3 years after the launch of TechCrunch France i am announcing today that i will not run this blog anymore. This is a sad choice for me to make because i enjoyed doing so and because TCF as we call it internally is very successful both in terms of audience and businesswise. The reality around me is pushing me to focus on projects i am already involved in and backing off from others
Like all successful projects, TechCrunch France is hugely time consuming. Very few people actually realize that. The blog is only the visible part of a long daily action item list and i don't have the necessary level of attention to scale. TCF has always been on top of my job and other activities (check on the right of this blog to see the list)
I need to spend more time on my current VC job which is taking a new shift as i will spend more and more time doing late stage deals (series A and above). I have been naturally involved lately in the deal flow of both Gemini and LightSpeed, we have a couple of successful "late stage" web investments (Outbrain and Wikio) and the idea is to extend that. The reality of the market is also pushing us toward more late stage deals although i will still look actively at early stage investments.
I have also recently backed off from a few projects i was involved in so i could better focus. Finally, I also need to spend more time with my family. Balance is something key to me, something i wil never sacrifice.
My relation with the web is not going to change. First i will be always very supportive of TechCrunch. I am a stockholder of this successful company and i will keep supporting the great work those guys are doing by sending them leads or even write stories once in a while on startups wherever they are from. I won't stop blogging which is and will remain a passion. It will mostly happen here on this blog. I will still support startups that will contact me for feedback or something else.
I am also discretely spending some time on a new idea which is very raw at this stage, but that could end up become a great project. If you are interesting in keeping track of project codename PSS get here.
I just want to conclude by thanking Michael and Heather for their trust in letting a little french man they hardly knew running one of their biggest blog. I am proud of what we've done and i am sure it will still be successful after me. I want to believe i will always be part of this great family
TechCrunch France will still be around and will be run by Alain Eskenazi which is doing a great job.
And i will still be around for a lot more.
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