[jmtame]

What part of my response did you think was the equivalent of flipping them off? I wasn't trying to be malicious to anyone personally. I have my own beliefs on IAC and they're negative, but I don't think I said anything nasty to Brian.

I felt the need to correct the stats since they were part of a point I was making. The data I cited doesn't look at a certain group of web sites specifically, which skews the data.

[greghinch]

You made not one but two responses about why you had no interest in talking to them about an acquisition, when none was specifically mentioned by them in the first place. Throughout, your negative opinion of IAC was pretty clear, and while you didn't come right out and say anything nasty to anyone at OKC, it's hard to not see it as something of an "F U" to someone who had sold their company to IAC.

Bottom line, I think it would have been better if you had just done one post that stuck to only disputing the data with your own sources, and left the idea of an acquisition out of it. That would have been walking straight ahead, paying no attention to them.

[jmtame]

why you had no interest in talking to them about an acquisition, when none was specifically mentioned by them in the first place

But that's the whole point of the article: it's pattern recognition, and I'm using anecdotes to support that. I also wrote a book where I talked to many founders who shared similar stories. Since this article came out, I've received a handful of e-mails from founders of companies that were acquired, all with similar experiences.

it's hard to not see it as something of an "F U" to someone who had sold their company to IAC

The original question still seems unanswered. By writing two essays where I warn founders of a pattern in one and I directly address line-by-line my own response to Brian in another, you still feel both are the equivalent to flipping off Brian from OkCupid Labs? That doesn't make sense to me.

As a founder, I'd want to know if other people experience these things. Has it happened to you before where you've noticed a pattern of competitors wanting to talk, but for reasons other than acqui-hiring you?