The Exchanges

Q Now, you've had a phenomenally successful career with TechCrunch, but where did it all start, and how did you make your entrance into the tech industry and journalism?

A Journalism was about I'd, um, I'd done some various, like, web design projects and stuff after graduating from uni, and, um, one project I built was, like, sort of, YouTube for students. It got picked up by the Guardian newspaper. Always wanted to be a journalist when I was, like, a kid. So I, I said to this journalist covering the project, like, like, can you put me in touch with your editor? I want to, I basically want to do your job, and he did. And then I got on top of the bylines of the Guardian, uh, Did some work for Macworld magazine, and then I guess my break came when the editor of Macworld left, and he offered to sort of give me, like, a bit of mentoring of how to become a journalist, and he was basically like, Steve, there's way worse writers than you, and he was like, if you want to be a journalist, just start calling yourself a journalist, so that's what I did. Um, and then that led to working with RewriteWeb a little bit, and then I got a blogging gig with ZZNet covering the social web. So like fake early Facebook and all those social apps that dropped up, ran about when Facebook was sort of going up. That's, that's how I got into it.

AI assessment note: “That's, that's how I got into it.”

Q And does it feel great to have so much, kind of, power in the palm of your pen? Quite literally. Do you know what I mean? I mean, you, you do have the ability to change the trajectory of a startup. How does that feel?

A I'm going to disagree with you slightly. I think it was just today that, yeah, Jan Toom, uh, WhatsApp's founder wrote something about how PR and coverage is a distraction, right, and you should focus on products. And I don't think TechCrunch or anyone like TechCrunch Makes or breaks a startup. I think that's a slight myth. Um, so, but on the other hand, it is a responsibility. Don't get me wrong. And I know that when I left to do my own startup, I did sort of miss, you know, in a very vain way, I did miss the influence. But honestly, it's, it's slightly over-edged because at the end of the day, right, if you make a really awesome product, you'll get found out by the press because we can't ignore it. And if you make a bad product, You'll get found out by your customers or users, regardless of how much publicity you've gone out. And I can say this from first-hand experience, Beeple was covered everywhere. Like, because of my journalist background, we got in anywhere from CNN to Next Web, TechCrunch, obviously, uh, Fast Company magazine. Like, we were, at one point, we were everywhere for about two days, and I can tell you it made very little difference, because in the end, the product didn't resonate. With enough users. It didn't solve a problem that enough people hack.

AI assessment note: “I'm going to disagree with you slightly. I don't think TechCrunch or anyone”

Q And does it feel great to have so much, kind of, power in the palm of your pen? Quite literally. Do you know what I mean? I mean, you, you do have the ability to change the trajectory of a startup. How does that feel?

A I'm going to disagree with you slightly. I think it was just today that, yeah, Jan Toom, uh, WhatsApp's founder wrote something about how PR and coverage is a distraction, right, and you should focus on products. And I don't think TechCrunch or anyone like TechCrunch Makes or breaks a startup. I think that's a slight myth. Um, so, but on the other hand, it is a responsibility. Don't get me wrong. And I know that when I left to do my own startup, I did sort of miss, you know, in a very vain way, I did miss the influence. But honestly, it's, it's slightly over-edged because at the end of the day, right, if you make a really awesome product, you'll get found out by the press because we can't ignore it. And if you make a bad product, You'll get found out by your customers or users, regardless of how much publicity you've gone out. And I can say this from first-hand experience, Beeple was covered everywhere. Like, because of my journalist background, we got in anywhere from CNN to Next Web, TechCrunch, obviously, uh, Fast Company magazine. Like, we were, at one point, we were everywhere for about two days, and I can tell you it made very little difference, because in the end, the product didn't resonate. With enough users. It didn't solve a problem that enough people hack.

AI assessment note: “I'm going to disagree with you slightly. I think it was just today that”

Q And was it difficult to leave the world of journalism that you'd so wanted to go into?

A It was, because at the time, it felt like completely, like, taking a match to my journalist career, do you know what I mean? Like, I didn't quite see how I would go back, because, you know, TechCrunch felt like I've reached fairly high up in the league of publications. So I did really hesitate, and it took a lot of persuasion, but at the same time, like, um, it seemed like a really good opportunity to try and see what it was like on the other side of the table, and I think that's what attracted it to me. It's that I really wanted to sort of, instead of writing other people's stories, I wanted to have a go at creating my own, and, and, you know, and it was, it was, you know, someone invites you to co-found a startup, and they're, Seriously talented, you know, you don't necessarily turn that down easily.

AI assessment note: “It was, because at the time, it felt like completely, like, taking a match”

Q And having written about so many entrepreneurs, was actually living the entrepreneur life how you expected it to be?

A Um, yes and no. So that's the thing, when you write about this stuff every day, you're under no illusions about how difficult it will be, about how arduous the fundraising process will be, and how most consumer startups fail, right? Especially coming from Europe, it's much harder. I would argue the Silicon Valley for that. It was, it was, it was basically a social media type startup. So, um, that didn't really surprise me, but what surprised me probably the most is, like, as a journalist, everybody wants your help or wants coverage. So they're very nice to you. And I, I thought that when I went to the other side, that my address book was, My contacts would almost evaporate overnight, right?

AI assessment note: “that didn't really surprise me, but what surprised me probably the most”

Q And was it difficult to leave the world of journalism that you'd so wanted to go into?

A It was, because at the time, it felt like completely, like, taking a match to my journalist career, do you know what I mean? Like, I didn't quite see how I would go back, because, you know, TechCrunch felt like I've reached fairly high up in the league of publications. So I did really hesitate, and it took a lot of persuasion, but at the same time, like, um, it seemed like a really good opportunity to try and see what it was like on the other side of the table, and I think that's what attracted it to me. It's that I really wanted to sort of, instead of writing other people's stories, I wanted to have a go at creating my own, and, and, you know, and it was, it was, you know, someone invites you to co-found a startup, and they're, Seriously talented, you know, you don't necessarily turn that down easily.

AI assessment note: “It was, because at the time, it felt like completely, like, taking a match”

Q And having written about so many entrepreneurs, was actually living the entrepreneur life how you expected it to be?

A Um, yes and no. So that's the thing, when you write about this stuff every day, you're under no illusions about how difficult it will be, about how arduous the fundraising process will be, and how most consumer startups fail, right? Especially coming from Europe, it's much harder. I would argue the Silicon Valley for that. It was, it was, it was basically a social media type startup. So, um, that didn't really surprise me, but what surprised me probably the most is, like, as a journalist, everybody wants your help or wants coverage. So they're very nice to you. And I, I thought that when I went to the other side, that my address book was, My contacts would almost evaporate overnight, right?

AI assessment note: “Um, yes and no. So that's the thing, when you write about this stuff”

Q And then, obviously, having written articles, uh, for TechCrunch, obviously, every day, uh, that brings comments from the community. So how do you at TechCrunch kind of try and engage and unite the community without having any difficulty with the commenting process?

A So I think over the last, I don't know, five years, when you think about it, a lot of the community around a publication and a lot of the comments have moved off The publication itself, right? So I would say that most of my, um, most of the way that I engage with TechCrunch readers is we are, we do a head of a lot of conferences and meetups. So we get out there face to face, right? But the conversation online has moved largely onto Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn. I think that's an issue that all Publications have, which is that there's, they don't own the commenting so much as they used to. It's much more aggregated across these big platforms.

AI assessment note: “most of the way that I engage with TechCrunch readers is”

Q Yeah, because you write about so many funding rounds every day, do you now appreciate the, the complexities that go into each one? Is that it?

A Yeah, absolutely. It's a slow process, um, but I loved it. Like, I, I have to tell you, I, I really enjoyed the fundraising process, because I like negotiating, and, um, I remember the first time, the first meeting I took with the VC that ended up finding us, I remember sort of phoning my dad up and saying, I felt like I'd stared capitalism in the eyes, and that I blinked first, do you know what I mean? It's, um, and then the other thing that it taught me, which I don't really hear a lot of people say, like, talking about this, is it struck me as a journalist that there's, like, um, An absolute conflict of interest, um, in that stage when you're fundraising, because essentially you're telling your VC, in a way, you're trying to tell them what they want to hear, because you want to close the round.

AI assessment note: “Yeah, absolutely. It's a slow process, um, but I loved it.”

Q And then, obviously, having written articles, uh, for TechCrunch, obviously, every day, uh, that brings comments from the community. So how do you at TechCrunch kind of try and engage and unite the community without having any difficulty with the commenting process?

A So I think over the last, I don't know, five years, when you think about it, a lot of the community around a publication and a lot of the comments have moved off The publication itself, right? So I would say that most of my, um, most of the way that I engage with TechCrunch readers is we are, we do a head of a lot of conferences and meetups. So we get out there face to face, right? But the conversation online has moved largely onto Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn. I think that's an issue that all Publications have, which is that there's, they don't own the commenting so much as they used to. It's much more aggregated across these big platforms.

AI assessment note: “most of the way that I engage with TechCrunch readers is we do conferences”

Q Yeah, because you write about so many funding rounds every day, do you now appreciate the, the complexities that go into each one? Is that it?

A Yeah, absolutely. It's a slow process, um, but I loved it. Like, I, I have to tell you, I, I really enjoyed the fundraising process, because I like negotiating, and, um, I remember the first time, the first meeting I took with the VC that ended up finding us, I remember sort of phoning my dad up and saying, I felt like I'd stared capitalism in the eyes, and that I blinked first, do you know what I mean? It's, um, and then the other thing that it taught me, which I don't really hear a lot of people say, like, talking about this, is it struck me as a journalist that there's, like, um, An absolute conflict of interest, um, in that stage when you're fundraising, because essentially you're telling your VC, in a way, you're trying to tell them what they want to hear, because you want to close the round.

AI assessment note: “Yeah, absolutely. It's a slow process, um, but I loved it.”

Q differing platforms then. So where do you think we're going in, in these categories? Is journalism heading to the short form with kind of the increasing prominence of, of BuzzFeed's list style articles? I know BuzzFeed do do very long form too, but the list styles are becoming increasingly popular across different platforms. Do you think we're going short form or do you think there's still hope in long form?

A I think it's not one or the other. As BuzzFeed demonstrates, I mean, it's quite weird, I find, that they can go from a listicle to a 10,000 word thing where they follow around a politician. I don't think it's one or the other. I think, what I've noticed is it's, the brands that do best, the publications, are the ones that really, like, have a strong sense of what they're there for. Do you know what I mean? So, it is about the brand. As long as the audience knows What that publication stands for, what, what they care about, and that comes through strongly in writing. I don't think it's one or the other. I think there's room for all sorts of different types of journalism. The only thing I would say is everybody is still figuring out how to get, you know, how to pay for it, right?

AI assessment note: “I think it's not one or the other... there's room for all sorts”

Q differing platforms then. So where do you think we're going in, in these categories? Is journalism heading to the short form with kind of the increasing prominence of, of BuzzFeed's list style articles? I know BuzzFeed do do very long form too, but the list styles are becoming increasingly popular across different platforms. Do you think we're going short form or do you think there's still hope in long form?

A I think it's not one or the other. As BuzzFeed demonstrates, I mean, it's quite weird, I find, that they can go from a listicle to a 10,000 word thing where they follow around a politician. I don't think it's one or the other. I think, what I've noticed is it's, the brands that do best, the publications, are the ones that really, like, have a strong sense of what they're there for. Do you know what I mean? So, it is about the brand. As long as the audience knows What that publication stands for, what, what they care about, and that comes through strongly in writing. I don't think it's one or the other. I think there's room for all sorts of different types of journalism. The only thing I would say is everybody is still figuring out how to get, you know, how to pay for it, right?

AI assessment note: “I think it's not one or the other.”

Q And do you think it's that diverse range of coverage, then, that makes you so special and so recognized as the leader?

A Because we still focus on, we still do the startup bit really well, I would argue. It means that, in a way, we win, we win on both ends, because what I noticed very early on when I first went to TechGrantz, Is I think the biggest impact my coverage made on a startup was often that we would, we would, like my coverage would either lead to the first interest the startup had from investors or from mainstream media. So I think that when you're sort of so early, um, in, in the coverage cycle, then other media look to TechCrunch to, you know, as a pointer to where they should go. And that's kind of fun. You know, you do a story and then the next week, Um, a national newspaper does something similar.

AI assessment note: “other media look to TechCrunch to, you know, as a pointer to where they should”

Q And do you think it's that diverse range of coverage, then, that makes you so special and so recognized as the leader?

A Because we still focus on, we still do the startup bit really well, I would argue. It means that, in a way, we win, we win on both ends, because what I noticed very early on when I first went to TechGrantz, Is I think the biggest impact my coverage made on a startup was often that we would, we would, like my coverage would either lead to the first interest the startup had from investors or from mainstream media. So I think that when you're sort of so early, um, in, in the coverage cycle, then other media look to TechCrunch to, you know, as a pointer to where they should go. And that's kind of fun. You know, you do a story and then the next week, Um, a national newspaper does something similar.

AI assessment note: “other media look to TechCrunch to, you know, as a pointer to where they should go”