What endears me about Medium (and will get me back to writing on it eventually, I swear!) is that their new-ish CEO, Tony Stubblebine, lays it all out on the table in a way no other tech executive would dare to do.

For example, in ​this recent blog post​, he shares the reality that, in 2022, Medium was losing $2.6 million a month, the stars on the platform were mostly get-rich-quick digital marketers, and what the platform preached wasn't what was happening in practice.

I love Medium because users actually want to read. Most of my newsletter subscribers came from Medium.

But Medium reacted slowly to Substack, and now Substack is way out front. It also was an easy target for AI slop because its Partner Program pays out based on metrics like views and read time.

It was so unusual for Medium to hire one of its own users as founder Ev Williams' successor back in 2022, and so far it seems like it's going really well. Tony isn't trying to be Zuck, or Musk, or Spez, or Spiegel, and that's why I like him and the platform.

Read his essay below and let me know what you thought of his candor.

>>> ​Fell in a hole, got out.​

Also, here are some past blogs from me on Medium and Substack that might be of interest.
​Writing on Medium: The Ultimate Guide​
The Big, Fat Substack Review​ (From 2024)​
Substack Vs. Medium: Similar Audiences, Very Different Feature Sets

Money Proud Book Launch

Bring in the props

Galleys arrived! This week I crossed that milestone of holding a book in my hands that I wrote, front-to-back, myself. 😭


It's still five months before this book arrives, but to actually experience it IRL is pretty cool.

Otherwise, I've been working on some social graphics and scripting videos, and plan to do a big batch of recording this next week. My plan is to batch the aroll of:

  • Videos that explain the book's methodology, origin story, and structure.
  • The narrative devices, writing approaches, and journalism techniques I used in this book, along with how they produce results.
  • Hi-def recording samples of my raw video setup (screen tests, basically) that can be sent to media for potential supplied video opportunities.

I'm doing this now so that I can take my time on the video editing, because editing is where I do my best thinking. My video editing approach is writer-first, and I still do it all myself for now because I'm sussing out style and workflow.

With so much AI-generated content overtaking social feeds, I'm thinking about how to make my digital footprint very personal and human these next several months, so that new readers who find me through book press get a good first impression.

24 weeks to go... 🚀

Want to help promote Money Proud? Intro me to someone!

If you or someone you know is an online creator or business professional interested in collaborating in some way, I would love to hear from you.

Hot Links

What happened this week

Disclosure: I work at Ziff Davis, the parent company of CNET, Mashable, PCMag, Lifehacker, and ZDNET, and equalpride, the parent company of Out magazine and The Advocate.

Economy and entrepreneurship

​Retail trading app Robinhood is being investigated in Florida for its crypto selling practices.​ Basically, Robinhood farms out the crypto transactions to third parties so that users don't have to pay, but there are disclosure regulations around this. (Kirk Ogunrinde / Bloomberg) (7-day friend link)

​Inside Crypto’s Audacious Bid to Rebuild Stock Market on the Blockchain.​ Less ridiculous of an idea than it was a few years ago, in my opinion. (Olga Kharif / Bloomberg) (7-day friend link)

AI and future tech

​AI Coding Tools Can Actually Reduce Productivity, based on a new study.​ Pundits comparing this to when research came out that multitasking doesn't work. (Steve Newman / Second Thoughts Substack)

​Grok 4, xAI's newest AI model, consults past Elon tweets when the questions get hard.​ What could go wrong? (Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch)

​As Grok navigates its antisemitic meltdown, xAI still gets permission to blast tons of emissions to keep it running.​ (Grace Snelling / Fast Company)

LGBTQ

​What trans and nonbinary people need to know about updating their passports and birth certificates.​ The most up-to-date information in the US as of July 8. (Ryan Adamczeski / Out)

​Pope Leo Signals Catholic Church Will Continue One of Francis’ Biggest LGBTQ+ Reforms.​ (Samantha Riedel / them)

​After trans people, Trump now erases bisexual people from Stonewall National Monument.​ (Erin Reed / The Advocate)

​Queer runner Caster Semenya wins again in court against athletic body that sidelined her.​ This smear is similar to the Imane Khelif smears that happened in the Olympics' women's boxing event last year. (Jacob Ogles / The Advocate)

Social media and pop culture

​Linda Yaccarino resigned as CEO of X, formerly Twitter.​ The former NBC exec's controversial tenure lasted about two years. Rumors abound, but when Musk's xAI bought X (in a very weird acquisition, btw, since he owns both companies), it essentially demoted her. (Suzanne Vranica, Alexander Saeedy, Jessica Toonkel / The Wall Street Journal)

​Ten Ways to Speed Up a Laggy Internet Browser.​ (Pranay Parab / Lifehacker)