I think he has a small gift as a satirist but has pretty much squandered it. I no longer have any interest in reading him because the quality has gotten so spotty and he doesn't care enough about what's true.
A really good writer (or blogger) wouldn't try to pick up where he left off or act like nothing had happened. Someone whose overriding theme has been the failure of others can't ignore his own failures without becoming shallow and, worse, boring.
That's the pose he adopts; that said if any of the people he writes about have such fragile egos that they can be hurt by what some random programmer says on his blog...
De gustibus non est disputandum and all that, but... that kind of thing is generally not my idea of entertainment, and maddox does it much better in any case.
The thing with speaking truth to power is that it helps to actually speak... well, "truth". There are pg essays that I'm not wild about (the unions one, to single one out), but come on, he's hardly the only one saying that now might be a good time to start a company. The recent Warren Buffet article conveyed some similar ideas. And in any case, I've found it possible to disagree with pg's ideas without foaming at the mouth. Admittedly, I've gotten a bit less attention because I don't, so if that's his goal, he succeeded. I just don't think it's a very honorable way of going about it.
Oh, also, what's interesting about this whole business is that PG is actually continuing to put his own money on the line as if nothing had changed, and will presumably be able to gather some real data from how the YC startups fare in the next year or two, rather than simply writing about it. Ted bailed on his startup before the economy even really got bad, and has apparently gone back to writing nasty things about other people, which, compared to risking your money and mentoring people, is pretty easy.
I clicked on the link expecting to be totally appalled by the article, but...OK, it was pretty funny. I'm a PG fanboy with the best of them, but this was still quite entertaining, if nasty. I don't agree with Ted, but he's got the Maddox gift.
"... mostly because I’m going to be a father in March and need some stability, but also because I’m tired of the fight ... "Ha ha!" ..."
Apt.
Failing fast though is probably a good idea. Ted reminds me of the difference between Engineers and Entrepreneurs. The former is a subset of the later and playing Engineer is not enough to succeed. Part Engineer, part schmooze, play-acting business type and full time dogs body. I'm beginning to think founders of successful Startups are more chameleon than person.
This is the problem with Pressflip,
it doesn't turn up anything interesting
~ http://uncov.com/node/245
When Pressflip fails to deliver the goods instead of writing better software, changing the idea or looking for alternatives. Ted bails. Is it the realisation the idea was less than stellar? the market has turned? Or did he get the hard word from the misses who's looking at the lean years ahead? I'm making a conscious effort to avoid feelings of schaedenfraude to Startup founders who fail like this.
What we should all learn from this is that when you want to mock the masses, it's best to do so from the balcony of a mansion. Not from within the crowd. It's a fine line between a crowd and a mob.
He's mocked people for a long time, then tried to do what they do and bounced back with a resounding failure. I figured he's not the kind of person to take this gracefully, and his resumption of uncov is exactly what I'm talking about.
The thing that's really rich is that if uncov had been active at the time, they would have torn pressflip several new orifices because they were doing a lot of things wrong.
It's pretty hardcore hypocritical to admit you don't have the stones for the fight and then go back to making fun of people who do. No matter how bad their code is, at least they're not quitters.
On that topic of breaking down what he wrote .. this is a cross-comment I also left on TC.
Ted writes: “As is Michael Arrington’s usual style, he is showing his personal vendetta against me to mischaracterize what I’ve said.”
Uhh, let’s see. Ted’s usual style is to write cruel things to mischaracterize other startups, largely writing nasty things to make them look bad, feel bad. And yes, mostly all that he wrote was personal. Careful analysis my ass.
Ted writes: “My priorities have changed. I am now facing fatherhood, and I want to do what is best for my family.”
And these guys whose startups you delightfully enjoyed tearing into pieces, did they not have their own families that they have to support? Some of them may not have children of their own, but do they not have an aging father and mother who just needs some financial support? Perhaps a sibling that they are trying to help put through college?
EVERYONE has their priorities. If you think you’re the only one who faces shifting priorities in life, you’re just plain dumb.
Ted writes: “This is horrifically irresponsible on Michael’s part, but that sort of thing is to be expected. Michael, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Ted, you’re known for not exactly being that friendly to startups. Your notoriety is infamous, such that your ill intent is more that “sort of” to be expected - it’s pretty much ALL that anyone can expect from you when you open your mouth. It is you, who should be ashamed of yourself.
Last but not least, Arrington’s contribution to startups is at best, a lot, and at worse, greater than zero. This is an unbiased FACT. Ted’s contribution to startups is at best, approaching zero - but largely, negative. A large negative number.
"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."
http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/77sl1/paul_grah...
What a nasty individual.