HN: I'm building a TC alternative. Will you share your startup's story with me?

I think you need to do a lot of lists. I'm serious. There are a LOT of tiny startups out there and you can hit upon 10 at once this way, while also building good content.

I'm going to be self-serving here, but it makes it easier to articulate my idea and point. I have a small, "lifestyle startup"/hobby -- a daily email newsletter where I share awesome/true facts like how Abraham Lincoln created the Secret Service the day he was fatally shot. (Really -- http://dlewis.net/nik is the subscribe URL, the archives are linked thereto, and it's in the archives.) There are a LOT of small, wannabe thrillist/daily candy email newsletters out there. Featuring one is stupid, but writing about this emerging/cottage industry is interesting.

Basically: "Ten Interesting Email Newsletters" is a great post, potentially, as is "Ten Ways To Manage Your Business Connections" (hashable? cloudcontacts? cardmunch?), as is "Ten Sports Startups" and ... well, you get the idea.

this is good, i'll send you email about songslike.me and strangrchat.com soon

Anybody who disrupts techcrunch would have my respect and gratitude. Try not to take credit for other peoples' work and you'll already be one step above Arrington when it comes to ethical grounds.

TCs comments suck - look at what boingboing does for moderation that might be helpful. Also I am probably in the minority but I rather read and respond to one really good article a day than 10 spammy articles. I think focusing on quality is key (just my 2 cents).

Two words: good headlines. Non-link-bait headlines that are accurate and descriptive, now written to incite. TC's major flaw (or as some might argue: TC's major strength) is what might be described as arrogant Arringtonism

A couple examples from the top of my RSS feed:

"Five reasons the PSP2 won't succeed" "... the Dystopian Hellscape" etc, ad infinitum.