An announcement: After 18 years, TechCrunch and I have parted ways.
The backstory: Recently, Regent LP, a US private equity firm, acquired TechCrunch and its staff in the US, from Yahoo. During this process, my colleagues in Europe and I were, unexpectedly, rendered redundant. I should emphasise that I am not a spokesperson for Yahoo or Regent in this matter. However, the upshot is that, as of last month, I am no longer writing for TechCrunch.
This ends an 18-year run, starting in 2007.
Until last month, my personal journey with TechCrunch had been an incredibly fulfilling one, and, I hope, useful to the European ecosystem.
But before I indulge in a little nostalgia, I want to emphasise that this does not mean my departure from tech journalism. I will be taking my many thousands of contacts and social media followers — spread across Europe and the Middle East — with me, into my next adventures. And BTW, PR people: just put me ‘on hold’ for now, ok?
So, I am excited to tell you what’s next. But not quite yet… 😉
Meanwhile, if you want to stay in touch, please put your email into the form I’ve linked to below, and feel free to follow me across my social channels.(My email: mike@mikebutcher.me).
https://buttondown.com/mikebutcher
Until I have more concrete things to say, I will still be floating around tech events in Europe over the summer, and engaging in the following (feel free to get in contact if any of this resonates):
– Running panels and fireside chats at conferences and events (most recently, Tech EU, EU Startups Summit, GITEX)
– Consulting with companies on relevant areas (or on events) — but only while I’m on a journalism break
– Continuing to meet founders and investors, professionally and socially. Hit me up!
– Producing more social media content, as and when.
– I also plan to relaunch my non-profit Techfugees as a ‘Crunchbase for humanitarianism’. Get in touch if you want to help!
After writing over 6,500 articles for TechCrunch about startups and investors over the past 18 years (roughly, an article every single day for the entire duration), I’ve seen, and experienced, quite a lot.
I’ve interviewed many, many founders (all the way from their first startup to their third or fourth) and VCs, and even one or two Prime Ministers and Presidents.
Along the way I’ve interviewed Nikolay Storonsky, Pavel Durov, Jimmy Wales, Niklas Zennstrom, and Tony Blair, among others; launched the UK’s first co-working space for startups; three non-profits; The Europas; made a few Top 100 lists; spoken at WEF; been a talking head on a lot of TV channels; picked up an MBE for services to journalism and tech; been a judge on The Apprentice; told Bono I preferred U2’s drummer and got Franz Ferdinand to play a gig for Ukraine.
Although I was the only European journalist for TechCrunch for the first five years, I was privileged to be eventually joined by others. Thank you Ingrid, Romain, Natasha, Paul and Steve (RIP) for being the most excellent colleagues.
So, now, to the future.
We face possibly the most exciting time ever in the tech industry. To say that there is plenty happening in technology is an understatement. How Europe shapes its own tech future is becoming increasingly relevant, especially geopolitically.
But those stories cannot *only* be told by ‘influencers’ or VCs with podcasts, no matter how polished they are. There is still a role for independent journalism that doesn’t have a vested interest in the subjects it’s talking about, or to.
Accountability creates trust and therefore growth. Without accountability, business suffers.
Thus, to quote Churchill,: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
See you out there.
My channels:
https://x.com/mikebutcher
https://bsky.app/profile/mikebutcher.bsky.social
https://www.threads.com/@mikebutcher
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebutcher
https://www.instagram.com/mikebutcher
https://www.youtube.com/c/MikeButcher1
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