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Derek Powazek – The Real Story of JPG Magazine

I guess I don't participate in the right communities (or take enough pix?) to get terribly worked up about this specifically, but it seems a shame.

I flipped through JPG Mag a few times, thought it was a cool idea, considered subscribing, and then let it wash away from my head. Now there's a shitstorm spinning up about the ouster/resignation of the founders, Derek Powazek and Heather Powazek Champ, who're (seemingly) crazy-smart people and have been involved in some very cool other projects, like Flickr, The Mirror Project and Fray. All of these things have struck me as awesome at various points.

I didn't know about all of the interconnectedness of these projects things, but as I've dug into JPG a little (admittedly as a direct result of the shitstorm and the indignation of some Flickrites who've canceled their JPG accounts), I'm getting wistful for something that never really registered with me. Weird. And crazy.

Because I work for a startup, the other thing that strikes me about this is that startups are a mess. And I worry that building them with your friends (which I haven't done--I make the friends when I go to work at places, not the other way around) is a mess (especially when you throw investors into the mix). I know a few people with big ideas and I worry about them getting co-opted or usurped as things "move forward" or they try to "grow" the idea.

Maybe I feel bummed out (and left out) because it's an art/community site--and moreover a "community" associated with an "art" that I'm particularly fond of.

Or maybe it's turning out that I simply don't like the new world of business, ideas, information and money.