Michael Arrington: Web 2.0 King Maker

Credit: John Lee and Aurora Select for TIME Magazine

Introducing Michael Arrington, 38 - Silicon Valley's latest power broker.

The former corporate attorney, turned blogger, has built his obsession into an influential TechCrunch web portal that generates more than $200,000 in revenues per month. TIME Magazine has declared Arrington one of the world's one hundred most influential people, and Technorati ranks Michael Arrington as the third most powerful writer on the Internet.

The serial entrepreneur abandoned what he deemed to be the boring, yet cushy career of practicing law to engage in the hand-to-hand fisticuffs of Web entrepreneurship. The brash businessman was unsatisfied with the legal track - demanding larger roles within the profession, yet remaining unfulfilled. His story documents the rise of the unlikely hero.

Following his 1995 graduation from Stanford Law, law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati approached Arrington concerning employment. Arrington specialized in consulting high-tech companies to go public - raising money via capital markets, rather than from private investors. At that point, the young lawyer became enthralled with the rugged ideals of entrepreneurship. 

In 1999, Michael Arrington took the plunge - quitting the orderly world of lawyering for the make-or-break lifestyle of high technology. Mr. Arrington was employed as the head of business development at Real Names, a start-up with a mission to simplify web addresses.

The irrational exuberance of that era fed into the 2000-2002 tech collapse, and all hope regarding any Real Names IPO riches vanished. The Internet boom went bust, and Arrington landed at Achex, a firm designed to facilitate the transfer of online payments. Achex proved to be another failure. The rapid emergence of rival PayPal sealed the company's fate.

For three years, Arrington globetrotted from the West Coast to Canada to Western Europe, working for technology outfits, and stockpiling cash. The gentleman's bankroll afforded him the opportunity to rent a Southern California beach condominium, and effectively retire for nine months. According to Arrington, it was the simple life: "All I did was work out, surf, and watch movies."

Arrington was quickly lured into the rapid fire pace of high technology, accepting a role with classified site, Edgeio and shifting his operations north to Atherton, CA. The wealthy suburb, lying just north of Stanford University falls within the heart of Silicon Valley. Arrington began to blog, as a means to research and critique an industry from which he had been on hiatus the prior year.

Arrington's TechCrunch blog became so popular that the businessman quit his new job within six months.

Michael Arrington rose early, crossed the hallway of his rented Atherton home, and obsessively cranked out sixteen hours worth of blog posts - every day. "I got up every day and worked until I passed out," he says. The blogger began hosting barbecues and parties at his residence, further drawing attention to his work. The first event tallied a mere twenty guests. Now, his legendary galas draw A-List nightclub crowds, and are a Silicon Valley social circuit staple.

The king maker has hired some help, and his team of journalists review technologies, present Silicon Valley gossip, and profile hot start-ups. A positive 400-word write-up by his influential site will make or break a young company - desperate for seed money. Also, TechCrunch readers are an advertising gold mine - earning over $100,000 of annual income, on average.

The demanding boss remains in the mix, privy to the occasional online dust-up that is a mark of Web 2.0. According to Wired, the man does not shirk from battle:

"At 6'4" he projects a persona somewhere between an aging linebacker and Tony Soprano - a large man always on the verge of losing his cool."

Arrington's legend grew be breaking the Google - YouTube acquisition, first, before old-line media stalwarts such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. These iconic sources were scooped, lowering themselves to cite - a blogger.

Michael Arrington is critical of Big Media, and engages the old guard at every turn. The lawyer / entrepreneur / writer / investor often blasts mainstream pieces as the twisted propaganda of misinformed, unchallenged journalists. This Black Sheep attended a 2006 panel discussion in Washington, D.C. where he was blatantly ignored by media big shots.

The TechCrunch chief retaliated with a 1,200 word rant on his blog: "It's the first time I addressed 'real' journalists head-on. And all I saw was fear, loathing, and disdain."