Some of you may have read Sarah Lacy’s post today stating that I’m no longer on the board of Pando Daily.
This wasn’t a complete surprise to me, the company notified me last week that they weren’t happy that I and MG Siegler (my partner at CrunchFund) were going to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt this coming May.
Part of the reason that I’m speaking at Disrupt is that I have a contractual commitment to do so as part of my break with them last year, which Sarah knew about before our involvement in Pando. But MG and I are also speaking there because we still love TechCrunch. And we both speak at many other conferences as well.
I’m thoroughly confused about how and why this happened. Obviously much of the communication I’ve had with the company the last week is private and confidential. I will share this email that I sent to Sarah this morning, though:
Where exactly do we stand? Last week Andrew said there was no way for us to continue to be involved if I (and MG?) speak at Disrupt. Later there was talk of a need for an apology to make things right. I’m not sure where your head is at Sarah and there’s no rush from our end, but I’d like to settle things eventually. We’ll do what’s right for the startup.
I still think the world of the Pando Daily team, which includes many ex-TechCrunchers (here’s what I wrote when they launched). I wish them the best and I look forward to continue reading the site.
Ultimately none of this matters. A startup is a stressful thing and entrepreneurs need to make quick strategic decisions on how to move forward in an ever evolving environment. Even when I’m being thrown out, I support the entrepreneur. If Sarah feels that they’re better off without our involvement, I support her completely. Our friendship goes back years and years. It can, I hope, withstand this hiccup.
Uncrunched 