Clone any Voice
Why I love Tony Stubblebine so much
“one of the ways to adjust is to stop writing or stop writing here.”
A Brief Love Affair with Tony Stubblebine
My love didn’t last long, about 60 mins, from when I read Tony comment below, it was love at first sight, sorry on first reading.
First Impressions: A CEO’s Refreshing Honesty
“I don’t want people to have to go through the frustration of thinking what we are doing is senseless. That feeling is likely to prevent them from adjusting.
And you are right, that one of the ways to adjust is to stop writing or stop writing here.”
The Complexities of Platonic Adoration
First, an important piece of information: my love is platonic and probably unrequited. I have known Tony since the 1st of August this year when he published the quoted article.
I have been active on Medium since January of this year, and I honestly admit that I was not interested in who was the CEO of Medium Inc. I became interested when my articles started earning cents instead of dollars.
The Reality: Profits, Changes, and the Digital Publishing Landscape
My affection is driven by one thing, I fell in love with Tony’s irreverent honesty. He literally tells all his employees, because what else are writers at Medium but Medium employees, that he is firing them on the 1st of August.
The time has come for the next generation of people who will build Medium. But there is hope: if you adapt quickly to the new conditions, you can keep writing.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin
Unconditional Love? Not Quite
Love should be unconditional, in my case it is not, I delight in Tony’s attitude because of his unshakable conviction that he is right. Maybe I don’t know enough about him and it’s just my blindness of feeling.
Infatuation’s Blinding Nature in the Business World
The state of infatuation causes blindness, one does not see all the flaws. Everyone around can say that it’s all just an illusion and it’s not really about the good of the Medium and the community around it, only about profit and “fresh blood” .
But it doesn’t matter to me because you don’t really have to explain yourself out of love. It passes too quickly , so let’s catch these moments because they pass quickly, moreover, in accordance with Tony’s wish
In this age of generative AI, Medium stands at a crossroads: EVOLVE or VANISH.
We’re witnessing a unique epoch where writers outnumber readers. Today, it takes less effort to create a text than it does to understand.
The Man Behind the Name: A Glimpse into Tony Stubblebine
Tony Stubblebine is a technology entrepreneur and the current CEO of Medium, an online publishing platform[4]. He has a background in internet consulting and is the author of the Regular Expression Pocket Reference[8]. Stubblebine is also the CEO of Coach.me, a platform that connects users with coaches to help them achieve their goals[5]. He has previously worked as a publisher at Better Humans, a publication focused on self-improvement[2][4].
Tony has been CEO of Medium for 14 months.
Stubblebine: A Tech Entrepreneur with a Wealth of Experience
Stubblebine is known for his strong communication skills and his ability to learn from customers[1]. He writes the Better Humans Weekly newsletter, which provides tips, inspiration, and knowledge on productivity, happiness, and health[2]. He has been involved in the tech world for a long time, having worked at companies like Odeo, Wesabe, O’Reilly, Mastercard, and CrowdVine[4]. He is an alumnus of the University of South Alabama and Grinnell College[4].
Discover More about the CEO of Medium
You can find more information about Tony Stubblebine on his LinkedIn profile[1], his Medium blog[2], his Twitter account[3], and his Coach.me profile[5]. Additionally, you can watch interviews with him on YouTube discussing his career and changes at Medium[6][7].
Citations: [1] https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonystubblebine [2] https://coachtony.medium.com [3] https://twitter.com/tonystubblebine?lang=en [4] https://www.crunchbase.com/person/tony-stubblebine [5] https://www.coach.me/tony [6] https://youtube.com/watch?v=Zd445DkS2JQ [7] https://youtube.com/watch?v=pIag5isikHo [8] https://www.oreilly.com/pub/au/Stubblebine_Tony
Below: Imagined Response from Tony Stubblebine on the Article, as he likely wouldn’t have the time to delve into my personal musings
While I might not agree with every perspective shared, this article does highlight the myriad of emotions and reactions individuals might feel towards organizational changes. It serves as a reminder for leaders like myself that decisions will always elicit a wide range of responses and that clear, empathetic communication is vital during times of change.