The more I read about this the more I’m angered by TechCrunch’s irresponsible reporting on Angel Gate. Unless, and I seriously challenge him to because he can’t, Michael Arrington can produce substantial evidence that collusion did occur he should issue an apology. I have every reason to believe that Michael showed up uninvited to a dinner of friends, got really pissed and hurt because they told him to essentially screw off and then assumed they were up to no good. Of course, that’s being generous. It seems more like he got so pissed he decided to damage their reputations using TechCrunch simply because he has the power to. The only place to find a balanced debate on this is the Quora thread. Then the post an innuendo-laden email bomb from Ron Conway regarding a dinner he didn’t attend.
All I got to say is screw Tech Crunch for writing whatever they damn well please simply because their founder got socially snubbed. It’s Tech Crunch doing the dirty Mafia type hits if you ask me.
End of updated rant. The original article below.
The recent crap storm about TechCrunch’s expose about back room Mafia-style price fixing by angel investors kept taking an unreal turn for the worse. First, I have to hand it to Michael Arrington for doing this. It takes balls to make accusations like this and pretty much turn the entire community against you. He has everything to lose and this is one sorry publicity stunt if it goes wrong. In the UK he’d be sued out of business for libel even on a blog. In some other country, he might never be seen again.
The first guy to fall under the bus is definitely Dave McClure. He was the first to respond and now he really got thrown under the bus. I spent the good part of the day with him last year when he came to Japan. That doesn’t make me an expert on him or make me privy to what he does for business but if does the things that people allege him of doing in this “Angel Gate” scandal this man definitely has the most elaborate smoke and mirrors act I’ve ever seen.
The Dave McClure I saw is generous with his time and despite his bad boy image he’s the most approachable guy on earth. I literally walked up to him in a crowded party, briefly introduced myself, and asked him to attend a startup event happening the next day. He did not know who I was and he did not care. He showed up first thing in the morning and stayed all day. He brought a Japanese startup founder with him, gave a great presentation and mentored people all day. The event was basically a workshop for amateurs throwing around ideas. If Dave was just pretending to be interested or being polite, I must be blind because he critiqued ideas and gave feedback like he was about to invest money.
I don’t know about the intricacies of the allegations or how this situation is going down now that Ron Conway threw down the gauntlet but Dave’s been on the grind. Dave does a lot of things that other people in Silicon Valley don’t like try to connect the Valley with entrepreneurs in Asia and other regions. He works hard, he gets his hands dirty, he’s more accessible than a lot of “classy” investors, and he’ll pick up the phone when you call.
I don’t know who else is implicated but if you look around a lot of people have got Dave’s back. That says a lot. These are the same people he would have been “screwing” if allegations are true. These people are also very smart. I don’t think you can really damage someone’s reputation if they’re the real thing. Dave sure was in the wrong place at the wrong time but the dude’s literally everywhere. If I needed advice I wouldn’t hesitate to ask him and anybody he invests in will get a great deal just because Dave McClure doesn’t do anything half-assed period.
So A Blogger Walks Into A Bar…
