Proposes buying blog back
Arrington writes that the main issue isn’t his employment status. He says two options have been proposed to AOL:
1. Reaffirmation of the editorial independence promised at the time of acquisition. Given the current circumstances, that means autonomy from Huffington Post, unfettered editorial independence and a blanket right to editorial self determination. To put it simply, TechCrunch would stay with AOL but would be independent of the Huffington Post.
or
2. Sell TechCrunch back to the original shareholders.
He sets an ultimatum:
If AOL cannot accept either of these options, and no other creative solution can be found, I cannot be a part of TechCrunch going forward.
Out at TechCrunch
AOL announces that Arrington no longer works at the blog:
AOL is not comfortable with TechCrunch being used as an access point for deal flow.
He had previously been expected to hold both roles, with investors in CrunchFund saying that deal flow via TechCrunch would be an advantage for the fund.
Hoffman: Deal flow via TechCrunch
Greylock’s Hoffman says the blog will give the fund a competitive advantage:
Techcrunch will get some real deal flow from entrepreneurs that we would otherwise not see, because they have established a prominent position as the SV/Tech industry information feed. As many tech entrepreneurs read it — both within Silicon Valley and globally — and view the information news feed to be their target for announcing themselves to the world, Crunchfund will have access to deal flow to these diverse and early stage companies. Some of these companies will be the kind of early stage companies with billion-dollar potential that Greylock invests in.
‘I have no idea if I work for AOL’
Arrington says he is confused about his employment situation:
I have no idea what AOL’s final position on this will be. I look forward to hearing it.
AOL Ventures
Huffington says Arrington is now employed by a business group called AOL Ventures which handles business development in a division of the company that has funded CrunchFund. He retains the founding editor title and is able to write unpaid blogs. He is not paid by TechCrunch, and doesn’t report to TechCrunch editors or to Huffington or other AOL Huffington Post Media Group personnel.
Schonfeld takes over blog
Schonfeld takes over the managing editor role. He is rumored to have been de facto filling the position for some time before the official announcement. AOL spokesman:
[Arrington] will focus on the funds and continue to write
CrunchFund investors
Business Insider reports that among the investors in the fund are AOL, Conway, Milner, Benchmark Capital, Horowitz, Andreessen, Redpoint, and Sequoia.
Starts CrunchFund
Arrington starts the fund with $20 million. He will run it with Gallagher and Siegler. Arrington:
I don’t claim to be a journalist. I hold myself to higher standards of transparency and disclosure.
He will take a reduced role at TechCrunch but continue to report to Huffington. Investments will be disclosed on the blog. AOL is putting about $10 million into the fund. Armstrong:
We have a traditional understanding of journalism with the exception of TechCrunch, which is different but is transparent about it.
Airbnb post
Arrington writes about a woman identified as EJ who had her Chicago apartment burglarized by people who had booked it for a week using the service:
The event happened, which is a terrible blow to the company’s reputation. The confusion seems to be around whether or not Airbnb will compensate her for her losses.
TechCrunch redesign
The blog launches its redesign. Arrington:
We are particularly focused on speed and efficiency. Pages should load much more quickly now than they have, and content should be much easier for our writers to create and publish.
He says the redesign began before the AOL acquisition and has been a ‘big project’.
Arianna Huffington interview
Arrington interviews Huffington at Disrupt about the relationship between TechCrunch and AOL. Arrington:
How the hell did we both end up at AOL? … Is it going to work?
Huffington:
So far it has worked.
Snapguide seed round
Index Ventures leads a round that includes Arrington, SV Angel, and individual investors for $2 million. The app allows iOS users to create and share step-by-step how-to guides.
Dogster acquisition
Say Media buys the company. Financial terms aren’t disclosed. Say Media:
This acquisition marks an important milestone in the evolution of our company
Zaarly seed round
Arrington joins Ashton Kutcher, Naval Ravikant and other individual investors in the $1 million seed round for the organization, which helps users find local service providers such as lawn mowers.
Circle Inc. Series A
Gur leads the round that includes Arrington, Conway, Andreessen Horowitz, and others for $1 million for the location-based app, which alerts people when someone in their circles is nearby.
Marissa Mayer interview
Arrington interviews Mayer onstage at LeWeb conference in Paris. They talk about her new role at Google. Arrington:
You were previously in search and user experience
Mayer:
I’m now in consumer products … product management and engineering for local and geo apps, this means things like search, Maps, Earth, Street View, Latitude, a lot of our local products, as well as on the desktop.
Beard interview
Arrington interviews Facebook Developer Network director Beard at LeWeb conference in Paris on the Facebook phone, the Windows phone, and the mobile segment in general. Arrington:
Are you ready to acknowledge the existence of the Facebook phone, or are you continuing to deny?
Beard:
I’m ready to deny
Beard’s outlook for the segment:
There’s a ton of development we’re going to see in mobile. We’re in the early stages.
Sues Arrington
Calacanis sues Arrington, claiming that he contributed to creating TechCrunch 50, which he says was rebranded as TechCrunch Disrupt, but that he was never paid for the sale of the brand to AOL.
AOL acquires TechCrunch
The company annouces the acquisition along with the purchases of instructional video site 5min and Thing Labs Inc. People familiar with the deal say it paid around $30 million for TechCrunch. Arrington is retained on a multi-year deal. AOL chief executive Armstrong:
The one thing that doesn’t change is people’s consumption of content.
Price range $25m-$40m
A person with knowledge of the deal tells Business Insider that AOL paid $25 million for Tech Crunch, while a separate source tells CNBC it paid $40 million. The $25 million figure would be low at 2.5x estimated valuation compared with a recent deal for a comparable company at 6x – the $40 million may be the total price including earnouts for performance and retentions.