Every great entrepreneur, in their quest to build something meaningful, must possess unwavering tenacity and a wholehearted commitment. Often, the most driven founders are not those focused on short-term financial success, but on a long-term, transformative mission.
Jeff Bezos didn't just want Amazon to be the biggest online bookseller; he envisioned it as the world's largest retailer. Elon Musk wasn't content with co-founding PayPal to simplify online transactions; he aimed to revolutionize the American auto industry and commercialize space travel. And Evan Williams didn't just want to make blogging easier; for the past two decades, he has been trying to fundamentally change the way we publish online.
Williams's latest venture, the blogging platform Medium, represents his most recent attempt to make online publishing simpler, more accessible, and more valuable for both writers and readers. However, Medium's journey provides the perfect case study to explore a core, persistent question plaguing the content industry: Is paid content a truly viable path forward?
For a long time, the content industry's business model has been governed by the gravitational pull of advertising. On the surface, the model seems sound: users get information for free, small banner ads are a minor inconvenience, and the barrier to charging users directly is admittedly high.
However, this model's foundation is cracking. When the advertiser, not the reader, becomes the paying customer, the very definition of "valuable content" changes. The core incentive for creators shifts from providing deep value to readers to chasing the traffic that attracts advertisers. This creates a vicious cycle: content quality degrades to cater to algorithms and clickbait, while ad intrusiveness and privacy concerns worsen. In this ecosystem, the reader is not the customer; they are the product being sold.
It is against this bleak backdrop that Williams and Medium offered a profound vision for paid content, built on the belief that a new equilibrium is forming:
The Scarcity of Quality: Cheap, low-effort content won't disappear, but its value will continue to decline. In parallel, a wealth of high-quality, non-free content will emerge, actively sought by discerning readers.
A Rebalanced Supply and Demand: As paywalls become more common and healthier feedback loops (like direct reader payments) are established, the availability of high-quality free content will naturally decrease. This scarcity will rebalance the economic scales.
The Gravity of a Business Model: Williams argues that a business model is as powerful as gravity. Once creators begin competing for readers' dollars instead of advertisers' budgets, they will be powerfully incentivized to polish their work and elevate its quality.
Williams's idealism is admirable, but Medium continues to struggle with profitability. Its journey proves that to break old rules and build a new order, a noble mission alone is not enough.
Ignoring Convention is a Source of Innovation—and Peril.
Medium’s success was largely born from its rebellion against convention. Its beautiful aesthetic and resolute refusal to run ads made it a breath of fresh air. But this rebellion came at a cost. Williams’s halo from his successes with Blogger and Twitter bought Medium precious time to experiment. Most startups don't have that luxury. The critical question becomes: How long can you sustain an unconventional model before it jeopardizes your company's survival?
A Grand Mission Is Not a Viable Business Model.
"To change online publishing" is a respectable mission, but it doesn't automatically translate into a sustainable business. Medium's greatest challenge has been finding a way to monetize its noble goal. Its membership program, while a logical business decision, severely damaged its brand and alienated the very community of creators who helped build it.
The Chasm Between "Nice-to-Have" and "Must-Have."
Ultimately, Medium's greatest weakness may be that it failed to become indispensable. It certainly helped redefine the experience of long-form writing, but it operates more as a content aggregator than a true publication with a distinct identity and loyal audience. Fostering loyalty to a platform is infinitely harder than fostering loyalty to an individual creator or magazine. For many, Medium is a "nice-to-have," not a "must-have."
Medium's struggle is not an endpoint; it is a signpost that illuminates the path for those who follow. It clearly reveals the core problems: the conflict of interest between the platform and its creators, and the reader's diluted loyalty to a platform rather than to individuals.
Based on these insights, our product is designed to solve this problem at its root. We believe the future of a sustainable content ecosystem is not one where readers "subscribe to a platform," but one where they "directly support a creator."
Our product is positioned to realize this vision, serving as "the creator's business infrastructure and growth partner."
1. Our Core Principle: From Platform Centralization to Individual Empowerment
Unlike Medium, which pools all paying members into one centralized subscription, our model is decentralized. We don't act as a landlord; we provide the tools for each creator to build their own independent business.
Creator-Owned Subscription Systems: Every creator can establish their own paid membership program with custom pricing, tiers (e.g., standard, premium), and benefits (e.g., exclusive articles, newsletters, community access). Revenue goes directly to the creator, with the platform taking only a transparent service fee.
Creators Own Their Audience: Creators have full ownership of their subscriber lists and data. If they ever choose to leave, they take their most valuable asset with them: their loyal audience.
2. Our Product: From a Publishing Tool to a Community Engine
To bridge the "nice-to-have" gap, we help creators transform the shallow relationship of a "reader" into the sticky, high-value connection of a "community member."
An Integrated Business Toolkit: We offer more than just an elegant writing experience. We integrate three core functions: a Newsletter, a Paid Content Hub, and a Private Discussion Forum. Creators can manage their entire workflow—from content creation to monetization to community engagement—all in one place.
Fostering Deep Connection: Through exclusive discussion areas, creators can interact directly with their core supporters, answer questions, and spark conversations. This transforms a one-time read into a sense of long-term belonging, making the product a "must-have" hub for a creator's truest fans.
3. Our Business Model: From a Rigid Paywall to a Flexible Value Ladder
We reject Medium's all-or-nothing paywall, giving creators the flexibility to build a healthy reader funnel that matches their strategy.
A Hybrid Approach: Creators can freely mix public content (to attract new readers), member-only content (to convert core fans), and one-time purchase content (for high-value reports or courses).
Nurturing the Habit of Payment: This model allows creators to build trust with free content and then gently guide readers toward paying for more valuable offerings, rather than hitting them with a hard wall that turns potential fans away.
The story of Medium teaches us that world-changing ideals must be paired with a sustainable business model. While it has done more than almost any other company to elevate our thinking about long-form content, its commercial struggles highlight the inherent contradictions of a platform-centric model.
We believe the true breakthrough lies in returning power and value to the creators themselves. By equipping them with powerful tools, a clear path to revenue, and freedom from platform dependency, we are building a new, healthier creator economy. In this ecosystem, creators are not gig workers generating traffic for a platform; they are independent entrepreneurs running their own businesses.
Ultimately, when thousands of creators can earn a respectable living from their talent and hard work, a truly prosperous era of high-quality, paid content will finally arrive.
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