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March 17, 2007

Welcome To TechCrunch, Heather

Michael Arrington

140 comments »

I have the pleasure of confirming the rumors: Heather Harde, currently the SVP of Mergers and Acquisitions at Fox Interactive Media, will start her new job as the CEO of the TechCrunch Network (and my boss) by the end of the month. This isn’t the way I hoped to announce this news, but Om Malik broke the story after an internal Fox email got out.

It was tough to talk Heather into leaving Fox, where she’s been for the last ten years. In that time she’s had a combination of operating and corporate development roles. Most recently, she was part of the founding executive team of Fox Interactive Media. At FIM she ran the mergers and acquisitions team, which was responsible for eight acquisitions, totaling $1.3 billion, and two equity investment deals. Prior to Fox, Heather was at business school at Harvard.

There is a lot for her to do. She will run every aspect of our business other than editorial, which I’ll be focusing on for now. TechCrunch has grown faster than I could manage over the last couple of years. Heather’s job will be to leverage the opportunities that we have sometimes let slip by, and to manage our organic and acquisition growth going forward.

If you can’t tell, I’m pretty excited to have her on board. More announcements are coming soon.

Photo credit: Scott Beale/Laughing Squid

  • Sphere It

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  1. WinExtra

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:20 am

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Comments

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  1. Larry Velez

    March 17th, 2007 at 9:33 pm

    Congrats Michael on your growth and welcome Heather. The natives are not that bad as long as you keep feeding them startup stories to feast on…

  2. Om

    March 17th, 2007 at 9:36 pm

    congrats mike. i think this is great move.

  3. Lo Toney

    March 17th, 2007 at 9:37 pm

    Michael,

    Congrats on a great hire!

    Lo

  4. wayne

    March 17th, 2007 at 9:38 pm

    WOW! Congrats to all, TechCrunch will be around for the long hall, hopefully my network and blogs can have the same success at the TechCrunch network.

    Any advice for an East Coast company to survive?

    Wayne

  5. Rex

    March 17th, 2007 at 9:38 pm

    Congrats Heather and Mike! This world of blogging can be fun on the good days and can be a real pain in the you know what on other days. But that’s like anything else.

    Nothing like a breaking story on the weekend! :)

    Rex

  6. Alejandro

    March 17th, 2007 at 9:47 pm

    Mike, congrats…. you are a smart guy and a move such as this shows that you have big plans for TechCrunch. I’m quite sure a round of financing will follow:)
    Just don’t lose focus of what TechCrunch has become - a daily radar for hundreds of thousands of readers looking for great insights to the start up world.

    Cheers,
    Alejandro

  7. Will Pate

    March 17th, 2007 at 9:49 pm

    A double catch ;)

  8. AhmedF

    March 17th, 2007 at 9:50 pm

    Acquisitions eh? Interesting …

  9. Jeremy Pepper

    March 17th, 2007 at 10:04 pm

    Congrats Mike and Heather.

    And, I’m psuedo famous now (if you click on the photo).

  10. Michael Vu

    March 17th, 2007 at 10:05 pm

    Congratulations. to both of you.

  11. Jonathan Jiang

    March 17th, 2007 at 10:14 pm

    Cheers! To good days ahead.

  12. Tony

    March 17th, 2007 at 10:20 pm

    Congratulations … at the rate TC and the Crunchnetwork has been growing I’m surprised you didn’t require her services *sooner*.

    [or did you? ;) ]

    t @ dji

  13. Terry

    March 17th, 2007 at 10:22 pm

    Congrats, hope everything will work out great.

    goitexpert.com - xp-erienced it source

  14. Michael Arrington

    March 17th, 2007 at 10:22 pm

    Thanks very much everyone.

  15. Louis Gray

    March 17th, 2007 at 10:44 pm

    This is a great step in further validating the “blogs as a business” model. TechCrunch is much more than “a blog” now, as its grown to a full-fledge news network. It’s fun to watch the expansion and success. It looks like you have hired as well as you report. Good stuff.

  16. Florian Cervenka

    March 17th, 2007 at 11:01 pm

    I love having cleaned up after me too :P (jk)

    Congratulations to both of you. I’m sure Miss(es?) Harde has found a great employer.

    “[…] editorial, which I’ll be focusing on for now.”
    So either you’ll get more sleep or we can expect more stories :D
    Just don’t give up that part (please)!

  17. Jeff Clavier

    March 17th, 2007 at 11:24 pm

    (Official) congratulations to the two of you :-).

  18. Nik Cubrilovic

    March 17th, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    Hey congratulations guys - this is awesome news :)

  19. Andrew Michael

    March 17th, 2007 at 11:51 pm

    Congratulations, TC will truly thrive :)

  20. ksreddy

    March 17th, 2007 at 11:59 pm

    I congratulate both of you.

  21. Harish Babu

    March 17th, 2007 at 11:59 pm

    Congratulations Mike. Your growth is inspiring too.

  22. security

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:11 am

    …leverage the opportunities that we have sometimes let slip by, and to manage our organic and acquisition growth going forward

    :-o
    Just could not let that interesting tidbit slip by. Please expand on the opportunities that did slip by and the new acquisitions being considered.

    This time the shoe is on the other foot ;-)

  23. visible.mobi

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:21 am

    Congrats Mike. Good luck for the future…

  24. StartUpCrunch

    March 18th, 2007 at 1:16 am

    The first step to becoming a VC? or the first step for getting some VC?
    I can hear the lawyers gossiping right now!

  25. Loic

    March 18th, 2007 at 1:17 am

    let’s be original and congratulate both of you !

  26. Owen

    March 18th, 2007 at 1:44 am

    Congrats. Nice to see you guys growing

  27. Ronnen (Portalium)

    March 18th, 2007 at 1:52 am

    The suggested collaboration even makes more sense now.

    Ronnen

  28. kenny

    March 18th, 2007 at 2:30 am

    Congrats to both of you. Keep up the good work.

    Kenny Lee

  29. Greg Andrew

    March 18th, 2007 at 2:38 am

    Mike - You wrote “It was tough to talk Heather out of leaving Fox.” Huh????

    If that’s what you were trying to do, you didn’t accomplish it. But I suspect that you meant to write either “into” instead of “out of”, or less likely “wasn’t”instead of “was.”

  30. Jean Biri

    March 18th, 2007 at 2:49 am

    Wow, big day for the blog media business! This is another proof that this media is as legitimate as the leading print publications. Congrats on the move and all the best.

  31. Jason

    March 18th, 2007 at 3:06 am

    Well done.

    I know realise their is big money in Blog networks if you can afford to recruit big pay staff.

    Well Done Mike. Just don’t lose focus of the reason why this blog started and has become popular . The minute you lose focus your large audience will desert you in a blink of an eye

    ———————-
    http://www.gushia.com

  32. Vic

    March 18th, 2007 at 3:28 am

    Congrats Mike and Heather. I predict this to be a start of the process of acquiring the Techcrunch Network. Fox Media being the likely buying.

    Next news will be: “Techcrunch acquired by Fox Interactive (owners of MySpace) !” Guys, watch this space…

  33. Sotek

    March 18th, 2007 at 3:51 am

    Great news! Wish you guys good luck..

  34. Sotek

    March 18th, 2007 at 3:53 am

    Btw.. I totally agree with commenter Jason (#31). Don’t f’kit up guys.

  35. baron

    March 18th, 2007 at 4:00 am

    Wow. A one man army no more.

  36. Allen Stern

    March 18th, 2007 at 4:02 am

    Early morning congrats from the east coast.

  37. Techcrunch

    March 18th, 2007 at 4:09 am

    Mike - Good work

    Update your about page ;)

  38. E O Fall

    March 18th, 2007 at 5:14 am

    ” Acquisitions “. I would like to know what that is all about Mike. ANyways Good move. Bests to all of you.

  39. Benedict Herold

    March 18th, 2007 at 5:37 am

    Congratulation… Not everyone will get this golden chance of hiring their boss :-)

  40. Joel Mueller

    March 18th, 2007 at 5:54 am

    Very exciting. Want to send some of her talent my way to MacUpdate.com? :) Enjoy your growth!

  41. SorenG

    March 18th, 2007 at 6:01 am

    Congrats. It makes me ask though: who owns TechCrunch? Could you give us a list of the major investors or is it just you?

  42. Tom Grubisich

    March 18th, 2007 at 6:02 am

    This validates that content, from whichever direction it’s coming, is indeed king (and queen).

  43. Rob Hyndman

    March 18th, 2007 at 6:13 am

    Wildly cool. We’re already looking forward to talking about this in May. :)

  44. Adam Healey

    March 18th, 2007 at 6:45 am

    Michael,

    Congrats. Smart move separating business from editorial.

  45. Jeremy Wright

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:15 am

    Great move Mike, and fantastic choice :)

  46. Darrin Kuykendall

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:16 am

    Congrats Mike & welcome Heather! Mike, now you can fulfill your dream of competing with CNet! This rise & expansion does give inspiration & can potentially open opportunities for many bloggers.

    ~Bloggin’ Is A Lifestyle~

  47. hugh macleod

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:21 am

    “Congrats. Smart move separating business from editorial.”

    I concur with Adam. Congratulations!!!

  48. Ilya Lichtenstein

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:23 am

    Does this mean TechCrunch will be buying MySpace?

  49. Emre Sokullu

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:46 am

    So when is the IPO?

  50. Tracy Sheridan

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:55 am

    I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen. :) Brilliant decision.

    Congratulations to Mike, Heather, and the entire TC Network!

  51. tony conrad

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:18 am

    Excellent move - Heather is a great partner for you. Congrats!!!

  52. chris

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:32 am

    Great, maybe we can now make techcrunch less Mike dependent. Not that I have any beef with Mike, but if he wants a rich valuation for TC, it has to be separable from MA

  53. Joe Duck

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:34 am

    Congratulations to Heather! Heather I think your new biz cards should say:

    “Mike Arrington’s Boss”

  54. victor

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:44 am

    Congrats Michael, did I hear say she will be taking care of new acquisitions? if that’s true I wont mind selling mediarati.com, veetube.com or bazaah.com to you network for the right price.

  55. John_Mccain

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:57 am

    Congrats Mike… I thought you could always find M&A from the Deadpool lists:)

  56. Jason

    March 18th, 2007 at 9:19 am

    Yes mike

    Tell us about investors / stake holders in TC . And what you class as the Techcrunch network ? is it just the blogs and job board or are their other segments.

    ————-
    http://www.gushia.com

  57. webtech

    March 18th, 2007 at 9:49 am

    Mike, You are drafting a new grand story for the blogs. You show the world blogs are not just puppets but a greate force to reckon along with leading names in tech media. I like the professionalism in TC and Weblogs Inc network. Great work.

    You must some day write a post refelecting the TechCrunch story from its early days. Just a request.

  58. Jay

    March 18th, 2007 at 9:56 am

    Congrats!

  59. Michael fomkin

    March 18th, 2007 at 10:07 am

    Congratulations Mike. Your growth is a fine example of how work and professionalism are keys to true success and can be used by anyone willing to put the time and belief in. You are a true success story and I wish you many years of success!

  60. Michael fomkin

    March 18th, 2007 at 10:08 am

    Are you planning on writing a book anytime in the near future?

  61. Duncan

    March 18th, 2007 at 10:20 am

    Great, when are you going to get someone to write on TechCrunch UK again?

  62. Nikolay Kolev

    March 18th, 2007 at 10:21 am

    A totally natural move considering Mike’s ambitions. Congrats!

  63. Brian Dixon

    March 18th, 2007 at 10:29 am

    Congrats Mike! Glad to see the TC network grow.
    -Brian

  64. dave mcclure

    March 18th, 2007 at 10:33 am

    mike: congratulations, that’s an amazing & impressive catch. i’m impressed you’re willing to give up the CEO role in exchange for great talent like Heather. that’s a bold move.

    heather: my condolences… surely you could have found a less stressful job than being mike’s boss? like being Yahoo’s CFO perhaps? ;)

    seriously, best of luck to both of you. heather, don’t give him an inch, cuz’ he’ll take a mile! but i’m sure this bodes quite well for the future of TC.

  65. David Martin

    March 18th, 2007 at 10:54 am

    Congrats and cheers Michael and Heather!

  66. Leighton

    March 18th, 2007 at 11:04 am

    I would just like to say congrats!

  67. who?

    March 18th, 2007 at 11:22 am

    and i will go to business2.com

  68. Jay

    March 18th, 2007 at 11:30 am

    Now how about a TechCrunch mag?

  69. desik

    March 18th, 2007 at 11:31 am

    Well done Mike glad to see all your efforts rewarded and TC going from strength to strength. Congrats to Heather too,

  70. AKS

    March 18th, 2007 at 11:33 am

    Congrats Mike. Best of Luck to both of you in taking TechCrunch to new heights.

  71. Lars

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:03 pm

    Congrats to this move! This really puts blogging on the next corporate level!

  72. howard Lindzon

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:07 pm

    Congrats - good for us all and especially you.

  73. drew olanoff

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:19 pm

    great news, great move! congrats TC.

  74. Survival Shows

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:43 pm

    Awesome! Great news.

  75. Tony Lord

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:49 pm

    Congratulations Heather. I’m sure you’ll add great value to Tech Crunch.

  76. Dan

    March 18th, 2007 at 12:58 pm

    Well, I bet Fox is embarrassed—outclased by TechCrunch? LOL

  77. Admirer

    March 18th, 2007 at 1:50 pm

    She looks cute :)

    Can I have her email id as well, so I could congratulate her ;)

  78. Steve Morsa

    March 18th, 2007 at 2:20 pm

    I’ve met Heather personally, Michael; and she’s a wonderful “catch”…even if she is too good for you :-)

    Worth whatever it (will) cost you to get her.

    Best wishes to you both.

  79. Tony Chen

    March 18th, 2007 at 2:25 pm

    She’s your boss, but you’re paying her salary? Weird.

  80. alex bard

    March 18th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

    congrats - heather will be great for you guys!

  81. Wes

    March 18th, 2007 at 3:16 pm

    Great news, wish you all the best.

  82. Amy Wilsch

    March 18th, 2007 at 3:24 pm

    Yay, and another powerful woman’s voice in high tech. I’m happy to see this in any capacity, and especially here. Welcome, Heather!

  83. Mick Liubinskas

    March 18th, 2007 at 3:25 pm

    Wow. M&A CEO. That says something. I also hope TC holds onto what it is, although that’s tough during growth of a company in a fast changing industry.

  84. Advertisespace

    March 18th, 2007 at 3:59 pm

    Welcome aboard! This is a great site and I look forward to another perspective.

  85. aibek

    March 18th, 2007 at 4:06 pm

    Congrats for Mike, Huggies for Heather

  86. How to start a clothing line from scratch

    March 18th, 2007 at 4:19 pm

    I guess I’m the only one that seen a little sarcasm in the post…When I read the post “happy” wasn’t the first emotion that came to thought!

  87. jeneane

    March 18th, 2007 at 4:50 pm

    DAMN Can I relate to the idea of wanting a boss, and how cool is it to be in a position to hire the boss of your liking. Talk about bottom up! Sounds like a good match. Congrats.

  88. James

    March 18th, 2007 at 5:17 pm

    Congratulations on hiring one of FIM’s best and brightest!
    Heather is one of the smartest and hardest working people I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. She’ll be sorely missed.

  89. Brian Solis

    March 18th, 2007 at 5:22 pm

    Good move Mike. Anxious to see what’s next.

  90. ian c rogers

    March 18th, 2007 at 5:37 pm

    Congrats to you both.

    ian

  91. ---usa---

    March 18th, 2007 at 5:38 pm

    nothing against TC or Arrington, lol…but how does a SVP of Fox move ‘downward’ into being the ceo of a blog?

    either way, i’m sure it’ll work out for the best

  92. PJ Brunet

    March 18th, 2007 at 5:58 pm

    Glad to see TechCrunch grow, the crown jewel of Techmeme.

  93. ....

    March 18th, 2007 at 6:08 pm

    I think it’s a very smart move because it’ll leave you to other parts of the business that’ll be critical while she handles the day to day.

  94. Geoffrey

    March 18th, 2007 at 6:28 pm

    This is fantastic news for TC. Michael can spend more time with companies and writing, while Heather helps to grow the empire. I propose another TC party! Who’s in?

  95. Mitchell Harper

    March 18th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

    Sheesh I remember when Techcrunch launched. It’s AMAZING what Michael has done with the site since then. His hard work and excellent reviews have made TechCrunch *the* site to visit for Web 2.0 news - I just hope he finds a way to use the site after the bubble bursts, because it will. Congrats to Heather on her new position.

  96. Michael Arrington

    March 18th, 2007 at 6:53 pm

    bubble?

  97. Jay

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:25 pm

    Hey, Mike uses the same computer I do :D… http://www.flickr.com/photos/l.....178627067/

    Respect.

  98. Michael Arrington

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:26 pm

    yeah, now we need to convert Heather to the cult of Mac.

  99. ---usa---

    March 18th, 2007 at 7:52 pm

    funny thing is just like the mac/apple tv commercial…that image (#97) is just like the pc guy(heather) and arrington (mac guy) - style-wise

    the pc guy(left-brained) being the suit; and the mac guy(right-brained) being the creative

  100. Fred

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:01 pm

    I’m obviously happy about this one Mike, but you know that already.

  101. todd

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:01 pm

    Michael Arrington looks like a grown up Michael Cerra (george michael from Arrested Development) in that pic posted in comment #97

    Breakfast?

  102. Rob Solomon

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:24 pm

    FIM did a fantastic job of turning an old media company into an Internet powerhouse. It’ll be exciting cheering from the sidelines as you guys build TC into a BIG (but different) media company. Congrats!

  103. Munjal Shah

    March 18th, 2007 at 8:49 pm

    Mike, congratulations to both you and Heather. I think this is a great move.

  104. msdanielle

    March 18th, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    cool, congrats to all of you. she’s gonna take TC to the next level! :)

  105. Dach

    March 19th, 2007 at 2:20 am

    Thanks Michael, you is really a big guy, the world needs this kind of guy to cease the war in Iraq and to leave Africa’s misery.
    Welcome Heather.

  106. Dach

    March 19th, 2007 at 2:31 am

    Thanks Michael, you are really a big guy, the world needs this kind of guy to cease the war in Iraq and to leave Africa’s misery.
    Welcome Heather.

  107. Clarence Wooten

    March 19th, 2007 at 3:08 am

    Congrats TechCrunch! The future looks very bright!

  108. dumbo

    March 19th, 2007 at 5:54 am

    good job Mikey, now you can focus on checking your typos and writing about more meaningful subjects

  109. Jeremiah

    March 19th, 2007 at 6:44 am

    Dear Heather,

    To offer a bit friendlier version of dumbo’s previous comment, please teach Michael the proper use of the possessive “its” and the contraction “it’s” (it is).

    Seriously. That is not too much to ask. He makes this bonehead mistake on a daily basis and it poses a serious credibility problem.

  110. SorenG

    March 19th, 2007 at 6:57 am

    I’ll try this one more time.

    “Congrats. It makes me ask though: who owns TechCrunch? Could you give us a list of the major investors or is it just you?”

    Curious to know, unless this is for some reason hidden information.

  111. Tim Norton

    March 19th, 2007 at 7:27 am

    This is a pretty cool move, I really love how a one person edited blog can become a hub for high quality web investments, you’ve attracted a pretty amazing person here Mike, great to see techcrunch get so far, full credit!

    Cool that you’re on board Heather

  112. Nag

    March 19th, 2007 at 9:53 am

    Congratulations !

  113. Terry Ng

    March 19th, 2007 at 10:19 am

    Huge move… Congrats.

  114. Paul

    March 19th, 2007 at 10:54 am

    “If you can’t tell, I’m pretty excited to have her on board.”

    Never too early to kiss some butt huh?

  115. Ron Diggity

    March 19th, 2007 at 11:09 am

    Good Job Mike, you needed someone smarter than you cause you had no vision.

  116. Larry Chiang

    March 19th, 2007 at 11:18 am

    we should have a PARTY to welcome her. Can I co-host it?

  117. Dale

    March 19th, 2007 at 12:19 pm

    Oh, this is great news, welcome Heather. I always look forward to the e-mail from Tech Crunch each day. I have found new content as a result.
    Thanks, and good luck!

  118. Michael Arrington

    March 19th, 2007 at 2:16 pm

    Hey Thanks Ron. I agree.

  119. Michael Arrington

    March 19th, 2007 at 2:16 pm

    Paul - I’m good at managing up. :-)

  120. ross levinsohn

    March 19th, 2007 at 8:02 pm

    Congratulations to both of you. Heather is a star. Mike is a groundbreaker. A powerful team. All the best !!

    Ross

  121. Andrea Kay

    March 20th, 2007 at 3:52 pm

    Congrats on everything but I agree with the comment about your “about” section–please update it! If you need help let me know :)

  122. Paul

    March 20th, 2007 at 8:02 pm

    Nice reply :D Wish you luck; I enjoy reading your site.

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