We have abandoned objectivity for transparency
Posted by matt on 26 Jul 2006 | Tagged as: mikearrington, techcrunch, crunchnotes, daylife, edgeio
It’s truly a gift to be able to create a buzz about a company by saying, “I really don’t know much about it.”
Without really knowing Mike Arrington, I still have an impression of him as an honest individual, and I believe you can really tell those things sometimes. I’ve done it before and I don’t think it was luck.
But one thing he mentions in this post that I think is a misjudgement.
I eagerly await a glimpse of what they will launch, and will have someone else write about it on TechCrunch (as I did with Edgeio, a startup I co-founded).
Probably the right thing to do, but he seems to be implying that a review of Edgeio will be more impartial if he doesn’t write it.
I don’t think this is necessarily true.
If that’s the case, then no journalist in the U.S. can write about the President or other political candidates that they are eligible to vote for. You must either be for or against what that candidate is doing. Does that mean you can’t be objective? Maybe not, but in this day and age, we’ve given up on objectivity, in favor of transparency.
It’s typical to be overly kind about other people’s projects. Supportive is more likely than candid, with some light criticism. I see this every day. It’s a corporate problem because people don’t want to alienate themselves with their bosses.
On the other hand, many people tend to be very critical of their own work, though in the case of a startup you would expect excitement and optimism.
Honesty and the best intentions for the company are not what makes people succeed in corporations. Startups, yes, but corporations, no.
So, it’s very difficult for anyone to write a review on TechCrunch and really tear Edgeio apart. I don’t think I could do it. I’d be supportive and give some light criticism. That’s only natural.
It’s like going to someone’s house for dinner and complaining about the food.
Anyway, Mike should do an alternate post on Crunchnotes when he has a financial interest in a company. Just because he has an ineterest doesn’t mean his point of view is not meaningful.
In fact, I would say moreso.
