Michael Gray and Jason Calacanis Best Friends Forever
Posted on April 27th, 2007by Michael Gray in Random Thoughts
This story is dedicated to my best friend, and guiding mentor Jason Calacanis.
Sure many of you know Jason as that hard working somewhat controversial blog boss who used to run weblogs inc and general manager of Netscape. My the first time I came across Jason name was in the late 1990’s. That’s right heady days of dot-com boom. I was involved in some large webdevelopment project and I spent quite a bit of time in the waiting room of venture capitalists. Back in those days the slick waiting rooms had magazines like Yahooligans and Wired but my favorite was Silicon Alley. I’m not sure if the statute of limitations has run out but I’ll let you in on a secret, I placed quite a few copies in my briefcase. Why you ask because of my fondness and respect for the editor Jason Calacanis.
The dot com bubble burst and the internet world fell on hard times. Jason however landed on his feet. He eventually founded weblogs inc the largest and most successful network of blog under one virtual roof. The flagship of the operation was the gadget blog Engadget which Jason lovingly grew with Peter Rojas. You want to know why Jason was able to succeed where other failed, because he had big brass balls and wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is. How many people do you know who would go to an SEO conference and have the cajones to stand up and say SEO is bullshit, not many people my friends, not many people at all.
In addition to having nerves of steal he’s not afraid to be brazen and go where no man has gone before. Did you know that almost exactly 2 years ago Jason was the first person to do a live webcam videocast from inside of an airplane to Judith who was responsible for day to day operations at weblogs inc. Sadly Judith has now left weblogs inc since they were absorbed by AOL (see I really do read).
However what I really like is that Jason has deep and profound understanding of the issues and what he’s talking about. Not like that poser from Digg Kevin Rose. C’mon Kevin get with the program we all know you don’t have the moxy to run with the big dogs, heck I bet Jason dog Toro could kick your ass!
It’s hard to pick my favorite Jason moment from history. I was touched when he mentioned me in his post about the Google accelerator blocking, but bummed I never got the link. But I love when he called out Gizmodo for selling out to Siemens
I mean there are a ton of folks out there who will sell out their editorial. And it appears Gizmodo is clearly one of them, having taken the offer which we declined.
Jason you da’ man!
I can still remember the first time we met. It was back in the late 90’s. It was while he was still at Silicon Alley, I was at another of those lame dot-com launch parties. I saw him out of the corner of my eye chatting with a group of people. I stood near the back hoping no one would notice me. Man he wa so in touch it was scary. I mean he was like the giant cosmic tuning fork. I was never the same after that, he changed me forever. Jason buddy you are responsible for making me the man I am today!
Ok so maybe I’m placing Jason up on a pedestal, I mean no one can be that perfect right? Ok he’s human just like you and me and maybe he likes to stir the pot a little and get a little attention. Well, what the heck do I know anyway, but I think Jason might be wrong from time to time but it’s not very often.
If he didn’t know what he was talking about do you think he’d get to speak on panels at WEB2.0 conferences and I totally loved you blog post about how you used you linkedin Profile (I told you I really do read).
No I’m not daft I know what I’m doing, but if you’re wondering what this is about, get the scoop.
Tags: jasoncalacanis, jason+calacanis, calacanis
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April 27th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
I think you’re late to the party:
http://daggle.com/070427-234036.html
April 27th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
well it was friday night which is pizza and movie night with the family …
April 28th, 2007 at 2:13 am
Saw the link in Twitter, wow it does kick ass. *LOL* I love it.
April 28th, 2007 at 3:01 am
Love is a beautiful thing.
April 28th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Sorry, but what is up with this sentence? “My the first time I came across Jason name was in the late 1990’s.”
April 28th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Shameless. Even I wouldn’t stoop this low for a Calacanis link.
April 29th, 2007 at 2:02 am
Apparently this was an attempt at humor.Pretty lame.As a newbie to this industry, I have regarded your opinion as one of the best, but this time-waster of a post was puzzling.
April 30th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
I agree with the rest of the people here. This just proves that you really are an attention whore by going against your convictions in order to get a (not so) cheap link from Jason. Well, I suppose that link is worth a lot to you, so I guess that makes you high-priced whore.
April 30th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
patience grasshopper, patience
June 21st, 2007 at 7:23 pm
“one of the best SEOs in the World” according to Calcanis…. Really. Wow. I truly don’t know what to say.