Chapter 4The Bubble Redux

Battling circumstances beyond your control

In response to “TechCrunch-gate,” worried I would never again be in the good graces of Silicon Valley kingpin Michael Arrington, and completely cognizant that I had no clue what I was doing with the press, we hired a marketing pro in San Francisco to help us with introductions and advice. He was a very helpful guy, and the next time I saw him in San Francisco he scored me a ticket to the TechCrunch August Capital Summer Party.

The event, which had become legendary, had been held for several years in Michael Arrington's backyard in Atherton, California. I had read the over-the-top stories on the blogs—how this was the event where deals were made, where companies were founded, ...

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