I’ve been on Gillmor Gang for a few months now and until recently thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It’s controversial, intelligent and fun. Steve was wonderful to include me. Yesterday however I resigned from the show, on air, when Steve pushed me on my ongoing participatioin.
The reason I resigned is that Steve has invited Nick Carr on the show “whenever he wants to attend”. Nick’s been on two shows now. The first one I quickly dropped off, the second one, yesterday, I stayed until the end. I have a problem with Nick. I think he’s smart but he’s often overly cruel to people in his posts, people who sometimes aren’t in a position to defend themselves. I get the sense that he enjoys pulling people down, gets happiness out of it. He shows all the classic signs of a bully – he talks big on his blog but on the phone he’s a meek, submissive guy. He can’t stand up to people who stand up to him unless he’s hiding behind his blog. Guys like Nick are a dime a dozen on the Internet and until now I just basically ignored him. But I won’t be on a weekly podcast with the guy. If Nick is on the show, I’m not on it.
Long ago I made the choice not to associate with people who are mean to others. They can attack me all they want (Jason Calacanis does, and he’s on the show, and I have no problem with that). But when you are mean to other people it just makes my blood boil. It probably comes from watching too many kids get picked on in junior high.
I wasn’t going to write about this, I don’t want or need any more controversy in my life and frankly this isn’t that important to me or anyone who reads this blog. But clearly a fight is coming to me. Nick posted on his blog about it. Steve at first said he’d edit out my resignation and keep things quiet. But now he says he’s keeping it in the show. Valleywag is pinging him for the details, and it’s clear that Steve wants to set up a three ring circus around the situation to generate “attention” for the Gillmor Gang. I’m sure he’ll get that attention.
Some people are going to think this is all because Nick called me a whore a while back. It’s not about that – I get called lots worse every day. But that was when I first noticed his blog and started to read him. And what I saw wasn’t pretty.
This is the last time I’ll comment on this.
And by the way Steve, this doesn’t affect our friendship, and you are now on the party wiki list as promised.
Good for you Mike, stand up for what you believe in.
Well, FWIW, I subscribed to Nick’s blog a few months ago, and about 3-4 days ago I removed his blog from my list. Frankly, I felt his blog was boring as hell and I was spending more time hitting the DEL key than anything else. Nothing personal. When I find a blog is boring, I stop reading it. ANd so far, I’m still subscribed to TechCrunch, so there must be something to it.
That’s too bad. You’ll be missed.
With no one to defend the Borg and question Goog strategy, it appears not only Office, but MS will be dead. ; )
We’ll hear ya over at TalkCrunch.
The Gillmor gang is brilliant. I had never heard of Nick Carr before today so I will not comment on him as a person. But I think it is a shame that I wont be able to hear you joining in the debate on Gillmor gang again.
sorry to read that, and not looking forward to hear it on the podcast
I thought it was out-of-bounds, when carr first made his accusations about arrington doing biased posts. agreed, everyone who ever publicized product-reviews knows that it’s not always easy to stay objective, but I had the impression mike did a good job at techcrunch. just hope that there is an exit-strategy for mike to return to the gang, otherwise the show will lose quality…
You couldn’t made a better choice MA, I agree with you on the bully stuff, I don’t tolerate it either. Nick Carr’s blog sucks anyway, who wants to hear him on the GG Podcast anyway?? Not me, I wont be listening anymore..
Heh, guess I’m the only guy who unsubscribed from TechCrunch but stayed subscribed to Nick Carr’s blog. I hadn’t really noticed him being mean, but eh, I’m kind of fond of people falling a bit on the harsh side.
I dropped TechCrunch because it just seemd gaga over anything, regardless of quality — reviews of entirely worthless calendars that still manage to just be positive. It didn’t provide enough information to help me differentiate between good and bad products, so meh.
It’s just not that hard to make a crappy web application, and it’s not that impressive that someone is doing so. Making a good one, that might be worth talking about, I guess.
Take your ball, go home and bask in the glow of people who already agree with you. You won’t be missed, and your time is almost over.
Hang tight man. Stick to your guns and what you’re most passionate about (TC). See, when you have some success, small or large, people will try to pull you away from what you love the most. If I challenge someone (like I have with twit, for a fun geek olympics), it’s all in good spirit. I RESPECT twit, and anyone else who does a podcast. You’re better off focusing on TC anyways. No worries.
kind of a bummer… you’re very smart and having someone on the show who can actually debate stuff with the level of detail you have is one of the main reasons I started doing GG. It’s a good mix of you with a lot of knowledge on the space, Doc with a lot of wisdom, me in the thick of it from the inside of one of the big four… I think frankly you should stay and Nick should rotate in when you’re not available. you were here first and you’re one of the reasons I joined… so, I’m really bummed.
I’m not buying into the spin of justifying your running away from the fight because of your need to stand up to a bully.
Michael,
Your wiki is open again. I am guessing this wasn’t intended. I would recommend closing it so as to not create confusion. Can you also please post the final RSVP list on TechCrunch. I know a lot of people responded by commenting on the post as per your request, but I am sure they would appreciate a final RSVP status before finalizing travel plans.
Jason, I don’t understand why you are on there either. You so obviously don’t fit in: you’re not fighting the battles of yesteryear, your battles are current and ongoing. Why don’t you go join Mike on TalkCrunch? Now that would be worth listening to.
I have been reading Nick for some time and have not noticed any bullying. Not taking sides or anything, but if you are accusing him of being overly cruel perhaps you, or someone here, could give some examples. I also wonder how the people Nick is accused of being cruel to could not have the ability to defend themselves. Presumably they have their own blogs…?
This is great publicity for the podcast. I now can’t wait to hear it.
But to “resign” from the gig because Steve invites someone to come on whenever he wishes seems a bit over the top. You’re just taking your ball and running cause you don’t like to play with Nick? Can’t be that bad, surely. At least don’t resign, just don’t turn up when Nick is on the show. Simple. I will miss the ‘Mike “I love Microsoft” Arrington versus Steve “I love Google” Gillmor segments and spats’
Although, it’ll probably be a week before I hear the whole thing which is delivered in parts. Each podcast has some six, sometimes seven, minutes of ads at the begining. That’s 18 to 21 minutes of fluff in the three parts. Oh well, it is the Gillmor Gang after all. That’s why Steve can invite whoever he wishes on the show.
resign from the show?!?! i actually think you dish out better content during the GG than in your blog posts… it gives your readers kind of a bigger perspective of your opinions and the insight you have from profiling all the web startup madness … This comes out during your debates/arguments with other members of the gang, its good stuff, and i really think you should reconsider your stance…
i also agree with some of the other comments in that i havent seen this mean side or carr…. sure hes harsh but is he any more harsh than steve?!?
Nicky Carr doesn’t matter.
How about an example of what you mean by “cruel”.
I see Nick as contrarian and critical. Playing the role of cynic. But “cruel” in a personal sense? I’d like to see an example because I can’t think of one.
Mike, it seems brash that you call it quits on GG so abruptly, certainly will be dearly missed for a dedicated listener like myself. If Nick appears like a bully as you said, engaging him occasionally on GG would be sweet revenge ?. I hope GG can maintain its quality without you, or you might want to re-consider as Nick has publicly declined to accept future invitations to GG. Steve maybe be disappointed but the majority of listeners will likely agree that Doc and yourself together with Dan hold the chemistry of GG.
If Mike wanted to do a show with me, or have me on his show I’d do that… I think Mike’s one of the top five smartest folks when it comes to products.
Make it so, Mr Arrington!
Oh come on, Nick Carr shouldn’t have anywhere near his exposure as a pundit. A guy on the HBR editorial staff shouts “IT Doesn’t Matter” from the pages of his own pub and it gets him a photo spread in BusinessWeek alongside Andy Grove?!? The media was played! Carr’s article would have earned a D in an undergrad strategy class (correct point: of course it’s not tech or the timing that yields lasting competitive advantage, missed point: it’s what you do with the tech & timing). The stuff he got right included decades old chestnuts about not basing advantage on what others can match. And what about Carr advice like “Follow Don’t Lead”? How’d that have worked out for Amazon, eBay, Dell, Harrah’s, MySpace, NetFlix, Yahoo, and so many others? In an age where the sensationalist can get media coverage, a book deal, lucrative paid speaking & consulting gigs, and AdSense traffic, the journalistic BS filter needs to be put on high alert. Yes, we in tech have our own Ann Coulters.
There I was, spouting off how there were too many ads on GG… when holy shit! Resignation Gang comes along and it has no ads! It just gets to the chase from the get-go. So I take it all back. Thanks Steve and Podshow.
This might be Oprah material … I’ll check with my contacts at Harpo.
I don’t know either Mike or Steve Gillmor personally, but it seems to me that the Nick Carr thing was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’ve been concerned for a couple of months now that Mike would walk away from the Gillmor Gang. The reason? Steve just picks on Mike mercilessly. I’m sure that Mike would be the first one to say that it doesn’t bother him, but it must. Hell, it bothers me just to listen to it. Go back and listen to some of the shows from the past 2 months. None of the other gang members gets the same treatment as does Mike, the constant interruptions and belittlement. Maybe its because nobody else dares to challenge Steve directly on his sacred cow beliefs with good, solid arguments.
I’ll miss Mike Arrington on the Gillmor Gang just like I miss Jon Udell. I wonder who will be next…
I was dismayed when Mike made his comment, and I remain dismayed for the Gang’s audience. But I see a possible opportunity to rise above this, by getting Doc, Mike Arrington, and Jason to spin off and do their own show. I’m sure it will be terrific. I see Jason has offered to do this, and I hope Mike will agree as a first step. I’d add Dan Farber as well as Mike Vizard, but prthaps it’s better to start with just Jason and Mike and addwhoever they deem welcome. It’s been an honor and a privilege to work all the members and guests of the Gang, and I think it would be a shame if it didn’t continue in some new form.
Second the opinion that Mr. Gillmor often treats Mike as nastily as an older brother might.
I think that the best possible host of the Gillmor Gang is, and hopefully remains, Steve Gillmor. But I also think that the quality of a GG session is inversely proportional to the amount of Steve’s active participation in the discussion. Its a fine line between being host and panelist, and the show is better, IMHO, when Steve is more the former and less the latter.
A real pity. Mike, IMHO you were the finest addition to the gang ever since it left IT Conversations, and I’ve enjoyed every single episode (except for the 7 minutes ad block, but that’s what you get for selling a show…). Hope you’ll do that Gang 2.0 with Doc etc….
Mike I have to say your defense of the little guy is really to be commended. It’s not just rhetoric. Thanks for helping me out the other day – it was very much appreciated!
I have to say that I am also surprised this is what finally broke you Mike, after Steve’s constant harrassment. I thought GG was the best it has ever been with you and Calcanis on it (well I guess this was the first show you were on together?). But you both add a spark that had sort of died out for a while. I think a show with Calcanis would be very interesting.
I’ll really miss you on GG. Maybe you’ll come back as a guest when Carr isn’t around?
Steve has been harsh on you Mike, but it does make for good listening, and I’m sure the two of you knew that. You were the only one who would really get into a heated debate with Steve. Talking about and agree like the others do is good, but having two sides shown is good too. You’ll be missed! I’ll have to subscribe to TalkCrunch I guess!
Heh … life’s to short to inflict idiots on yourself. Good call.
Now I’m torn, I enjoyed hearing you on GG and I definitely didn’t enjoy hearing the bickering that goes on. I’m hoping that you can stitch up something with Jason and maybe some others because I think that you offered a valuable alternative perspective and I enjoyed your insights.
Maybe the gang will be less painful to listen to now, unless Steve finds someone else to pick on, but I think it has lost something because you are no longer there.
Come back to podcasting soon, please.