Calacanis: taking the money·
An enjoyable blog media discussion last night organized by the Gothamist crew. My bit: a debate with Jason Calacanis of WIN -- yes, he's already picked out the stock ticker symbol -- about blog publishing. The best line? Calacanis, publisher of the defunct Silicon Alley Reporter, famously turned down an offer from Time-Warner for the dotcom magazine. This time, he's taking the money, first with an investment by Mark Cuban. When pressed by Jeff Jarvis, the moderator, to say how his latest company would make him, Calacanis said: "$20-30m -- and this time I'm going to take the money."
The event was pegged as a prizefight of the blog publishers. But Calacanis, who did most of the talking last night, and continues today, is his own worst enemy, far more lethal than I could ever be. So, in that spirit, I'll sign off it with a droll Calacanis quote I dug out, from an interview he gave in 2000.
When journalists believe that they should be millionaires and billionaires like the companies they cover, their careers are over. And that's what's happening... And I'm afraid that I'll lose my edge, I'm afraid that I'll get soft. I really enjoy being a journalist, and I don't want to muddy that with this expectation that I should be worth millions of dollars.
