web page?
This would be in addition to inline declarations.
I do, at CrunchBase. Link at the bottom of the blog.
Move on your path WE R alway with U….
GOOD LUCK FOR UR BLOG
Uncrunch Seattle VCs, please
This is great. Can I buy it?
The AOL conflict was inevitable. It was just a matter of when you would get tired of their shyt. They never did and never will understand true media. I heard they were trying to bring ‘dial up’ back lol.
But seriously, their loss is our gain…fuck them…glad to see its fueled you…keep fighting for the people…and ‘do you’.
We’re riding with you brah!
Transparency, Truth, Bias. Excited to follow.
Already have your new stage , not bad for just starting and for a unpaid Blogger !
Wish the best and For sure I will be following what you have to say ..
Good luck, I will definitely read yours more than TC
Not sure you ever went away, but ‘welcome back’ nonetheless. So how long before we start seeing Uncrunched ‘guest’ posts from the likes of Carr, Siegler etc? 😉
Best of luck with all (both?) new ventures!
I like starting the new blog starting with a post like this. When critics start to rev up their commenting hand they can expect a response pointing them back to what this is. One bloke’s blog and you can choose whether you want to listen to what he has to say or not.
It’s like the standard British parliamentary question time: “I refer the honorable gentleman to the reply I gave some moments ago.”
good luck dude. TC is not that fun anymore. hopefully u will bring old school blogging back
I’m from the Maldives. A small country of 1190 small islands in the indian ocean. We usually dont have much tech stuff going around here other than getting inspired by the stories of tech world. I’ve been following you for a long time. Glad to be “uncrunced” in its first generation.
Really love to see you blogging again. This up front transparency is why I like you and your blog 🙂 So glad we did not lose you to the AOL mess. Cheers! and yes let’s start blogging!!
Mike, what your calling “transparency, truth and bias” is what has always set you apart from the pack. I dig what you do because your work has a heartbeat.
Equal parts blogger, reporter, entrepreneur, investor, entertainer and provocateur, you make the world of tech startups a better place because you genuinely care about the success of all involved (yourself included).
Most detractors have never understood that fans don’t read you for detached journalism. We’re here because you’re in the arena with us, fighting to shape our space into something more. For that, you have our respect and loyalty.
Keep on keepin’ on… Here’s to making your next the best one yet!
Congrats on a new beginning.
Amazing! Good to have you back!
This-is-my-next.com ! Best of Luck Mike! I would be reading it.
So when does the wild ride officially begin here? Monday the first day back to talking about Startups?
Hoping we can let the TC stuff be over with for now and get back to the regularly scheduled programming.
Congrats on the new blog Mike! I would love to give it a facelift free of charge. Custom wordpress blogs are my specialty. I have a startup called http://socialdex.co too btw. Cheers to the future!
Hi Mike,
I love your work. Please don’t call this place “uncrunched” though. That’s anchored to the past, to a situation and site that may be irrelevant and forgotten in a year or two. You’ve got better things to use as your reference.
Good luck,
Jeromy
Great one. Good luck and congrats!
Best luck for you Mike!
Ahhhhh – A Simple Web Site! Nice to see the actual content. And, Nice to see your content again so soon Mike!
Honesty, transparency and truth – these are lofty goals that I much appreciate and try to embody in myself each day. Best of luck to you in your new endeavor. I respect the fact that you haven’t given up!!!
Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. – Albert Einstein
seems to me you got your TC sold – got richer – now you want to do the same thing again – the only thing you know how to do best…. i do the same and have been doing the same – i get it – good start – just don’t blame AOL – everyone who sells – sells – it’s no longer yours -and I am sure you knew this blazingly obvious point before you sold out – best….
Did they get you to trade, your heroes for ghosts (Pink Floyd)
So, are you looking for writers to help with this initiative or is Uncrunched going to be a one man show for a while?
Welcome to WP and so glad you didn’t start a Tumblog – Sorry for taking the “The Douche Bag Journal – A Think Tank for Idiots” blog but Uncrunched is certainly douchey so congrats. I look forward to reading the new stuff.
R,
Dee Bag
Chief Douche, The DBJ
A few years ago, in what I *thought* was a casual, semi-inebriated moment, Tony Hsieh asked me what my dream job was. I said “Oh hell, I don’t know…” and he replied with: “Then how will you know it when you find it?” I both loved & hated him for being that insightful right at that moment.
I bring it up though because this post makes it clear that you’ve had your own experience with that question, just from a different angle. It also seems as though you’ve found your answer, Mike. Glad your dream job let’s the rest of us keep enjoying what you’re really good at. Keep it up Mr. Arrington.
Hooray! So glad you’ve got a new blog. TC is getting really boring … it used to be fun. Can’t wait to see all of the things you’re going to tell us!
141st
Welcome back Mike. Looking forward to things being the way they were.
Carry on.
Mike, it would be cool if you could issue a huge F U to mainstream media and start covering the #occupywallstreet protests. The blogosphere really needs to fix the media’s choosing of what is news and what isn’t before they make more blogs to read.
I’m really glad to read this post, Michael. I’ve always been an avid TC reader. The news about your leaving was a milestone (IMHO). TC has been always in my conferences and trainings about Word of Mouth and blogs, so it’s great to know about your new andeavour. Thank you for keep your interest in writing,
Cheers,
@RolandoPeralta
“This time, though, my eyes are open. I know exactly what I’m walking into, and I know how to play this game.”
When you think you know it all, than comes the new level, a troubles which you couldn’t predict. But that’s all fine, it’s part of evolution, but don’t fool yourself that you “know it all”. Get ready for another rollercoster, I got my pop corns, can’t wait to see in which troubles you got yourself into this time 🙂
I agree.
Best of luck mike! cya! *hits the subscribe button*
“The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again.”
– George Santayana
Independent blogging can earn you respect not money. I guess you have reached a stage where in you can afford to be an independent blogger and give your unbiased honest opinion. All the best, let me know if you need any contributors 🙂
That’s a lot of reference to TechCrunch. Do you miss it a lot? It’s great to know that you are setting expectations right from the beginning with this new blog. All the best!
yep, I miss it a lot.
Well Done Mike, Make This Blog Look Better Than Techcrunch 🙂 — we wanna read news on a nice looking site.
Honesty is all we want from you mike!
Good luck.
So glad to hear it. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
The techcrunch blog often posts advertorials without highlighting them as such.
If you pay enough, techcrunch will glorify your product. Pay a bit more, and it will glorify you – and still present this crap as the editorial it isn’t…
You’re saying that isn’t shady?
Have you grown up? Do you dare tell the truth? Then here’s an idea for your first uncrunched scoop: a list of all the companies that paid for techcrunch ‘editorials.’
none of that is true.
Congrats on sticking to your guns and being honest and upfront about it. The hard truth is that there will always be people who disagree with you, and that’s okay. Unfortunately, it can be a difficult lesson to learn, and until then it will continue to be difficult (speaking as someone who’s having a great deal of difficulty!) All the best.
Fuck AOL (:
Really love the passion, even if it had no specific direction at the start 🙂
Totally Sucks. Go back to Disqus.
It’s slow and buggy and I don’t want to post using Facebook.
Really excited about this blog 😉 Best of luck.
Good luck. A new start is always a good thing.
And I couldn’t think of a nicer person to start it with..
Mike, I have been reading your blog since 2005. It was a rough pill to swallow, when TechCrunch, went corporate. I am glad your out. Free and energized for the next thing! Will read your blog post by post. Cheers,
I’m Back
Classic Arrington as we know an love it.
Mike, it was time for you to go back to your roots anyway. Find the fun. You were always the best at what you did – F the bureaucracy – do what you love. It worked the first time, didn’t it.
Go get ’em.
Look forward to reading your stuff here Arrington, though i still don’t get what exactly you mean by:
“out of the blogging for business business”
Appreciate your time.
It’s quite great that you refer link to TechCrunch 7 (8) times!
Sounds like you had an interesting conversation with Shatner. When I met him he asked me if I can get him some quaaludes and then went on to warn me about a giant white rabbit that controls hollywood.
Welcome back Mike !
awwww
cool man
Now TC is UC for me…:)
Welcome back Mike !!!
cool man
WOAH!
Great to have you back Mike, looking forward to following the journey.
My only suggestion / request is that you have been handed the rare and glorious opportunity to create You 2.0 – Before simply recreating “what TC used to be in the good old days, but here”, pause for a moment to think how you can take this to the next level.To make that innovative leap that you could never do WITHIN the confines of the TV structure that you successfully built around yourself.
I for one will read you either easy and will call you first to break my stories, but I think it would be a squandered opportunity if this becomes just yet another rolling tech startup blog.
Good luck Mike!
Congrats, Mike. Can’t wait for the fresh stuff.
So tell me, from the moment Aol acquired TC, were you looking for an out? Or did you really think the relationship between the red-headed step-child of journalism and the grand-old-daddy of the internet could work?
Good luck! I hope we won’t see MG Siegler’s posts here…
When AOL bought techcrunch I commented, ‘Mike you fucked up the whole thing, AOL will destroy TC’ and I was right, however, with millions of dollars in your pocket you could create a better site than this one. I think you are just playing the innocent little boy to get the attention and grow uncrunched, earn thousands or millions of dollars again and go on to cheat people. I just believe all you care is money, you don’t give a shit about truth or transparency, they all fancy political words to make us believe that AOL is all dirty fucked up place with evil people and you are the one and only angel! you are the saver of the startup planet. You are just a liar, nothing more!
Neat! Looking forward to follow this blog as well. I’ve enjoyed Techcrunch immensely over the years.
Welcome Back. What did not destroy us makes us stronger.
“Conflicts of interest” are often pointed out by people who are not doing their own work or are incapable of getting to an expert level of knowledge.
When you don’t have conflicts and biases then “Jack you dead!”
May your tribe increase 🙂 Looking forward to reading more. For now, I am in love with the look of this site.
God I’ve been waiting for this. Couple of things. Please keep pages lite. Loading quickly & without so much whizzbang that opening multiple tabs slows the browser. Those of us on Chromebooks or iPads love to read content – not page loading spinning icons on tabs. Hell, I’d pay a few bucks a month to do away with advertising or at least minimize the impact of enjoying the content.
We or at least I would love to see a stuffed dolls of Arianna Huffington for my desktop. A bobble head will do.
Cheers,
macewan
Totally agree
Looking forward to reading you, Mike. Now, hook up with MG and Duncan, and
we start once again… All the best
Added this blog just now to goggle reader. Will enjoy reading Mike… 🙂
Congrats Mike. Must be liberating to have the gag lifted and to be able to write as you please. Look forward to following.
Wish this will be amazing ride. Your voice makes it different from TechCrunch and gazallion other tech/startups blogs out there; but anything different you plan here? Looking forward. +1 Fred Wilson – comments should go up. Can I help with 1st design of UnCrunched? No pay only love 🙂
Michael Arrington’s personal blog?
WTF! I’m excited. 😛
This blog has really gone downhill lately.
Nice blogg, DUDE!!
You have done a great job at tech crunch!
Hey Mike, great to have you back. Greetings from Guangzhou, China
Okay, so do we (1) Follow you on Facebook, (2) Follow you on Google Plus, (3) Follow you on Twitter or (4) just privately send you scoops?
Great to have you back, BTW.
Wonderful post 🙂 Good luck with your clean slate!
Mike, are you allow to blog again? AOL did’nt forbird you to launch another tech blog when they bought TC ?
Yo dude
How ’bout helping to create Jobs? We got a system to do that – looking for Angel right now.
Here’s my latest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRmwcvon4DA
Good luck!
Welcome back. Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
” I will disclose, as I’ve always done, all financial conflicts of interest (I have lots and lots of those). I’ll also disclose other conflicts of interest, like friendships, when I can. I know a lot of you don’t understand why I can’t disclose all conflicts of interest. ”
So you say your plan is to reveal all your conflicts of interest … unless doing so doesn’t suit your needs.
Makes a ton of sense.
Hey Mike,
I’d love to help you out set it all up, if you need any help. Hit me up if you do. (I have 10yrs experience with web development, startups, etc.)
David
welcome back. 🙂
If any of the startups are in the realm of food, I’d like to read about them 🙂
Almost invariable the posts I enjoyed reading the most were from Mike. I’ve enjoyed the candid opinion & minimal BS (well mostly).
All the best & look forward to your blog !
Welcome back, Mike. Don’t sell to gonifs this time.
We were all certain that it was not possible for Aol to tame you and it was just a matter of time to see you roaming free again!
Glad to have you back! I just hope you don’t start building TechCrunch 2.0 so that you can blog more often and save us from the mixed quality of writings by people you hire. We don’t need quantity from you – we need quality, so, please keep this a one-man show!
Congratulations, Michael – I hope your new blog will rock! I’m looking forward to read your first articles…
Good luck with the new thing! We’ll keep track on your posts and for sure will talk about you in our next podcast episode of pixel301 in Germany.
Take care,
Tobias
I don’t buy a word of this. At all.
I remember the first post on TechCrunch. It seems like yesterday. We will feel the same way five years from now
I love William Shatner, can’t believe you’ve met him! Jealous…..!!! 🙂
Great! Just did the same. It feels fucking good 🙂 You do whatever you want to, when you want to and no on tells you “you can’t write that”. I wish you a lot of success and fun ^^O^^
@arrington bug report. i couldn’t scroll down to read the post on mobile chrome (nexus S). the bottom of the screen highlighted from the touch and drag up, but the page wouldn’t move (back on laptop now).
Mike homie .. setup your rss !
I figured you would pop-up again somewhere, just didn’t know where and when. I figured you would have had a non-compete clause for at least a year. Congrats on the new blog.
Integrity is undervalued in the world of digital technology as it is in the wider world. I wish you well in your chosen path. If you can find receptive ears for some sage advice and imbue a sense of worth in the aims and goals of the startups you both write about and support, I will continue to applaud (and read) you.
Two things:
I love when people comment “first” on blogs.
And I love William Shatner.
But a little more on topic, your approach to journalism in general is refreshing. I wish there were more like you.
Mike:
Your pirate crew welcomes you back!
Arrr..
Paul
This sounds like a game-changer in this Crunch area, so I am looking forward to more updates and how this scene will going to end if it ever will end
that’s from StarTrek right? my favorite …
and i also wanna say to all of my indonesian friends
terobosan baru … bisnis tiket pesawat resmi LOGIN MASKAPAI … investasi cukup Rp 150.000 saja … bukan MLM … khusus buat para pengusaha asli … www allstarsky com
uncrunch Montreal please
Montreal gave you:
– Le Cirque du Soleil
– Arcade Fire
– incendies (the movie)
and now… the next “big thing” on the web
LC
Solid work bro.
Funny, people giving Arrington advice on how to improve his blog
Welcome to the “Un” – as in, Unreal, UnAOL, UnArianna, UnPaid, unAdulterated, unFiltered… It’s UnCrunched! 😀
Cool. A new startup. I like the founder. Proven track record. How do I invest? 🙂
AOL will beg you back sometime soon,,,,
Actually, this is great news. I am really happy that the writing and personal takes on business come back home. I have to say I was disappointed when Aol bought TechCrunch since Aol has little integrity left and I felt Aol would shutter the openness and opinions TechCrunch offered.
I am looking forward to the untethered writing…welcome back.
@arrington I wish you all the best and remain the same person you are…
Stoke for this! I like the minimalist design but I assume that will all change lol.
Owner, STbands.com
Good Luck and don’t flood us with useless news. Bring the crunch back. 🙂
transparency, truth, and biased. amen! 3 great blog qualities in my opinion.
http://www.icouldntmakethisshitup.wordpress.com
RSS please.
Good to get part of the answer to my question: what the hell will I read now, given the crazy TechCrunch / AOL / HuffPost alliance?
First. (24 hours later).
I look forward to this @arrington
uncrunched > techcrunch
+1
Awesome post! Thank you!
I’m not telling what to write about, but if you asked me, I’d prefer more focus on startup than on large tech companies. Techmeme is infested with news from Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc. Even today, a pretty cool startup launched their product at Health 2.0 and there was no news at Techmeme.
Good luck,
-Marcelo
Your a Born again blogger!
Don’t know who you are but you’re already a legend. RALLY!
Mike,
Enjoy your freedom.. A few thoughts for you:
– please do keep breaking news about the Tech world here in the Valley (or out of it) but use your freedom to write about any business (or area) that interests you. I know from our past conversations that you have some hobbies and interests that may surprise many who only know you in a pure tech industry insider sense (of course stories about growing your own sunflowers or having a goat might not get the pageviews… but heck if you are going to be “unpaid” be unpaid for stuff you like…
– As Marc notes at the moment job creation (and redefinition) is a pretty important issue. We’re also about to dive fully into an election year (the politically aware are already deep in the midst of campaigns both national and local but most voters likely aren’t really paying a lot of attention yet). In the past your political coverage – while not always in agreement with my own slightly less Libertarian views has been among, I think, your best work (beyond breaking major news)
– while companies like Shaker are doing something pretty interesting, I do think the criticism that many “hot” companies in the valley (and elsewhere) aren’t as ambitious as companies were just a few years ago is a somewhat valid one. Whether this means that they won’t be good investments is a more debatable point. I personally think we need to have both – the ambitious, swing for the fences technology drive businesses and the many more smaller in ambition but perhaps (in some cases) built on more stable business models. At the moment I think there are a lot of really interesting innovations around adding service and a layer of technology to old school businesses (see http://propersuit.com and http://einvite.com for two examples I’m familiar with from using them both for my upcoming wedding)
– Above all enjoy yourself and your freedom as an “unpaid blogger”…
Support you and support freedom of the press
Best wishes with the new effort. Too bad that unbiased and transparent seem to be a rarity these days online.
Glad to see you actually wrote something in your second post of “uncrunched”. I never really followed Techcrunch… too many ads. I liked this second post, it gives an insight on how you see things (even if it is all made up), I’ll check the next post to see how it goes. Cheers.
Sounds interesting!
Best of luck to you and to Uncrunched.
Can you add a ‘subscribe by email; button please?
I’m looking forward to this. I’ll be honest, I’ve only recently discovered your writing (I’ve never been a full time TC reader, more of a dip-in dip-out kind of guy, which is certainly not something you’d wish to describe yourself as at a party), but – you know – I enjoy it.
I believe a great writer can make whatever subject he or she is writing about sound utterly fascinating. I try my best to do that with my own work, and from what I’ve seen so far, you certainly achieve that with yours.
Onwards!
Mike, you are not just a great inspiration to entrepreneurs, but also a driving force. Well, at least for me. Thanks and I look forward to read uncrunched.
Though I love the fact that mike is back, it somehow sounds funny that AOL didnt see it coming ? I assumed they might have included a non-compete agreement with the golden handshake.
Given his reach, he would easily get on more authors and soon bury TC (unintentionally)
Transparency is the most important thing missing in government and in business. When politicians and business people intentionally cover up their secrets in the name of profit the losers always end up being the ignorant masses who never saw it coming. Please do it right Mike! Keep it up!
LOVE IT!! YOU ARE BACK… PRETTY AWESOME :)..Now this is ‘badass’!
Two questions:
a) when will you sell? (hope not to AOL)
b) when will ex-TC writers find their way here?
oh btw, the new TC design is crap and it crashes my XOOM. Get someone on it right away.
wellcome back Mike
The overall opinion around the web about all this TechCrunch Drama seems to be very emotional – what it once was and will it stop to be. Americans seem to have this thing for proclaiming the death of things (from Art with Warhol and Danto, to jobs and the market with Toffler…). It always seems some kind of sensationalist need for a headline that blinds the fact that things evolve and it is this change that creates new opportunity to those who are willing to build from it. It seems to be a ‘status seeking’ syndrom leading people to proclaiming such ends.
TechCrunch will survive even without a soul due to it’s ubiquity across the market.
Uncrunched is THE opportunity, not to win a battle but to become a whole new product and a mindset – this feels like Jobs who once went out of Apple and founded NeXT and then…. You know the story!
But please, make it awesome, and not just a crappy feed of posts! The web is in the midst of such a design and experience revolution that insight is boiling all over the place for anyone to grab it and start things afresh.
You have a possible THING here thanks to the context, thanks to everything that happened!
Take this as a compliment!
See you around 😉
Best of luck. 🙂
Hmm it seems like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any points for novice blog writers? I’d really appreciate it.
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read like this before. So nice to get somebody with authentic ideas on this subject. realy appreciation for starting this up. this excellent website is something that’s needed on-line, somebody after a little bit originality. helpful project for bringing new stuff towards web!
Hey this is a great looking blog, is wordpress? Forgive me for the dumb question but if so, what theme is? Thanks!
🙂
Very interesting info !Perfect just what I was looking for! “It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” by J. K. Rowling.
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your post seem to be running off the screen in Safari. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Thanks
his excellent website is something that’s needed on-line, somebody after a little bit originality
Mike, glad you are back! Looking forward to updates from MG Seigler too. Cheers!
hmm thx for the info!
I like this website very much!! provide a lot of good articles!
What to the ever.
Happy to have you back Mike
As the fog of confusion began to lift on Monday evening, three people were confirmed neonatal sepsis guidelines dead.
Well the fact of improvements you can make to society, nursing will be amongst the roles
that you neonatal sepsis guidelines see on that front maybe just expansion of service lines or incremental
physician hiring.