Disrupting TechCrunch

From TechCrunch itself - AOL has issued the following statement:

“The TechCrunch acquisition has been a success for AOL and for our shareholders, and we are very excited about its future. Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch has decided to move on from TechCrunch and AOL to his newly formed venture fund. Michael is a world-class entrepreneur and we look forward to supporting his new endeavor through our investment in his venture fund. Erick Schonfeld has been named the editor of TechCrunch. TechCrunch will be expanding its editorial leadership in the coming months.”

But Mr Arrington is still hosting TecgCrunch Disrupt, it seems - interviewing Doug Leone from Sequoia among other activities. But as to the new Arrington vehicle, startup fund Crunchfund, even Seqoia is pointing out its a me too in the Bubbletimes - from PEHub:

Asked by Arrington if Sequoia would squeeze a new fund like his out of a round while it’s working to help shape a young entrepreneurial team, Leone said no, that if an entrepreneur thinks that “CrunchFund has a differentiated set of skills that will help you, then by all means” take its money. (It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.)

Pointing out that too much money is already chasing startups, including from Europe, Russia, and the likes of Goldman Sachs, Leone then told Arrington, “You’re joining the abundant side of market, instead of the scarcity side of the market…Why you want to join [the world of venture capital] is beyond me.”

Mind you, Seqoia is itself not too pleased about the rise of the dumb money tide:

Leone tried to be diplomatic about all the cash sloshing around Silicon Valley these days, but it clearly irks Sequoia that the firm – along with all venture firms – has been painted as a later-stage investor by many seed and angel entrepreneurs, despite that it regularly makes seed investments.

Indeed, Leone said his advice to entrepreneurs is to “think of investors as your business partners” and not just in terms of “what you need over the coming months but over the next four to five years.

The role of the incubators, accelerators etc etc is to now manufacture enough startups for all the sloshing money to be thrown at. Maybe the next Arrington business should be a Y-Crunchinator?