Breakingviews.com Examines One-Man Blogs

With Michael Arrington apparently stepping down (temporarily) from writing his Techcrunch blog, Breakingviews.com wonders if the site can keep its 2 million monthly readers. Techcrunch is a must-read for those in Silicon Valley, and the linked article reports it once was valued at $100 million.

From the article:

Whether Techcrunch can exist without its leading light will be a test case for the blogosphere generally. Many blogs rely heavily on the contributions of their creators, making them little more than online columns. Techcrunch is no exception. Arrington's extensive tech-industry connections helped the blog break stories - like Google's purchase of Youtube - that made it a must-read.

With Arrington out, rivals have an opportunity to nab his 2m monthly readers. After all, they will still be looking for insight on technology and may switch their attentions elsewhere if Arrington's remaining employees are unable to match his consistency or style. It also clouds the potential for blogs to sell themselves to traditional media companies.

The Huffington Post, which recently raised $25m, and others are well ahead in creating diverse revenue streams and developing multiple content sources. But their businesses are also untested against a departure of their founders.

By taking a break, Arrington may be doing them and the rest of the blogosphere a favour in seeing whether one of these businesses can prosper without its key man.