Bart did not step down - he was a horrible leader and couldn't communicate a clear direction. Bart was asked to leave. I assume it was because of his lack of leadership but I also heard a rumor that there some some sort of accounting scandal - but it was just a rumor.

Also, why do you so quickly dismiss Flock? They haven't even released their v1.0 product.

That's the weird thing about Flock — even Flock's apparent enemies wanted it to succeed. But face it — most companies launch a product before the employees bail and the CEO gets fired.

Earlier: Flock CEO leaves the fold [Valleywag]
Photo by cheezelsmurf [Flickr]

Pop quiz: What does a once-popular startup, top-heavy with philosophy and lacking direction, do when the one guy who started the whole thing quits?

Bart Decrem, founder of Web browser startup Flock, has stepped down as CEO and is looking to build another company, PE Week has learned.

Decrem says his departure isn't tied to anything wrong with the company.

Bull. Founding CEOs do not step down and "look to build another company." Decrem knows his social browser failed to catch on, thanks to an already-crowded browser market that left no search deals (like Mozilla's lucrative Google deal) and no consumer demand. Meanwhile, it took $3.2 million from venture capitalists and angel investors.

Look for Flock to end up on the Web 2.0 junk heap in a few months. Hey, maybe it'll sell on eBay.

Flock CEO steps down [Private Equity Week]

I didn't think that I'd come to resent the question "What's your business model?" [...] While a relevant question with the appropriate disclosure of intent [...], too often it's used as a yardstick for measuring whether someone is worth talking to, if at all — an unfortunate vestige of the old capitalist elite.

"The old capitalist elite." Is he going by the Party History Book now?

Wait, actually, what's Chris's business model for what? He quit working for the browser makers at Flock, his position with development company Adaptive Path doesn't earn a mention on the relevant web page, and his client Mozes is doomed. Is this boy the incarnation of built-to-flip?

What's your community model? [Chris Messina]

37 Signals software zen mastah Jason Fried is shutting down a blog thread somewhere. Last spotted turning this comment thread into a ghost town. Last comment before the thread got wiped: "I am betting that in 10 minutes this post will be closed to comments." Just keepin' it real.

Chris Messina is packing up and shipping out of Flock. The designer will leave the social-browser startup as soon as he's done making flight metaphors. From Chris's "I'm heading out" entry:

I ve been in constant motion, bouncing along in the cockpit, weathering turbulent times

And:

The past nine months have been getting us down the runway, and now that we ve taken to flight

And he's:

ready...to surface the next horizon

Bon voyage, dude.

Mega-tech-blogger Doc Searls (a man who wants to stay atop a Technorati list, please Technorati, please) is chilling at home in Santa Barbara. As Paul Boutin (left) says, "Look, he's not working —- right now now now! Take the picture quick honey!"

9rules designer/blogger Mike Rundle was quick to notice that business incubator Next Internet (covered here) borrowed a teensy bit (by which I mean all) of the site design from eternally-alpha-testing browser Flock. The two sites are uncannily twinlike — identical fonts, identical basic color schemes, and two toolbars you'd never tell apart. But should we assume there was theivery just because Next Internet is Flock's perfect doppelganger?

Look, clearly they both received the divine revelation of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, god of the Internets. The corroboration of their site designs is a sign that He is watching, that He loves us all, and that He digs pastel blue.

Update: Pretty no longer, Next Internet has reverted to a fugly ol' template, in a very Web 1.0 gray. Unless you check out the Jobs page.

Next Internet Steals Flock's Website Design [BusinessLogs]
Earlier: Secret Web 2.0 Company Birther [Valleywag]

Guy 1: Does anyone use Flock who isn't making Flock?

Guy 2: The people dating the people making Flock.

Keep 'em coming. Tips@valleywag.com.