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Both Evan Williams's entrepreneurial strategy and his social mission could be characterised as "the more voices the better". The theme was first evidenced in his co-founding of one of the earliest blogging tools, Blogger. Then he co-founded Twitter. Now he is CEO of San Francisco-based publishing platform Medium, which hosts both professional writers and open contributions by anyone with an internet connection.
The site, founded in 2012, now reaches over 25 million monthly visitors and has raised $82 million (£57m) in funding. Williams, 44, describes its aim as: "To raise the level of discourse on the internet, and to push ideas forward."
More than that, Williams (above) says it will expand the level of discourse to include a more diverse range of voices, each able to bring a unique perspective on an issue - from outside the traditional media establishment as well as within. On Medium you might find Barack Obama (whose 2015 State of the Union speech was first published here), or an open dialogue between a police officer and a black teenager on police brutality, or personal stories, open letters, activist commentary and first-hand reports of issues such as campus racism and sexism in the workplace.
That anti-hierarchical attitude and an emphasis on diverse opinions permeates the culture within Medium too, with responsibility for shaping the company's direction distributed among all employees. "I think people here feel empowered by the fact that they're working on something meaningful and impactful," Williams says. "It's exciting and energising."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
