On Sunday, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington published a juicy blog post, wherein he accused Keith Teare of falsely labeling himself as a co-founder of TechCrunch.
According to Arrington, Teare “thought [TechCrunch] was all a stupid idea until [he] didn’t… then tried to take credit without ever actually helping.”
Teare says he never claimed credit for TC, but that Arrington started TC while the 2 were partners in an LLC, Archimedes Ventures, back in 2005 and that he was “very supportive” of Arrington as he was getting the blog off the ground…
So who’s telling the truth here?
There’s no question that Arrington is the mastermind behind TC and that the idea for TechCrunch spun out of his research while working for Archimedes with Teare.
What is unclear is whether Teare’s “support” warrants being listed as a co-founder on his TechCrunch contributor posts and Crunchbase.
We also know that Arrington is no stranger to dramatic public displays: after AOL acquired the blog in 2010, he announced his resignation by unbuttoning his shirt on stage and revealing a green T-shirt that said “UNPAID BLOGGER.”
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”
Arrington has since posted an update that he and Teare have come to a compromise via email to let Teare refer to himself as a “Founding Shareholder” instead.
Teare’s heartbreaking email response? “Friendship is… pretty unconditional in our case. I would like to remain a friend and have you be mine too.”
