Update: Information about Jason’s conference at the bottom of the post.
After last year’s TechCrunch50 there was speculation in the air that Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington were through with each other.
Jason even said so in a video to puppeteer Loren Feldman, but few were sure if he was being serious. The story fell away without official confirmation from either side. Most people had forgotten about the whole row, and instead were merely looking forward to the next edition of the popular conference.
The TechCrunch50 is dead, and we mean it. Jason and Michael just could not keep it together as a team, so they are both going solo. TechCrunch will host their Disrupt conference in New York in two weeks, and Calacanis will host his own conference in 2011. It is currently nameless.
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As it is easy to note, TechCrunch Disrupt is in New York, while the TechCrunch50 was in San Francisco. Whether TechCrunch will return to hosting events in the Valley remains to be seen.
At the conclusion of last year’s TechCrunch50 Arrington left the stage prior to the crowing of the winner, apparently in a spat with Mr. Calacanis. Love or hate the pair of them, they are both known for being strong willed individuals. To have them both running the same conference was perhaps never the cleanest plan.
Either way, the TechCrunch50 is no more. I personally mourn its end, the Bing after party last year was out of control.
Update:
Jason reached to VentureBeat and we know have his plans for his conference. To quote:
It is going to be the same exact format [as] at Techcrunch50, except that I’m going to personally invest all profits from the conference into the startups at the event (which is of course up to them if they want me as an angel investor).
The conference is to be called “The Launch Conference.” You can find more information on it here.
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