
Colin Kaepernick joins Medium board of directors - raiyu
https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/colin-kaepernick-joins-medium-board-of-directors-and-inks-partnership-publishing-deal/
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xwowsersx
Pardon 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.

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perfmode
what strategic value is it customary for board members to bring?

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xwowsersx
Often 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...

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perfmode
how 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.

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whywhywhywhy
Boggles 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.

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Udik
Can 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?

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jorgenveisdal
Your question answers itself

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Udik
I thought so after posting it :)

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1123581321
Read 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.

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gnicholas
Is this meant to be a reply to another comment?

Also, where does it say anything about protecting his publishing partnership
from executive changes?

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1123581321
I 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.

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gnicholas
Pretty big logical leap there. I don’t think it’s justified to conclude that
his board seat is to allow him to protect his publishing partnership. If they
wanted to do that, they could have just made the contract ironclad.

Also, one board seat out of five doesn’t enable him to protect the
partnership. Log-roll, maybe, but again this is drawing some pretty
conclusions IMO.

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1123581321
Yes, you’re correct about the limitations of the power of one board member on
a board of five.

As for the rest, it might help you to think of a board relationship as
providing several benefits to both the board member and the company. We’ve
only discussed one. In addition to his partnership work, he’ll conduct normal
board member duties.

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gnicholas
Sure, we’ve only discussed one aspect because it’s the only one that you chose
to describe (and IMO, invent).

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1123581321
It’s unremarkably common for organizations and the key individuals to use a
board seat to ensure an enduring partnership. I don’t know what to suggest to
you except to look at board seats of other companies to better understand the
reasons for assignments. You’ll typically find them assigned for financial,
expertise, and partnership reasons.

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gnicholas
I find your tone patronizing and substance lacking. I have never seen a board
seat granted in order to allow the board member to protect a partnership. To
induce the board member to create a partnership? That makes more sense. But it
isn’t what you claimed. You made a specific and unsubstantiated claim that it
was to allow him to protect his partnership in the event of executive change.

Not sure why you keep digging in on this position. You strongly implied that
the article said something that it absolutely did not. Good day!

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1123581321
Take care. :) I’ve enjoyed talking with you as well.

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gnicholas
Who else is on Medium’s board?

EDIT: per Crunchbase, it’s Ev, Ben Horowitz, Josh Elman, and Judith Estrin.

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lenwood
I 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-
boar...](https://blog.medium.com/colin-kaepernick-to-join-medium-board-of-
directors-7e5e8a28d7ee)

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derision
oh boy here we go

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xhkkffbf
This could be very useful. Will he be writing? It could give us a chance for
him to lead.

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DeepThoughts
I’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.

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haram_masala
It'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.

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Kye
Why do you think he's a poor spokesman for this?

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haram_masala
Because 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.

