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315: Tony Stubblebine, CEO of Medium, On Human Curation, Subscription-Driven Quality, and Fixing the Internet

Dec 23, 2024

Tony Stubblebine, CEO of Medium and former founder of Coach.me, discusses the importance of human curation in the digital age. He explains how Medium revamped its recommendation system to prioritize thoughtful content over algorithms. The conversation explores the transition to a subscription-based model, highlighting its role in enhancing content quality. Stubblebine also critiques the ad-driven internet, arguing for a shift towards value-driven practices, and emphasizes the need for human wisdom in crafting impactful narratives.

35:22

Episode guests

Tony Stubblebine

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Tony Stubblebine emphasizes the importance of human curation at Medium, prioritizing thoughtful content over algorithm-driven popularity to foster deeper readership engagement.

The adoption of a subscription-based model at Medium allows for a focus on delivering high-quality, meaningful content that aligns with readers' willingness to pay, countering ad-driven engagement pitfalls.

Deep dives

Human Creativity vs. Algorithms

Human creativity is emphasized as essential in the digital landscape, despite the growing reliance on algorithms. The podcast explores the importance of adding qualitative signals to algorithms, enhancing their matchmaking abilities while ensuring human input remains crucial. For example, it highlights how algorithms often perpetuate biases seen in society rather than eliminate them, meaning human oversight is necessary for ethical decision-making. This dual approach—utilizing algorithms alongside human judgment—aims to create fairer and more insightful outcomes.

Intro

4min

A Journey from Programming to Leadership in Publishing

2min

The Value of Human Curation at Medium

21min

Understanding the Role of Human Editors in Medium's Community

2min

Rethinking Internet Models: From Attention to Value in Content Curation

3min

Navigating Distractions and Personal Growth in the Digital Age

4min

Tony Stubblebine is the CEO of Medium, the widely popular publishing platform that recently surpassed 1 million subscribers. A serial entrepreneur, Tony is also the founder of habit coaching companies Coach.me and Lyft Worldwide and is the publisher of Better Humans on Medium. He is a passionate advocate for writers and a frequent speaker on the intersection of human creativity and technology, emphasizing why bots won’t replace human ingenuity. Tony holds a BA in Computer Science from Grinnell College, where he proudly supports the Pioneers.

In this conversation, we discuss:

How Medium's recommendation system was overhauled under Tony's leadership to prioritize human curation over algorithmic popularity, creating a platform that values thoughtful content.
The transformative decision to adopt a subscription-based model, allowing Medium to focus on delivering content readers are happy to pay for, rather than relying on ad-driven engagement.
The balance between human curation and algorithms in delivering a "sane, thoughtful, and informed" reading experience that supports both freedom and quality.
Medium's mission to deepen readers' understanding by emphasizing human wisdom over pure knowledge, highlighting the importance of life experience in creating impactful content.
Why Medium minimizes the presence of AI-generated content, focusing instead on curating thoughtful and valuable human contributions for its readers.
Tony's perspective on fixing the "broken Internet" by proving that business models focused on delivering value, rather than grabbing attention, can be successful and sustainable.

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