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September 6, 2007

PayPerPost: Wasting Investor Money While Offending Native Americans

Michael Arrington

174 comments »

Ah, PayPerPost. The controversial Florida-based startup that is leading the effort to tarnish the blogosphere makes another PR blunder. And this one’s a whopper.

The company has been chronicling their startup days on a video blog called RockStartup. There have been some embarrassments before with the video blog - such as when a viewer noticed that the company had purchased $700 chairs for employees with investor capital and then yelled at a painter for standing on one (CEO Ted Murphy, pictured above, later said the chairs were purchased used).

But the most recent episode is where the company really takes the cake. All employees of the company were taken on an all-expenses-paid trip to Club Med, where as far as I can tell they spent their time getting drunk and dressing up as Native Americans, complete with lots of red face and body paint (something many Native Americans find both racist and offensive, and which has been equated to Blackface). The company also hired something called a “Creative Thinking Coach” to guide them through the whole experience.

The only question I have is…Did Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the main VC behind PayPerPost, really greenlight this debacle?

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  1. Jesse

    September 6th, 2007 at 8:52 pm

    all i can say is wtf

  2. ChandraB

    September 6th, 2007 at 8:53 pm

    Yikes. Stick Foot in Mouth (or Video Camera) and Twist.
    Not something to be proud of.

  3. Jon

    September 6th, 2007 at 8:53 pm

    they are from florida what do you expect.

  4. Alex

    September 6th, 2007 at 8:54 pm

    BFD. So they painted their face, how does that make them “racist”. I’m tired of people walking around on egg shells afraid to do anything without being labeled by some group.

  5. MikeW

    September 6th, 2007 at 8:57 pm

    Maybe they’re not racist, but they sure are stupid.

  6. Jon

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:04 pm

    Alex tell me what race you are….and I can definitely find a way to make you feel bad about yourself.

    Idiot

  7. Textbook Case

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:09 pm

    I think redface is every bit as offensive as blackface. As in, not terribly, as any African-American or Native American can immediately identify the painted person as a total tool and not worthy of being allowed to offend them.

    As for PayPerPost, I love the idea, and the loss of integrity for anyone paid by them is only related to how much they change their views to make a few bucks. Someone with integrity that talks for free is exactly the same to me as someone with integrity that is paid to speak.

  8. Steve Spalding

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:10 pm

    Ouch. Yea this probably wasn’t the -smartest- move by the PPP folks, but I would like to think that in context it at least makes sense (I’m cross my fingers). It’s really easy to use photos to draw some rather ludicrous conclusions, especially when we know that Mike has never been a big fan of anyone from the PPP camp.

    As for #3, come now, labeling everyone from Florida as well — whatever label made you make that comment — is just as bad as whatever misguided attempt at humor lead to “dress up like a Native American stereotype” day at Club Med.

    (disclosure: I’m from Florida and many of us fight hard against this sort of thinking)

    Lets hope someone clears this up.

  9. Textbook Case

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:14 pm

    Jon, I’ll take you up on that. I’m party skinflint dirty Scotsman, part some kind of German-Dutch or something. In other words, totally boring white bread and a little overweight besides.

    So do your worst. But I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, and I’d have to be an idiot to hand you the power to change my mood. You could mathematically prove that my hygiene is poor by virtue of being a stinky Glaswegian and it would have ZERO effect on my feelings about myself as an individual person, responsible for what and who I am. I am not a product of any amalgamated group of similar genes or looks.

  10. ted

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:19 pm

    what a bunch of assholes. PPP is a joke– an offensive joke.

  11. Jon

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:20 pm

    I doubt this entire adventure cost that much, Florida is close to many “Club Meds”… probably just a quick boat/flight… anyways, looks like they had fun with other peoples money regardless of the circumstances, if I was the VC or Angel, no way this would have taken place unless the team reached one heck of a milestone.

    Jon

  12. Trace

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:22 pm

    Par for the course with these guys. Pay per post and posties = fail. Sadly, I think I would rather hang out with Ted Murphy than any “postie”…. but then again, posties could entertain us by doing stupid human tricks in exchange for rolls of pennies.

  13. Tcruncher2

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    This makes me mad. There are hundreds of companies out there doing it tough with little or no VC money - and then you see this.

    What a joke

  14. Doron Vermaat

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:34 pm

    don’t see the problem here. There having a fun time, it’s called team building and my eyes not a wasted of money. If employees have fun and get to know each other in a different way you will see positives results in productivity, creativity and motivation. Besides this im sure the VC will make a huge ROI on PPP at the end. The company is doing a great job in my eyes.

  15. lawrence

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:35 pm

    these guys look like idiots to the fullest extent possible

  16. Jerome

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:45 pm

    @Alex #4

    It may not make them racist, but it does make them inconsiderate and/or unaware.

    Walking on eggshells? Maybe, but I do think it’s insensitive, considering what some races have been through, to say they are not allowed to take offense at anything.

  17. Dave

    September 6th, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    c’mon… i think that you Americans just see problems where they don’t exist, why give importance to things that don’t deserve all these attentions? So most of you are racist cause you thing that Italians eat spaghetti meatballs, we all come from Sicily and we are all connected to the Mafia.

    I can understand complaining about companies who waste investors’ money with $700 chairs but please don’t accuse people to be racist cause they red painted their faces cause this mean that you don’t know what racism is…

  18. Trace

    September 6th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

    @Dave: You are absolutely right, we (Americans) do see problems where they don’t exist…. this is especially true when it comes to matters of race. It is sort of the politics of life in America, if you say the wrong word than you have to go to rehab or something and it makes everything better. I’m just as confused as you.

    My feeling is that this is a company with no moral compass, no tact, and the ability to showcase the lowest common denominator in human behaviors…. I think this is the real issue with Pay Per Post and “Posties…. I personally feel that you can only be offended if you allow someone TO offend you, but taste in this matter is a whole different issue….

  19. J.P.

    September 6th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

    Yes, agree with 17. I’m always on your side Michel (I mean I tent to see your point) bur here… Camon, tell me you haven´t been drunk…

    Only thing I see here is some “very happy” guys having fun.

    Not racism, not VC money been burn (I mean, you can see a lot of VC money been burn in a lot of startups, ad least this is a creative way :) )

  20. Michael

    September 6th, 2007 at 10:18 pm

    You guys sound like a bunch of Haters…

    Seriously, Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a grown-up company and if they invested in a company that uses their money in a way they feel is inappropriate they’ll learn their lesson.

    Likewise, if PPP wastes all their VC money on stupid stuff and never gets anywhere its their problem.

    Why do you have to drag their name through the mud for doing whatever the hell they want to do with the money they were given? Let them do what they will and if it ends up hurting their business in the long run, it’ll show when they get deadpooled. Until then, try covering some real news instead of turning this blog into a gossip column…

    As for the whole bit with them being racist… come on!! Seriously when are we going to get over ourselves and quit yelling “RACISM” every time someone points out a stereotype or makes a joke about a particular race? Are we all really still that insecure?

  21. Mike Abundo

    September 6th, 2007 at 10:28 pm

    It’s exactly this kind of extravagance that led to the first dotcom crash. Let’s not do that again.

  22. gilltots

    September 6th, 2007 at 10:38 pm

    i am offended by the photo on the bottom left.

    i happen to be a pirate, and that photo just makes my people look stupid. we don’t just stand around looking confused, you know - we steal ships and sail the seas and drink rum…and we NEVER, NEVER wear plastic pirate bibs.

  23. Colin Klinkert

    September 6th, 2007 at 10:44 pm

    All good, larger companies have team building exercises, nothing strange there!! So they get free publicity because you feel like saying that they are wasting their money, im sure they have a budget and stick to it

  24. rockystartup

    September 6th, 2007 at 10:54 pm

    seriously these ppl probably nvr been through the 1.0 bubble, that’s why they are spending money like no tomorrow. god.. watch the video.. GUESS what they got OUT from their executives’ retreat at 4:03s into the video (”probably 10 times more money burnt than club med”).. a freaking NEW company mission statement…. LOL … these people are like trying to relive 1.0 bubbles since they missed the last one.

  25. rockystartup

    September 6th, 2007 at 11:05 pm

    wow.. I smell a war coming - watch how Mike called Ted the most evil guy in a roomful of people and Ted questioning Mike’s writing style.. seriously.. looks like this post marks the beginning of the TC vs PPP cold war

    http://www.rockstartup.com/epi.....de_31.html

  26. invest

    September 6th, 2007 at 11:08 pm

    Racism is art of destroying the economy.

    If Payperpost enter IPO…. Tsk.. tsk…tsk… It’s going to crash and losing tons of money. Who’s going to buy Payperpost? Europe… hahah in your dreams.

  27. Alex

    September 6th, 2007 at 11:29 pm

    17, 18 are finally some people with common sense. Unfortunately there’s not very much of it going around in the bay area as you can see by some of the comments here that are jumping on the “scream racism” bandwagon. Don’t look for problems where they don’t exist and stop jumping to conclusions.

  28. Andrew

    September 6th, 2007 at 11:31 pm

    i think TC is sensationalizing. I’d expect this from valleywag not TC.

  29. David Mackey

    September 6th, 2007 at 11:57 pm

    I don’t understand why everyone is always coming down so hard on PPP. While some of their marketing is borderline, the actual idea isn’t that bad. It bothers me that people assume that we as bloggers are too fickle to hold our stance even if we are paid to blog.

  30. prince

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:07 am

    “in space we all are humman.”

  31. Will

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:33 am

    Hmmm, as a partner in a startup I find this reckless and appalling.

  32. Mike D

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:48 am

    At one point in the video, the Director of Human Resources says “I have no idea what to expect” (in reference to the red face event that happens later that night). Whoops. Maybe they should have run this by her.

  33. am

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:56 am

    i would like it if everyone in this thread who says this is not racist would state his/her race in his/her comment.

    if you are white and grew up in a white neighborhood in america (like me), your opinion about what is and is not racist is close to irrelevant.

    having trouble figuring out whether this is racist? imagine the people in the photos making themselves up to look like the stereotypes of other common minority races.

    but don’t take it from a white boy like me: come halloween, dress up like the people in the above photos and visit some people of that particular race. please post back with the results.

  34. iHero

    September 7th, 2007 at 1:52 am

    Completely Disrespectful.

    If they are going for a very small niche market with no credible advertising….they just found it…..forever.

  35. T. Elliott

    September 7th, 2007 at 2:50 am

    Doesn’t this gossipy non-news belong on Valleywag?

  36. dude

    September 7th, 2007 at 4:10 am

    Disrespectful and Racist.

    It’s one thing dressing up… but a bit overboard when you have to paint your skin another color and act like idiots.

    Duh.

  37. VC Dan

    September 7th, 2007 at 4:16 am

    You’re really reaching Mike. This first-year anniversary team-building event was a huge success. I, myself, was a pirate with red face/body paint. Others police, others hawaiian, others disco. If any of the costume groups have a concern with PPP’s scavenger hunt, I’ll be glad to take their call.

    The reality is that the team came off that retreat and proceeded to deliver August results breaking all company records. I appreciate the continued coverage, but try some real news next time like the unbelievable 10.5% CTR of PPP sponsored social media (compared to

  38. VC Dan

    September 7th, 2007 at 4:18 am

    [comment got truncated? — here’s the last bit]
    I appreciate the continued coverage, but try some real news next time like the unbelievable 10.5% CTR of PPP sponsored social media (compared to under 2% for many sites like TechCrunch, Facebook and others). You can do better Mike.

  39. joe

    September 7th, 2007 at 4:46 am

    TechCrunch UK Relaunches With One Hell Of A Party
    Michael Arrington

  40. Greg

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:03 am

    Everybody now please stop sucking up to Michael in hopes that he will write favorably about your startup one day.

  41. Alexander Muse

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:09 am

    Nightmare… The freaking video was HIGHLY produced, cut and edited ~ couldn’t someone figure out that this was a mistake? Startups in general should NEVER let video cameras in behind the scenes ~ if your customers only knew how screwed up you were they would surely fire you…

  42. splint chesthair

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:10 am

    I walked into a Mexican restaurant and they were all wearing tri-cornered hats, powdered wigs, waistcoats, breeches, stockings buckled shoes in honor of the Fourth of July. As a white man, I found that extremely racist and reported them to the INS.

  43. Steven

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:16 am

    @Alex#4: Oh yeah, that’s what’s wrong today: everyone is overly sensitive and deathly afraid to offend anyone. Uh huh….where do you live anyway? Because here in NY, the sidealks are hardly covered in eggshells.

  44. Dominic

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:17 am

    This is funny. Everyone is racist to a degree. I don’t care who you are. The problem is people hide it and deny it for a buck. They never say what they really think, unless of course they can do it anonymously. Face to face, most people are pussies.

    As for the party, well, from an investor point of view, this is not an exercise in teambuilding and I would suggest it would be their ‘ Farewell Party

    ENJOY !

  45. Ted Murphy

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:24 am

    Slow news day Mike? A bit of a stretch…. even for you!

    Every one of the groups received face paint. 3 different groups had red face paint. It was purely a couincidence that the group with Indian costumes were one of those groups. It clearly wasn’t my intent to offend any group and if I unintentionally did so I extend my heartfelt apology.

    This is trash Mike. Have you been hanging with Perez Hilton?

    I stand 110% behind our company retreat and the scavenger hunt that we had on one of the nights. We work hard and we play hard. If you were to watch the current episode of RockStartup you would see that people were actually complaining that there was too much work that weekend and they didn’t have enough time to relax.

    I don’t consider team building or education a waste of money, if you do you clearly don’t understand all the facets of building a company. Prior to PayPerPost I spent my own money on these annual events. I have found that they directly impact the bottom line in a positive way.

  46. Paul J

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:26 am

    I assume these posts are the seeds for “TechWag”?

  47. Eric

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:30 am

    TechCrunch UK relaunch party:

    “One thing I need to remember for our next party - Londoners drink a lot more and stay out far later than their Silicon Valley geek counterparts. We actually ran out of alcohol completely at around 10:30 but Heather soon had another shipment brought in. I left at 1:30 am to get back to my day job. As far as I know the party is still going strong.”

    There is nothing wrong with a party every one in a while, as you can attest to. Stop grasping for straws and try writing some real news.

  48. Lee

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:33 am

    I’ll take an inside road, as someone who used to work for Ted Murphy. Racist? No.
    Myopic? Yes.
    Obtuse? You betcha.
    Witless fcuk-twit? Ding ding ding…we have a winner.

    In regard to the use of investor money, in my experience at least, he seemed to make a habit of squandering money on stupid sh!t - furnishing a temporary office space with a multitude of hanging barrel speakers for optimum tunage - monster truck as a marketing tool
    - http://farm1.static.flickr.com.....bce1_b.jpg -
    while ignoring the more important things - paying salaries and bills on time.

    As for the racism thing, I don’t buy it. He’s definitely not racist, just stupid. He also seems to believe that taking employees on some pseudo-fancy getaway for a couple of days of team-building will overshadow the rest of the year when they are overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated.

    Of course that’s just my opinion.

  49. AK

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:42 am

    Why do we bother…its none of our business!!!
    Whatever they do is thier “choice” untill they do thier jobs better and satisfy the investors and cutomers.

  50. Steve Ballmer

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:56 am

    If the indians were so great they would be #1 like MS!

    http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

  51. BC

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:59 am

    This is disgusting. It is offensive in the extreme. They ought to be ashamed of themselves, and the VC who invested in them ought to be taking a long, hard look at their investment priorities

  52. Dave

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:01 am

    I have a confession… in Italy there are a bunch of racist people, it happens sometimes that (especially when we are kids) we dress like cowboys and we act like idiots…

  53. Lori

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:02 am

    Give me a break! Trying to bring up racism in something that is harmless and fun. BEING PART NATIVE AMERICAN, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS WITH IT. It’s people like you who TRY to make it an issue that makes me sick!

  54. whooknew

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:11 am

    Alex

    September 6th, 2007 at 8:54 pm

    BFD. So they painted their face, how does that make them “racist”. I’m tired of people walking around on egg shells afraid to do anything without being labeled by some group.
    ______________________________

    BFD? The deal is, it is NOT ok. This is not cool. This is not funny. This is ridiculous. If someones paints their face to mimic a specific race, the person is “racist.” It’s just that simple. If you take pictures to memorialize the session, its a downright slap in the face. One that deserves a smack back.

    I’m somewhat embarrassed that intelligent, tech crunch members would even argue otherwise.

    Yet another sign that we are in a bubble (@ least a mini one.)

  55. g

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:17 am

    Ted Murphy is not racist, and I know this for a fact…Ted is a fun, loving, and fair gentleman. Your accusations have no foundations other than you getting a kick out of writing this nonsense…If having plain old fun, or doing harmless things and jokes about random things on “their vacation time” is what you consider racism…You do not know the first thing about whatever it is that you are talking about. This is lame and a waste of time. If you feel people do stupid things, then thats fine but calling someone a racist based on such lame arguments is just sorry man…you are sorry.

  56. TechTown, NC

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:20 am

    Mike calls this team building extravagant, but just a minute ago he wrote a post titled “TechCrunch UK Relaunches With One Hell Of A Party.” I’m sure some embarrassing things happened or were said at the TC party too, and that’s ok! Companies can have fun! Also, I know that TechCrunch gets sponsors to pay for the parties, so they’re not wasting money, but what about the sponsors? World TV hasn’t launched, and they’re paying to host a party already? So they get a positive blurb on TechCrunch, but PPP gets a negative (almost libelous) post about being offensive. Mike, I think you maybe should have just sat this one out.

  57. Steve

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:25 am

    Mike, I think it is extremely unfair to comment on an event you did not attend. As someone who did attend, what I can tell you is that the what I was able to learn from the company sponsored workshops that were held have proven very beneficial and have provided me with many tools that I use each and everyday now. The retreat was packed with information packed sessions and very little time was left for individuals to partake in any of the Club activities. The Scavenger hunt was one of the only points of relaxation that was afforded given the work packed days. It’s a shame you didn’t attend maybe the session on Creativity could have taught you to think outside of the box and spend your time doing something more productive than picking on a company trying to make positive changes in the marketplace

  58. Steve

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:29 am

    Wow! Let’s party like it’s 1999! The good old days - when money flowed freely and no one cared what startups did with it.

  59. Dave

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:39 am

    Here is what I once said about payperpost: “Low pay. They have made accounting mistakes in which they assigned the sales from one affiliate’s account to someone else’s account. They say they have corrected those mistakes/links.”

  60. Jerome

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:49 am

    Here is a simple test:

    For all those who agree there is no issue doing this, instead of being on your own terms and with your own friends, paint your face to mimic a certain group then go by yourself to a club or community dominated by that group. If you will do that, then I agree there is no issue here.

  61. chrisco

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:52 am

    wow, race cards flying everywhere on here…. a sad state of affairs all around.

  62. J Glen

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:56 am

    Michael, You once wrote…

    “The race card is a powerful weapon and you should use it very carefully”

    It is no secret that you despise payperpost and quite frequently attack the company. Lets face it, this post is purely sensational in nature and was DESIGNED as a blatant attack against payperpost and, according to plan, DRAG Ted Murphy’s name through the mud.

    Michael you should be ashamed of yourself for pulling the race card and carefully aiming its barrel at a company for the sole purpose of undermining it. Resorting to such a low and underhanded tactic tells me that you are scared. You’re scared that PayPerPost will continue to be a successful venture and that, no matter how hard you try or how low you stoop (have stooped), you can’t stop it.

  63. Sam

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:59 am

    Michael -

    Never criticize a man until you’ve walked a mile in his moccasins. –American Indian Proverb

  64. Dave

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:04 am

    Who the hell cares? It was probably a blast and a good way to really bring a team together. Much better then trust falls. If American Indians are offended, tough shit. Obviously, thats not their intent. I could turn on the TV and come up with any excuse to be offended.

    Michael… c’mon.. where’s your sense for gorilla marketing. I’m sure this post brought a few more bloggers trickling in to their service. Good job Ted!

  65. Roy

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:09 am

    how does the pirate guy fit in? Did they hold an FSM wedding too?

  66. Travis

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:13 am

    I would seriously like to see anyone here go through near extinction as a race, laugh at idiot episodes like this.

    Yeah, this just just sooo funny, I can hardly stand it.

    Racist? Probably not intentionally.
    Stupid? Absolutely.
    Consequences? Count on it.

  67. charles

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:30 am

    so, what i can not figure out is why does michael not like this guy. I run a blog and i actually don’t find payperpost to be bad, they had a good idea and are making a run for it. As for club med hey i watched the video they just out to have a good time.

  68. Trel

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:36 am

    Wow - I love all of this free publicity ! I’m a former employee of Ted’s and a Native American. These retreats are extremely effective and not at all aimed with malicious racist intent - nice imagination Mike.

  69. Tim

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:50 am

    LOL, what a great way to stir the pot, pulling out the race card! Quite possbily the most silly piece of linkbait on Techcrunch ever.

    As for the commenters that think PPP is on their last legs - THAT’s even sillier!

    “I know something you don’t know…” ;-)

  70. Jessica Mah

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:50 am

    Reminds me of truemors.com - both Payperpost and truemors are getting so much BAD press, but all of the press is nonetheless press.

    Maybe Ted Murphy is doing this all to get attention?

  71. Ted Murphy

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:52 am

    Jerome,
    Again, my apologies if this has offended you or anyone else. I hope you read my comments above and understand that there was no ill intent whatsoever. This has been taken completely out of context.

    Arrington,
    You have hit rock bottom. I know that you know that even a mention of PayPerPost drives more traffic to your site. I understand that times have been tough lately, but come on. There has to be a better way.

    Do you think your readers know that each time you write a slanderous PayPerPost story you see an average of 3x the amount of user activity on your blog? That drives page views which drive your revenue. Look at the facts here:

    http://farm2.static.flickr.com.....9bea_o.png

    Your last 30 posts have an average of 31.03 comments a post.
    Your posts about PPP average 98.71, over 3x the comments.

    Every time you need a little extra juice you slam PPP. That’s all fine Mike, I sluff off all the baseless, sensationalized posts you do about us so you can make a dime. But this is different, you are playing the racism card to drive your own traffic and make a buck. This isn’t about racism, its about TechCrunch needing some pageviews.

    It’s just plain sick. You should be ashamed of yourself.

  72. Chris

    September 7th, 2007 at 8:55 am

    I don’t buy Ted’s (if it is ted) explanation above. At the same time I don’t think he did this to be malicious - I think they were just drunk. Ted and his cronies are just a bunch of fracking retards. I mean really - look at the guy and the way he acts. Is he 12? Does this guy really run a venture backed Internet company? WTF DFJ?

  73. Big Dave

    September 7th, 2007 at 9:08 am

    Glad I’m local to them so I can get a good deal on a mac book pro when they auction off all their assets. =)

  74. FWIW

    September 7th, 2007 at 9:13 am

    Michael Arrington is the most evil man on the internet.

  75. Ty

    September 7th, 2007 at 9:13 am

    All I can say is who cares? What is this a gossip site now? Worse things have happened than this.

  76. YT

    September 7th, 2007 at 9:15 am

    ^ If you don’t know Ted than maybe you shouldn’t talk about him. Just a thought.

    This Techcrunch vs PPP battle is getting boring. This is such an old episode of Rockstartup. I have no clue why you dug it up.

    The sensationalism has to stop!!

  77. GetOverIt.com

    September 7th, 2007 at 9:17 am

    Nah, Arrington’s not evil. He’s just a little insecure. I think he probably just lost out on a $50 opportunity at Pay per post because his blog isn’t a high a enough rank yet. This whole post is him trying to raise his rank and qualify in.

  78. Trace

    September 7th, 2007 at 9:38 am

    I want to apologize to all of the Pirates (including previous poster) I may have offended throughout the years, specifically for my insensitivity during the Halloweens of 1983 and 1988.

    If nobody has already coined the phrase PayPerToast, Shotgun!

  79. Ryan Price

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:09 am

    I’ve read all comments on this thread, and it’s very clear to me that nobody watched this video, just read the article and looked at the pictures. This is not how intelligent conversations are started. I live in Orlando, and some of my friends are in that video. They’re not racist.

    The resort they went to was a 2 hour drive away, not a boat or plane ride. Also, if you think about it, how many colors of paint are there that won’t be offensive?

    Do I think PPP is a bad idea? Yes. Do I think Ted is evil? No. And he’s got startup money, where I’m scraping together rent every month.

  80. Ryan Price

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:11 am

    PS Fake Steve Ballmer, do you know you spammed twice? If you’re going to spam twice, then maybe try reading the article or watching the video. It appears you have an anti-apple blog, so why did you comment on a PPP thread?

  81. Scott

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:13 am

    Silly. Good work Mike. Way to drive traffic. Get everyone worked up over face paint and dollar store party favors. Lame.

  82. Alex

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:19 am

    The funny thing is, most of these guys screaming “racism” are white. And then they have the nerve to say “as a white man you don’t have the right to say it’s not racist”, yet you as a “white man” can say it *is* racist? What kind of idiotic logic is that? Everyone has a right to an opinion, or did you forget that?

    Look, I don’t advocate offending people purposefully, but it is idiots like some of you white guys that are stirring the pot more than the so called “victims” that you have categorized.

    BTW Mike, Low blow.

  83. losers

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:20 am

    What a bunch of asses.

    Instead of being sensitive to people that may be offended they come back here and laugh at the accusations. And even put Native Americans as a group in the same category as pirates. Are you serious!?!

  84. AzDana

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:32 am

    There are sovereign Indian nations within the state of Arizona where the people are living without running water or electricity. If Arrington is so concerned about the plight of Native Americans, then I say he should cut a big chunky check today to help some of them out. I can provide him the names of some of the charities that are actively helping these people, if he so desires.
    Arrington, put your money where your mouth is.

  85. AnnaBella

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:36 am

    There is a difference between being insensitive (which I believe PPP was on this occasion) and being a racist (which I don’t believe is the case here)…

    Calling someone racist is a very ugly thing to do… Being ugly does get you more traffic though and that is your main goal, right? Shame on you Mike…

  86. David

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:43 am

    I suggest you watch the video. There was nothing racist or deregatory about it - they were 4 teams with themes. Some were indians, others were pirates, hawaiians, cops, etc. What’s wrong with that?

    IMHO, I think they’re doing a good job at the videos (their business model is still questionable) and TC just hates their guts.

  87. Nemrut

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:48 am

    That prank at the beginning was in poor taste and reminded me of the fake firing in an episode of ‘The Office.’

    The whole video is great reminder of the dot bomb era..

  88. Peter Cooper

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:58 am

    The quicker we come up with some way to legally destroy the right to be offended at stuff clearly not directed at you, the better.

  89. Lori

    September 7th, 2007 at 10:59 am

    Well said AzDana!!!!!!!!!

  90. jessie

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:02 am

    those photos are more ignorant and offensive then racist.

  91. Aaron Burcell

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:04 am

    I’m the VP of marketing at Jangl, previously at PodShow, and I’ve held marketing positions at startups acquired by Microsoft, Yahoo, etc. I’m half native american (Cheyenne and Sioux), half Irish. I’m reading this and watching the video, and I’m wondering if I could hold onto my job for longer than 60 seconds if I were to dress up in top-siders and a polo shirt and throw on some white face make-up while hammering down a few scotch-and-waters. I’m sure one of my subordinates would shake me after only a few seconds, and all of my management peers would shut the cameras off for sure. I’d hope the HR director would shoot me with a tranq gun.
    One other thing I know for sure - if I planned and executed an expensive and lame-ass college football promo with a goal of only 500 registrations, and then fell short… I’d be fired for sure. And, I’m pretty sure the CFO and CEO would be fired as well.
    Sure, the red-face could be a bit offensive, but most minorities have thick skin about such things. What’s really offensive is the ridiculous and irresponsible Club Med trip, and the high-cost, low-yield marketing efforts. I thought I was watching a lost episode of “The Office” when one of staff showed it to me. We should all be up in arms about club med and the football promo.

  92. jessie

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:05 am

    and please stop throwing the term “racist” around so freely. no one is being discriminated against here. more like cultural insensitivity.

  93. Nemrut

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:06 am

    ..another thought that comes to mind is the old ‘Mr Wong’ logo where the founders thought it apropos to use a caricature of a slanted-eyed Asian man.

    For those of you who dont see what’s wrong w/this type of behaviour it’s probably because you havnt been the victim of racism nor mass extermination and marginalization by the US government. Most likely, you dont have or know anyone w/relatives living on a Reservation as *all* native Americans do.

  94. Bruno

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:12 am

    Whatever, Mike you should really find something more useful to write about.

    We don’t care about this kind of crap. Let PPP do what they want. It’s not your money.

  95. Judy Andrews

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:33 am

    I am sitting here laughing at most of these silly comments. Why in the world people like to incite to riot I have no clue. The first time I saw this guy Mike was on one of the videos that is now under close scrutiny. At the time I thought it was just a joke when this guy called Ted the most evil person in the room, but now I realize that he must have been serious, how sad. I am part Cherokee and I was not offended. It looked like a bunch of college kids having some fun.

    People are doing their best to try and derail the PPP train, but I’m afraid it has left the station and only starting to gather more steam. I think you should go back and re-read posts 56 and 62…Jude

  96. Jeffrey

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:37 am

    I think this is a spin off of the term rednecks. They want to popularize a new word for insensitive white people: “redfaces” - red faced means they’re embarrassed of what they did!

  97. slappy

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:37 am

    (yawn) Mike Arrington, grasping for straws..

    He loathes Pay-per-Post. So much, he’ll call people racist. Slow news day.

    I watched the video and it was painfully pathetic, but the facepaint was the least of it. “Offending native Americans’? Really? Who.

    Maybe Mike can ask some at the next TechCrunch Party. (Oh wait. There won’t be any. The only Indians won’t be native.)

    In the meantime, Go Seminoles! (http://seminoles.cstv.com/)

  98. Rahmar

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:37 am

    Michael, you were caught being paid by Microsoft to write good things about them. Now you’re telling everyone how unethical PPP is? You naughty boy.

  99. Jeffrese

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:48 am

    Arrington,
    Why do you have such a hard on for Pay For Post?

  100. Tim L. Walker

    September 7th, 2007 at 11:55 am

    This is really getting lame. If these types of post continue to come out of TechCrunch, I’m sure I’ll not be the only one who will be removing the TechCrunch feed from our feedreaders.

  101. Chief Brown Eye

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:06 pm

    Someone should send PPP blankets soaked in small pox, then take their land ;-)

  102. stone

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:06 pm

    Very Interesting Discussion:

    Has everone noticed what I’ve noticed? There is clearly an orchestrated attempt on the part of PPP or friends of PPP to defend their CEO, and I understand such actions. The one thing that is glaringly missing: no one is defending the negative comments about Ted’s extravagant spending, nor have they defended the comments about his intellect — very revealing to me.

  103. Paul

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:06 pm

    Ha, what a bunch stupid m**********s.

  104. Judy Andrews

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:22 pm

    Obviously the man is intelligent enough to start an internet business and raise millions of dollars, so why should his intellect be defended? He is the CEO so why is it any of our business what he deems to be of importance to spend his money on. I’m sure he keeps track of his spending and can account for every penny and I’m sure he will make lots of money for his investors so why is it my business or anyone else’s except the investors? As for silly mistakes, is anyone perfect here?

  105. stone

    September 7th, 2007 at 12:32 pm

    Here’s a fact that’s incontrovertible:

    If PPP is successful, then no one will remember any of this BS. If they fail, it will be nearly all they remember.

  106. David Berkowitz

    September 7th, 2007 at 1:06 pm

    Mike, after all this, it doesn’t even warrant a follow-up response?

  107. Guy Kawasaki

    September 7th, 2007 at 1:49 pm

    I have a different theory. They weren’t trying to be Indians. They were trying to look like turkeys.

  108. Ross Rader

    September 7th, 2007 at 2:19 pm

    Wow.

    I just wasted ten minutes watching the clip.

    On one hand, I’m pleased that I finally understand their tactless business model.

    On the other, I’m dumbstruck that anyone would purposely release something so utterly tacky.

    Yucko.

    -r

  109. Ted Murphy

    September 7th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

    Hello all

    I would like to clarify that there is nothing racist about what we did. We only did what our HR consultants advised us on team building. By the way, did any of you realize that Michael Arrington is also part of Draper Fisher Jurvetson?

    Regards
    Ted Murphy
    PayPerPost

  110. ejohnnydoe

    September 7th, 2007 at 2:47 pm

    mike…i’ll read your blog from time to time…but you’re a tool.

  111. Ted Murphy

    September 7th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    –
    Hello all

    I would like to clarify that there is nothing racist about what we did. We only did what our HR consultants advised us on team building. By the way, did any of you realize that Michael Arrington is also part of Draper Fisher Jurvetson?

    Regards
    Ted Murphy
    PayPerPost
    –

    I did not make this comment.
    -The real Ted Murphy of PayPerPost

  112. Logan Murphy

    September 7th, 2007 at 2:58 pm

    Mike,

    You ranting on PPP is ridiculous. Almost every high profile blogger (especially you) is guilty of the same thing. How about all those widgets you embed on your site? You doing that for free? You don’t disclose the fact that you get paid to use most of the tools you use from other sites no more than celebrities talk about how they’re paid to wear the latest fashions. It’s all in a days work. Lay off the bullshit man.

    Seriously, look at all the revenue you generate and think about how much of that is “disclosed.” Or better yet, why don’t you post your financials so that the world can see how much integrity your run your blog network with.

  113. Ted Murphy

    September 7th, 2007 at 3:01 pm

    ..Yes, I did.

    The REAL Ted Murphy of PayPerPost

  114. jdfoshizzles

    September 7th, 2007 at 3:13 pm

    as a followup. just a thought but…some people need to really evaluate how they are getting paid.

    dfj…who was the inside guy on this one?

    genious

  115. losers

    September 7th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

    PPP: be the bigger man and take the critisism…. don’t send all you’re employees and friends over to this blog to shoot the messenger. It smells like frustration and desperation.

  116. Slappenstance

    September 7th, 2007 at 5:41 pm

    Let’s see if we can get 1000 comments.

    Maybe Arrington and Ted Murphy should have a duel. Those in favor of a duel say ‘yay’. Those who disagree say ‘nah’. If by sept. 9th 10am Eastern Time there are more ‘yay’s’ then a duel it is.

  117. Michael Arrington

    September 7th, 2007 at 5:45 pm

    nah.

    I actually like Ted, even though he is becoming increasingly shrill in his comments.

  118. wow

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:28 pm

    It doesn’t surprise me any more when the shit is hitting the fan at PPP between Ted and the posties he claims he loves, (read the general forum at the payperpost forums on TOS) that somehow a new post comes up here at TC.
    It’s almost like Ted and Mike are in cahoots. Ted tries to screw over the bloggers, then suddenly, there’s an article here at TC, and Ted links to it from the forums so all his beloved posties will come read it and defend him.
    It happened awhile back with the evil man in the room, it happened with Calacanis, and it happens repeatedly here.
    Trouble in the blogger ranks at PPP, means deflect and distract them somewhere else, get their minds off of how bad Ted just tried to screw them over.
    Just a few weeks ago, he called them all cheaters, told them they were trying to cheat his company out of money. Then he said no, that’s not what I meant, how about a contest for $1,000? Woo hoo! I love my posties!

    Mike, if you and Ted are working together to help promote each other, just come out and say it.
    But if you’re not, and it’s truly hatred you have for him and his company, you need better fight material than red faced Indians.
    Just read the PPP forums.
    There’s plenty of information right there in the forums written by the bloggers and Ted himself, to give you enough writing material for as long as PPP lasts.

  119. anonymous

    September 7th, 2007 at 6:52 pm

    Well Michael, Thank you so much for sharing your lesson in sensitivity training. It looks like you really learned something from your liberal law school professors and your corporate training sessions put on by WSGR.

  120. Ashley

    September 7th, 2007 at 7:31 pm

    115. Losers (and pretty much everyone else):

    It’s 10:30pm on a Friday night, and I’m NOT on the company dime. I guess that really makes ME the loser. Ted DOES NOT encourage or influence anyone to come to his defense, nor the defense of the company. Believe it or not any team member who has left a comment here has left it on his or her own accord. We all work for the mission of PPP because we believe in it, and we also believe