A very interesting development in this blog media world: Gigaom reports that Heather Harde, SVP of M&A at Fox Interactive Media is all set to join as the new CEO at the tech blog media site and company Techcrunch. This adds to a more professional turn to the meteoric rise of the influential tech blog (and its spinoffs), and hopefully will give the founder Mike Arrington more time to focus on editorial and strategy. This may also mean the company will do some blog media M&A this year, as the expertise comes in-house.
Updated: Mike officially announces it on Techcrunch.
Staci adds: Harde was heavily involved in the recent deal to acquire Strategic Data Corp. She’s particularly a good choice if Arrington decides to go further with complicating his business by adding more micro-verticals, as expected, and with angel investing. She has a strong interest in platforms, I’m told, so that would be one place to look for acquisitions.