Michael Arrington Quotes

Powerful Michael Arrington for Daily Growth

About Michael Arrington

Michael Arrington is an American entrepreneur, investor, and journalist, renowned for his significant contributions to the technology industry and journalism, particularly in the field of startups. Born on May 31, 1970, in Montana, USA, Arrington grew up in a rural environment that fostered his curiosity and ingenuity. Arrington's early life was marked by a relocation to Alaska, where he developed a passion for technology and computers. After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in Computer Science, he began his career as a software engineer at Microsoft. However, it was his move to the burgeoning startup scene in Silicon Valley that truly defined Arrington's career. In 2004, Arrington co-founded the TechCrunch blog, which quickly became one of the most influential voices in the tech world. TechCrunch's unique blend of news, analysis, and commentary helped shape public perception of the startup ecosystem and played a significant role in shaping the course of many young companies. In 2010, Arrington founded CrunchFund, a venture capital firm that focused on early-stage startups. Notable investments by CrunchFund include Opath, Tumblr, and Fab.com. Arrington's impact extends beyond his professional endeavors. He is known for his blunt, no-nonsense approach to tech journalism and has been a vocal advocate for transparency in the startup world. His candid interviews and incisive analysis have made him both admired and controversial within the tech community. Currently, Arrington serves as the founder and CEO of TechCrunch Media Group, which includes the popular blog, TechCrunch Disrupt (a series of technology conferences), and other media properties. His ongoing work continues to shape the tech industry and inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs and journalists.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late."

This quote emphasizes that innovation and progress should be rapid in developing a product or project to achieve success. If one isn't ashamed or uncomfortable with the initial release of their creation, it suggests they may have waited too long to launch, missing opportunities for improvement and learning from user feedback, which are essential elements for refining and evolving the product further. In other words, the goal should be to quickly introduce a minimum viable product, learn from user experiences, iterate rapidly, and improve with each iteration.


"The best time to start an online business was 10 years ago. The second-best time is today."

This quote emphasizes that while it may be ideal if one had started an online business a decade ago, the second-best opportunity for starting such a venture is now. It suggests that the digital landscape has evolved to the point where there are still ample opportunities for success in the online world, despite the passage of time. The quote encourages individuals not to let past opportunities pass them by and instead take advantage of the current possibilities available for online businesses today.


"Innovation without scaleable business models doesn't pay the bills."

This quote emphasizes that while innovation is crucial, it alone isn't sufficient to generate revenue or sustain a business. A scalable business model, which allows a company to grow consistently and profitably over time, is essential for financial success. In other words, an innovative idea must be accompanied by a practical, sustainable plan for generating income on a larger scale to ensure the long-term viability of the business.


"Entrepreneurship is not a safe path, it's a risky one. It's not easy but it's very rewarding."

Michael Arrington emphasizes that entrepreneurship is a journey filled with risks and challenges, yet promising immense rewards. This quote signifies the inherent unpredictability and difficulty in establishing a business venture, but also highlights the potential for significant personal and professional growth that comes from overcoming those obstacles. In essence, it encourages individuals to embark on this path knowing full well the risks involved, but driven by the possibility of substantial personal fulfillment and success.


"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

This quote suggests that instead of trying to guess or anticipate what our future holds, we should actively shape it ourselves through our actions and decisions. It's a call to take control of our lives and not passively wait for events to unfold, but rather to proactively create the future we desire. Essentially, the quote encourages personal responsibility, self-determination, and a mindset of making things happen, rather than just waiting for them to happen.


Leaving America means renouncing your citizenship, moving out of the country and leaving family and friends behind. You can retain your citizenship if you like, but you'll still be away from loved ones and still be paying taxes. You lose all the good stuff about America and have to keep all the bad stuff.

- Michael Arrington

Behind, Country, Away, Moving Out

More than once at TechCrunch, we made AOL extremely uncomfortable with things that we wrote. But they never ordered us to write or not write about something because they understood that not only would we not comply, we'd write a post about the whole thing.

- Michael Arrington

About, Whole, Extremely, Comply

One thing I know from personal experience, judges hate it when parties talk publicly about their cases. There are a lot of things about our criminal legal system that need to be changed, and this is just one of them. Prosecutors know how to play the press. Most defendants don't.

- Michael Arrington

Experience, Play, About, Legal System

I want something completely new and different to happen, and lots of it. Stuff that makes us change the way we think about a market or the world. Something that inspires a new generation of crazy startups doing crazy things.

- Michael Arrington

Doing, About, Crazy Things, Startups

I am a partner at CrunchFund, a venture capital firm with investments in many startups around the world. I am also a limited partner in many other venture funds which have their own startup investments.

- Michael Arrington

Other, Capital, Which, Startups

The main thing to know about me is that I'm a champion of entrepreneurs and the startups they build. They are my rock stars. If in doubt, I side with them, and that's clear from my writing.

- Michael Arrington

Main Thing, Entrepreneurs, Startups

I'm a creature of startups. For example, I don't want government interference in the startup ecosystem.

- Michael Arrington

Government, For Example, Startups

Everything's mobile these days. Let's go mo-bile! But really, that's just an IQ test. When you see bold new startups with nothing but a desktop strategy, you know they just don't get it, and you move on.

- Michael Arrington

Move On, See, Desktop, Startups

If you want to build a startup that has a good chance of succeeding, don't listen to me. Listen to Paul Graham and others who are applying tons of data to the idea of startup success. That will maximize your chance of being successful.

- Michael Arrington

Data, Idea, Graham, Tons

If you really care about Facebook likes, don't just post your stuff to Twitter and then rely on it being republished automatically to Facebook. In my sample size of one, Facebook penalizes you significantly for that and shows that content to far fewer people.

- Michael Arrington

About, Automatically, Fewer, Sample

I don't claim to be a journalist. I hold myself to higher standards of transparency and disclosure.

- Michael Arrington

Standards, Journalist, Claim

I've always believed that government tends to screw up whatever it touches, but Obama in particular seemed different. He understood tech issues that left the other candidates bewildered. Part of it may be his age. But whatever the reason, I had real hope that he could help lead us into a new century of technology leadership and growth.

- Michael Arrington

Reason, Other, Part, Screw

That first company I started made a lot of money for the venture capitalists - nearly $30 million - but next to nothing for the founders. The companies I started after that varied between failures and mediocre successes. But at no point did I ever consider getting a 'real job.' That felt like a black and white world, and I wanted Technicolor.

- Michael Arrington

Next, Founders, Nearly, Capitalists

I remember endless Apple v. Windows debates in the early '90s when I was in college. Macs were better machines, everyone said; the whole Office thing was a huge pain. It was difficult to transfer files between operating systems, and generally speaking, if you wanted to do Office stuff, you needed a Windows machine.

- Michael Arrington

College, I Remember, Needed, Debates

For the most part, I've sat on the sidelines over the years during the endless debates about how we need to do more to encourage more women to start companies.

- Michael Arrington

More, Need, Over, Debates

I live a fairly simple life, and that didn't change much after I sold TechCrunch in 2010. I didn't buy a new house or even a new car. The one thing I did splurge on was a boat. Nothing too fancy or large.

- Michael Arrington

Simple Life, Fancy, Buy, Boat

Our independence from AOL was so important to me that I negotiated an extremely odd provision in our purchase agreement that allowed me to disclose confidential information about AOL. It was their job never to give me that information. It was not my job to protect it in any way.

- Michael Arrington

Independence, About, Allowed, Provision

America is an unsolvable problem: a nation divided and deeply in hate with itself. If it was a startup, we'd understand how unfixable the situation is; most of us would leave for a fresh start, and the company would fall apart. America is MySpace.

- Michael Arrington

America, Nation, Divided, Unsolvable

There are lots of things that I will probably never experience in this life. Military combat. Being dictator of a small central American country. Dunking a basketball. Being a famous rock star. Or walking on Mars. But one thing I have been, and will always be, is an entrepreneur.

- Michael Arrington

Small, Rock Star, Country, Entrepreneur

Before the Internet, all most people cared about was Office. And Office was really the only reason anyone wanted Windows machines instead of Macs.

- Michael Arrington

Reason, Before, About, Machines

Talking about Apple v. Microsoft without mentioning the Internet and the browser is like talking about WWII without talking about the nuke. Framing the conversation just in terms of open v. closed operating systems, the quality of the hardware or software or who the CEO was, is silly.

- Michael Arrington

Software, Talking, About, Conversation

Women in my world are respected as much as men.

- Michael Arrington

Men, World, Much, Respected

Success in Silicon Valley, most would agree, is more merit-driven than almost any other place in the world. It doesn't matter how old you are, what sex you are, what politics you support or what color you are. If your idea rocks and you can execute, you can change the world and/or get really, stinking rich.

- Michael Arrington

Politics, Color, Other, Change The World

Sometimes I have so many financial conflicts of interest that I can't even keep them straight.

- Michael Arrington

Interest, Straight, Even, Conflicts

Friendships and marriage are far more potent than financial conflicts.

- Michael Arrington

Marriage, More, Far, Conflicts

Journalists hold themselves apart, and above, the common person. They have rules designed to ensure their objectivity and impartiality.

- Michael Arrington

Rules, Ensure, Impartiality, Designed

I'm worried about privacy - the companies out there gathering data on us, the stuff we do on Twitter, the publicly scrapeable stuff on Facebook. It's amazing how much data there is out there on us. I'm worried that it can be abused and will be abused.

- Michael Arrington

Data, Will, Facebook, Worried

The payouts for starting a business are just terrible when you account for risk. A tiny minority of entrepreneurs ever get rich. And the majority of entrepreneurs would probably make far more money, and have more stable personal relationships, if they just worked for someone else.

- Michael Arrington

Entrepreneurs, Worked, Minority

If AOL had ever ordered me to remove a piece of content from the site for any reason, I would have immediately written about it and disclosed the situation to our readers. And if I had ever ordered a writer to remove content, I would have expected that writer to have done the same to me.

- Michael Arrington

Reason, About, Had, Remove

I have Twitter auto-post to my Facebook page, and I occasionally post things directly to Facebook as well. I've always noticed that the direct-to-Facebook approach generates far more likes, but I've never actually gone back and run the averages.

- Michael Arrington

Run, Back, Approach, Occasionally

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