Unlike Alex Knapp I was never a big fan of the site. Not because I disliked it, per say, but it just never really stood out for me. Anyway, losing what was setting out to be a conservative version of Slate is a sad loss.

Sometimes there are simple stories. Culture11’s is one of them. We raised a certain amount of money last year predicated on the assumption we would raise more money last year. Then the Fall’s fall occurred and we stretched money as long and far as we could without incurring any debts. With no new money in the door the board decided the most prudent thing to do was suspend business operations. That is a way too technical way of saying that there are now 14 people who worked very hard for this company who are looking for new jobs because theirs disappeared. These people do not deserve to be out of jobs and yet they are. The economy racks up more victims.

A friend reminded me that Orson Welles once said that if you want a happy ending, it depends on where you choose to stop your story. This then isn’t the end – we are proud of the articles we commissioned, edited, and wrote, the blogs that we posted, the conversations we joined and sometimes started and the platform we created.

Joshua Trevino has more, as well as advice for future start-ups.