I think that balloon has been convincingly punctured.
There is a hint of the old English society in there, where who would get invited to which parties mattered almost as much as what was actually discussed. (not to mention the seating arrangements).
Mike being sore for not being invited to this particular get-together is something straight from the 1890's, he's interpreting it as one of two things, either TC (and his person) is irrelevant, or there is something shady going on.
It can't be the former, so it has to be the latter.
Ego. He wasn't just not invited, but not even welcome for a drink. Normal people wouldn't have tried to crash in the first place, but Mike isn't normal.
That's certainly reasonable and I wouldn't be amused to have my meeting crashed either. I have the feeling that Mike thinks he's a lot closer "friends" with these guys (and many others) than he really is. They butter him up to get the word out of their new hotness, but when it comes down to it they aren't friends.
You caught Ye Olde Merry England from that mess? It sounded like a wanksta (want-to-be gangster) to me.
I mean tongue firmly implanted in cheek or whatever, but if this is what lies outside of YCombinator and TechStars, then everyone not in those programs should just bootstrap, because I would get a headache having to hear all that talk from an investor.
There is a hint of the old English society in there, where who would get invited to which parties mattered almost as much as what was actually discussed. (not to mention the seating arrangements).
Mike being sore for not being invited to this particular get-together is something straight from the 1890's, he's interpreting it as one of two things, either TC (and his person) is irrelevant, or there is something shady going on.
It can't be the former, so it has to be the latter.
A bit paranoid maybe.