DEMO/TechCrunch Turns Even Uglier, Startups Are the Losers
The drama between DEMO and TechCrunch started in earnest in April when TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington declared that “Demo needs to die.”
He scheduled his startup launch conference, TechCrunch50, the same week as DEMO, forcing startups, PR folks, bloggers and attendees to choose between his conference and the conference he admits he wants to kill.
At the time, DEMO’s Chris Shipley tried to take the high road but since then, the drama between the two conferences has only intensified.
Last week, on the eve of both conferences, Michael Arrington and his friends launched another offensive.
Yahoo as we knew it died today when it announced that talks with Microsoft about some sort of acquisition have formally been ended and that it was instead entering into a search advertising deal with rival Google.
Here is my summary and analysis of the news.
The Acquisition
After Microsoft’s initial offer to acquire Yahoo was rebuffed, the company entered into a second round of discussions.
The Redmond software company reportedly informed Yahoo that it had no interest in discussing a full acquisition, even at the previous offer price.
Carl Icahn to the Rescue?
If Yahoo shareholders are to get a second lucky break, Carl Icahn will have to be to Yahoo what Gordon Gekko was to Teldar Paper.
After watching actions that I believe to be so against the interests of Yahoo’s shareholders as to be despicable, I personally hope that Icahn liberates Yahoo from the overpaid cronies on its board of directors.
As such, I encourage Jerry Yang and company to start submitting their resumes .
Drama 2.0 Exploring Development of Palo Alto Nightclub
I’ve come to the conclusion that I just might have to develop a nightclub in Silicon Valley.
The drama in the tech blogosphere has apparently reached a level where A-list bloggers can reasonably demand a nightclub of their own.
According to the LA Times blog, some of the biggest names the tech blogosphere went to Hollywood and decided to audition for a new job: Hollywood primadonna.
David Sarno reports that the crew from Valleywag and Mashable’s Pete Cashmore were kicked out of the TechCrunch/PopSugar party this past Thursday at the Vanguard nightclub in Hollywood, a venue that, if you’re not familiar with the Hollywood nightlife scene, is probably not on your Top 10 list of places to party on a Friday or Saturday.
Serial Killings Haunt Web 2.0
Music labels are dead. Television is too. And don’t forget the newspapers. Then the grim reaper of TechCrunch shifted his focus and started plotting to kill specific companies - .
But even as the pile of bodies grows, it’s rarely enough to quell the urge to kill and TechCrunch seems to be the source of an increasingly morbid philosophy.
The latest victim of this morbid philosophy is the DEMO conference. In an interview Wednesday, the TechCrunch founder stated, “Demo needs to die.”
How Should Wikipedia Spend Its $3 Million?
The Wikimedia Foundation has just pulled in a $3 million donation from The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Given claims which were leveled against Wikipedia’s playboy founder Jimmy Wales alleging questionable spending using his expense account, I thought it would be appropriate to suggest some of the more creative things Jimmy could spend the $3 million on.
Idea: Escorts
Let’s cut to the chase. You love the ladies. But there’s absolutely no reason an esteemed digital revolutionary should ever be forced to go to a Moscow massage parlor. Even though the Emperor’s Club is no longer in business, there is no shortage of other agencies ready to provide quality servicing. $3 million for a lifetime of pleasure? Somebody say “bargain”!
My Response to Arrington’s Post About “Those Crazy Musicians”
Michael Arrington’s post in response to British musician Billy Bragg’s op-ed piece in the New York Times struck a nerve with many.
Nick Carr called Arrington’s comment that “Recorded music is nothing but marketing material to drive awareness of an artist” the “saddest, stupidest sentence I’ve ever read,” and while I won’t go that far, it does rank up there with the dumbest comments I’ve read on a Web 2.0 blog. No small feat given that some pretty damn stupid things have been said on Web 2.0 blogs.
Glenn Kelman Continues to Prove Sanity Exists in the Tech World
Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman has an interesting post that continues to prove he just might be the most sane player in the tech space these days. In “How Green Was My Valley,” Glenn discusses Seattle in the context of how it’s different from Silicon Valley.
He makes some interesting points that are well worth noting here:
In reality, most places don’t even want to try to be like the Valley.
When Alisa Leonard, the “social media junkie” who I’ve been debating, initially emailed me, it was with a subject line “i love you.” How quickly love can turn to hate.
Apparently frustrated with the way our “debate” has been going, she sent me the following email on Tuesday:
now, while a response is in the works (you see, i get very busy with client work) i have some notes for you–
Oh, poor blessed Drama 2.0. Kid (ahem, personal inference- you are a 35+ balding man from the UK who suffers from severe blog envy, and frustrated at not being able to actionably leverage social media). First, for the record, lets get some things straight dear Drama–
Zuck, Tom and Tila in Fiery Love Triangle?
Rumors have been circulating that Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Anderson and Tila Tequila are involved in a passionate love triangle. I previously blew off these rumors as being completely absurd but as I learned more, it started looking more probable:
- Tom Anderson .
- According to the Boston Globe, and one source who asked not to be named has claimed when the Zuck went to Hong Kong to close the $60 million investment deal with billionaire Li Ka-shing “that wasn’t the only happy ending he left with.”
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Drama 2.0 spikes the Web 2.0 kool aid by providing critical analyses of Web 2.0, its people, its startups and its impact on the world of media. Other topics are explored when Drama 2.0 has been drinking too much 1975 Dom Perignon. Read more about the Internet's version of Keyser Söze here.
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