MG Siegler has an almost touching post on TechCrunch.  Apparently the New York Times article on Michael Arrington’s new VC fund might have turned the tide against him inside AOL.  To the point where there’s a very real possibility he’ll be forced out of TechCrunch altogether. 

(for the record I’m not linking to the NY Times article because it’s so factually incorrect it would be irresponsible to do so)

TechCrunch is on the precipice. As soon as tomorrow, Mike may be thrown out of the company he founded. Or he may not. No one knows. And if he is, he will be replaced by — well, again, no one knows. No one knows much of anything. Certainly no one at TechCrunch. This site is about to change forever and we’re in the total fucking dark. I’ve been able to piece together little bits of information here and there, and it’s not looking good. Hence, this post.

I realize this is big news but there’s not much to comment on here. 

On one hand I know Mike Arrington has a lot of enemies (including many people I respect).  But I’d think even they would agree this VC fund is no different from other investments he’s made in the past and he doesn’t deserve to be tossed out altogether over it. 

At the same time while it would be sad to see Arrington leave under bad circumstances I can see some advantage from a purely selfish perspective.  As someone who has read TechCrunch from close to the beginning I’ve always felt the first 2 years were worth more than all the ones that followed. Even after TC got huge Arrington continued to post on a personal blog, CrunchNotes, and I always thought that was his best stuff.  I don’t think he’d be able to stop himself from writing so I can only see advantage in him being able to throw off the chains of running the #1 news site in the valley.

That’s really all I have to say on that.  The reason I’m posting is I wanted to comment on another part of Siegler’s post…

It has almost been exactly one year since AOL acquired us. At the time, they promised not to interfere with the way we do things. For 11+ months, they’ve kept their word, and things have run beautifully from our end. Our business is one of the few sterling ornaments on their mantel. Now they may break their promise to us. And if that promise is broken, it will break TechCrunch.

This is an important lesson to learn because I’ve watched the tech industry since I was little and this is the mistake that people make the most.  For some reason people continue to believe they can be acquired in a way that won’t interfere even though it has never, ever worked.  Let me put a finer point on that. 

Never believe a company acquiring you will leave you independent.  It is always Bulls###.  ALWAYS.  Always, Always, Always.  Always to Infinity. 

Any corporation is a collection of fiefdoms.  Because every corporation has a small group of powerful people and powerful people get where they are by doing everything they can to acquire more power.  Which means almost every corporation consists of a bunch of people in a mad dash to gain control over as many resources as possible.  This causes conflict and eventually leads to fiefdoms as each powerful person seeks to protect the power they have and focus those resources on gaining more. 

Once you are taken into a corporation you become a resource that belongs to that company and all those powerful people look to bring you under their control.  Regardless of whether it makes sense.

TechCrunch is the perfect example here because, as M.G. Siegler says, it pretty much runs itself.  The entire operation is built on hiring the right people and turning them loose.  So unless someone leaves there’s not much input needed from the corporate side.  AOL could (and should) have left it independent and raked in the cash (while getting the benefit of controlling the advertising on the site).

And that’s what AOL’s Tim Armstrong said they were going to do.    From the press release…

TechCrunch and its associated properties and conferences will join the AOL Technology Network while retaining their editorial independence, further bolstering AOL’s position as one of the world’s leading providers of high-quality, tech-oriented content.

But that was never going to happen.  

Arianna Huffington is a very powerful person.  Which meant there was NO WAY she was going to let TechCrunch do its own thing.    Not only was it a resource she could have it was a resource she was entitled to given her title.   And even if she hadn’t taken control over it someone else would have because that’s how corporations work. 

So this is a lesson to any startup.  Before you sign your life’s work away come to terms with the fact that you’re losing it.  Maybe not the day you hand it over but eventually it will come under someone else’s control.  Either accept that or don’t cash out.