[bproper]

As Betabeat wrote on Twitter in response"

"@chrishughes @techmeme @GOOD as we said to you before we published, confirm or deny on the record, and we're happy to report it. You can't decline to comment beforehand, then refuse to go on record after, then point fingers. And we included the statement from your GM in the piece."

If Jumo had a $$$ figure they were proud of, they would share it. But the first comment captures it best. If Hughes understand that failure is a badge of honor in the tech world, and came clean before this news broke, it would be a non-story, and people would respect him for trying to build such a noble start-up.

[tptacek]

So that's how it works now, eh? When a subject won't talk to you, just run your worst suspicion. If they don't go on the record after that, you must be right!

[untog]

Interesting. I actually interviewed with those guys many months ago- there were vague hints of a "troublesome" developer (who, I suspect, I was interviewing to replace) and a rewrite... but hardly out of the ordinary stuff for a startup.

I've still got to respect Hughes for even trying to make a site so noble. But if it failed, yes, it would be good to just admit it.