Meet the Crunchies
When it comes to the world of technology, the start-ups are the real stars. In order to recognize the start-ups and their achievements, we are teaming up with TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb and VentureBeat to collaborate on the Crunchies. They are like the Grammies …
Context & Ripple Effects
In autumn 2007 the top independent tech blogs were at peak competitive intensity: TechCrunch had just been reported as highly profitable beyond founder Michael Arrington's expectations, was the subject of an unconfirmed rumor of a sale to CNET for over $100 million, and had hired Business 2.0's Erick Schonfeld as co-editor in September. Against that backdrop, four direct rivals — GigaOM, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb and VentureBeat — are choosing to cooperate rather than compete, jointly launching the Crunchies, an awards show explicitly modeled on the Grammies.
Read/WriteWeb carried the announcement the same day, confirming this was a coordinated cross-outlet launch rather than a single-blog stunt. It extends a pattern the group had already started individually: TechCrunch ran its own TechCrunch40 startup showcase in September 2007, so the Crunchies adds a shared, reader-voted ritual on top of proprietary events.
First-order effects
- Start-ups gain a marquee visibility channel run collectively by the four most-followed startup-focused blogs, with nominations and voting open across all four audiences.
- GigaOM, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb and VentureBeat convert a rivalry into co-ownership of one industry ceremony instead of four competing ones.
Second-order effects
- Other tech publications must either build their own recognition franchises or accept the coalition's framing of who counts as the year's best start-up.
- An annual awards calendar hands each partner blog a recurring sponsorship, event and traffic surface at a time when blog economics were proving stronger than expected — TechCrunch's profitability was already public knowledge as of October 2007.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, leading blogs complete a shift from commentary outlets to convening institutions — running their own conferences, then joint awards — fusing editorial judgment and audience voting into signals the venture community watches when sizing up young companies.
The trend: Independent tech blogs are converting accumulated readership into institutional power, building owned and shared rituals — showcases, then awards — that position them as gatekeepers between start-ups and Silicon Valley capital.