[manmanic]

Disgusting as it clearly is, I feel the spitting incident is a bit of a red herring.

If this had happened 2 years ago during the rapid growth in Web 2.0 investment, I think Mike would have soldiered on.

Instead, he has a nasty experience while his business and kingdom are shrinking. Deep down, I suspect he wanted out already.

In his situation I would.

[froo]

I completely disagree with what you're saying. I'm not sure if you've stood back and had a look at just how much flack Michael actually cops from day to day.

Sure, he may simply ignore a lot of it - but eventually if you're getting attacked from all sides, there will be a point that you break.

This was his.

[manmanic]

It's impossible to know the answer, since it's hidden somewhere deep inside Mike's subconscious. My intuition says that he'd be more willing to put up with something like that if his company was still growing rapidly.

[froo]

I disagree, it is more than possible - it was the likely outcome.

As Shakespeare once wrote "If you prick us, do we not bleed?"

I think the problem is that people are blurring the lines between the professional Arrington and the personal Arrington.

Let me highlight it using a hypothetical but extreme case.

You start up a new web app. For every 100 user signups, I get to kick you in the groin (literally, not metaphorically) - How would that make you feel?

I think if people want to attack his professional life - great, compete hard with TC, refuse to do business with him, boycott his blog - whatever... but when you start blurring (or crossing) the lines between a personal and professional attack is when situations like these arise.

[manmanic]

If it was my main life project, and the number of users signing up between each groin kick was increasing exponentially, my entrepreneurial fire would keep me going.

But when the ratio between groin kicks and sign ups started going in the wrong direction, I'd want out.

Hey, it was your metaphor, not mine... :)