The current rules in place to win at having a New...

“The current rules in place to win at having a New York internet publishing entity are stupid and wrong, both in terms of perceived and actual success.”

MONEY, CASH, HO’S by David Cho: The Awl is now two years old.

Yes, haters gonna hate. “Phony jerks,” as Cho calls them, who specialize in self-promotion are the unfortunate byproduct of any startup heavy industry. When raising money and getting attention are pivotal to success, the culture is going to create many more obnoxious, self-aggrandizing assholes than quality products. Sadly for venture capitalists, its very hard to tell which talented self-promoters have got the goods and which do not.

Yet I wonder if David could have taken the opportunity of The Awl’s second birthday to tell us something about The Awl’s success that would challenge the current rules. There are as many people out there rooting for The Awl to succeed, as there are condescending d-bags who think they know better.

Perhaps the assumption is that The Awl’s continued existence is argument enough. But I wouldn’t mind some insight into what has and has not worked for it. Are advertisers warming to boutique sites? (Do you hate being called a boutique site?) Is there a path to success that doesn’t involve SEO and link baiting? Do you have to become Gawker to ultimately succeed?

I understand why David would probably not want to answer these questions. I understand how answering these questions might make him feel like he’s emulating the people he loathes. But I think sometimes its lost how the dominant narratives created by the Arianna Huffingtons and Nick Dentons of the world can easily shape how people think about the Internet and create the condescending a-holes he describes. I just wish there were more narratives out there to arm the ones who wish to take them on.