darrellsilver:

TechCrunch has labeled this year’s TechCrunch50 as, basically, the triumph of the dull.  As one of the companies on stage, let me respond by saying, Thanks! It wasn’t clear we could do it, but we did! And your praise means everything.

Sarah Lacy writes,

I want to see huge audacious failures and huge gaudy wins.

This follows Arrington’s argument a couple weeks back that Twitter shouldn’t “turn on revenue” because it might prove bad for business.

We started Perpetually.com to be a real business.  We have some serious challenges, and approximately none of them come from a lack of funding, competitive edge or market position.  We’re going to make a lot of mistakes (hint: we’re making some right now), and we’re going to fix and learn from all of them.  We’re going to innovate in increments and we’re going to stumble into huge blue oceans.  But we’re never going to “swing for a fences” when rock-solid improvement will serve our customers and business best.

Jason & TechCrunch were nice enough to provide invites to all TC50 companies (“alumni”) from previous years.  You know what *I* kept hearing backstage?

Where are they now?

Turnout was like twenty percent at best. Where did everyone go?  After the headlines have gone, where does all that swinging for the fences leave you?

We’re running Perpetually.com as a long-term business exactly because we want to change the world.  Our opportunities are so big that we’d be idiots to go for broke with every idea.  Only someone with no options swings for the fences.