I was saddened to hear about Jason Calacanis' recent departure from AOL. I don't blame him for leaving. It looks like he felt there wouldn't be any support for his initiatives under their new CEO. So what now?
Companies are about more than just one individual. As much as we would like to think that Jason Calacanis or even Steve Jobs for that matter are indispensable, they're not. It takes a village.
Still, a charismatic leader sets the direction and the tone. And there's no doubt that once such a person leaves an organization, there are changes. Post Calacanis, the rest of the Weblogs Inc team including co-founder Brian Alvey and its key bloggers like Peter Rojas and crew continue to remain on board. But I would expect changes. Weblogs Inc will become even more sanitized.
It's tempting to look into a crystal ball and predict what will happen. There are usually signposts to guide you. In this case, it's edginess. Since AOL bought Weblogs Inc I feel it has started to lose that editorial bite it once had. The posts on blogs like TUAW and others have been very informative, but extremely safe. Jason's blog and Engadget are the key standouts. (Note, this is not about singling out anyone blog but looking at the tone of the network as a whole.)
Meanwhile, Gawker Media, Weblogs Inc's chief rival, has been pushing the edge - which is what I look to a blog media company to do. After all, if they don't they're simply using blog technology to replicate traditional media. It's the editorial sizzle here that makes the blog steak sell.
Consider Valleywag, for example. The tech gossip blog, operated by Gawker Media, has been on fire since it launched. It could never have come out of AOL. It's too edgy for them and therefore too risky because it could alienate deep-pocketed tech advertisers. Even though some of that has been toned down a bit now that blogger Nick Douglas has moved on, it still has bite.
Weblogs Inc once had a similar editorial tone across all of its blogs. It feels more sanitized under AOL. In the end, the greatest value AOL will get from Weblogs Inc purchase is the Blogsmith publishing platform. The blogs are just too corporate and safe now and I suspect many of the bloggers will leave once they can now that Calacanis is gone.
This is now Gawker Media's game to lose.
:: Later - Reactions from Calacanis, Denton, their bloggers and more
