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Colin Kaepernick joins Medium board of directors
- derision 6y agooh boy here we go
- CoffeeDregs 6y agoUntil I saw your comment, I has considered commenting on this submission. It seems to be an interesting occurrence in a civic-social-tech-moment. Presumably, you expect HN to descend into a non-productive swirl? Your choices w.r.t. punctuation and capitalization (or lack thereof) were good satire...
- xhkkffbf 6y agoThis could be very useful. Will he be writing? It could give us a chance for him to lead.
- CoffeeDregs 6y agoPer TFA: Kaepernick will be writing stories...
- DeepThoughts 6y agoI’m not sure he needs a chance to lead. While certainly interesting that he’s joining the leadership for Medium. Seems like he’s been leading for years.
- gnicholas 6y agoWho else is on Medium’s board? EDIT: per Crunchbase, it’s Ev, Ben Horowitz, Josh Elman, and Judith Estrin.
- whywhywhywhy 6y agoBoggles my mind how that company is still going after making itself one of the worst reading experiences online with the barrage of sign up forms and nag banners when you try to read anything on it.
- gnicholas 6y agoStartups tend to live longer when founded by billionaires.
- Udik 6y agoCan someone explain Medium to me? I find it makes for a minimalistic, pleasant user experience (later degraded by banners, paywalls), but apart from that? Editing options are borderline non-existent. The comments section, usability-wise, is a bad joke. What's its killer feature or core idea? Why is it everywhere?
- jorgenveisdal 6y agoYour question answers itself
- Udik 6y agoI thought so after posting it :)
- whywhywhywhy 6y ago> What's its killer feature or core idea? You're looking at their latest killer feature, the founder hanging out with Colin Kaepernick.
- meowface 6y agoRight, it's so ridiculous to the point of being laughable almost. Imgur took the same route. It started off as a super simple image hosting service because every other one was full of all sorts of annoying garbage, and now Imgur's Google description is "imgur: The magic of the Internet // Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination." and has more annoying garbage than almost every other image host out there. Is there some kind of term for this phenomenon? Web apps like Medium and Imgur created with the sole intention of giving you a no-bullshit, clean, straightforward, minimalistic UI and presentation mutating into horrifying abominations that then go out of their way to fill everything with as much bullshit as humanly possible. Are they just typical cases of starting out idealistic, getting investment due to rapid growth despite no solid path to profitability, later frantically realizing it's totally financially unsustainable, and then doing a complete 180 to satisfy investors / not have to shutter the company?
- xwowsersx 6y agoPardon my cynicism, but what strategic value does Kaepernick bring to Medium? On its surface, this looks like Medium broadcasting their social-moral stance by tapping a guy who aligns with theirs. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but it's hard not to become cynical about companies making these kinds of moves in order to virtue-signal to who they think their customer is.
- ordinaryradical 6y agoAgree. I'm glad Goodell wants him back in the NFL and he may get another shot at a career he was unjustly denied. I don't quite understand what this brings in for Medium. But I also really don't know anything about Kapaernick outside of the controversy. Is he a reader?
- perfmode 6y agowhat strategic value is it customary for board members to bring?
- xwowsersx 6y agoOften times board members are strategic in the sense that they bring either domain expertise in the area of the business or they have connections inside the industry in which the company operates. Not always, but often...
- perfmode 6y agohow would you characterize the industry in which Medium operates? how would you characterize Colin’s domain expertise? what sorts of connections do you imagine Colin might have? according to what you’ve communicated, whether you see the value may depend precisely on your answers to the above, and fundamentally: the beliefs and assumptions that underlie your answers.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- bradly 6y ago
- lenwood 6y agoI find it somewhat ironic that the article is not on Medium. It's listed there as well [1], but the stories I've seen shared are published elsewhere. [1]: https://blog.medium.com/colin-kaepernick-to-join-medium-board-of-directors-7e5e8a28d7ee https://blog.medium.com/colin-kaepernick-to-join-medium-boar...
- hsod 6y agohow is that ironic?
- 1123581321 6y agoRead the article. He’s doing writing, interviewing and publishing for Medium in addition to his board seat. His board seat will allow him to make sure his publishing partnership isn’t compromised by strategic changes at the executive level.
- derision 6y agoso his purpose on the board is to ensure his own job security? seems strange
- 1123581321 6y agoYes, in a sense. It is not overly unusual for a key media persona to join a small publishers’ board.
- gnicholas 6y agoIs this a small publisher? It has over 100 million readers and was founded by a billionaire.
- 1123581321 6y agoPerhaps not. I just meant not the majors (Pearson, Hachette, etc.)
- gnicholas 6y agoIs this meant to be a reply to another comment? Also, where does it say anything about protecting his publishing partnership from executive changes?
- 1123581321 6y agoI replied at the top level because so many people didn’t read the article. A board member normally has influence over the direction of the company. They did not need to spell it out.
- haram_masala 6y agoIt's important to separate Kaepernick's politics from his behavior. If he believes that black people face discrimination and unfair challenges in America, he's probably right about that and certainly should speak up. But he is such a poor spokesman for that, or for anything, that one has to wonder about the judgment of the Medium board for inviting him to join.
- Kye 6y agoWhy do you think he's a poor spokesman for this?
- haram_masala 6y agoBecause he has a history of very poor decisions regarding his public statements. For example, I think that someone supporting civil liberties shouldn't be wearing Fidel Castro T-shirts. His opposition to the Betsy Ross flag, and using his leverage with Nike to cancel a shoe themed with it, was asinine. There are actual, serious and thoughtful civil liberties activists in America, including those who are working to overcome the challenges faced by black Americans. They don't get nearly as much attention as Colin Kaepernick because they can't throw three touchdowns and rush for 100 yards in the same game.
- steve76 6y agoShould've went with Frank Gore.