Can Twitter co-founder take an 'evolutionary leap' into storytelling?

Collaborative publishing website Medium, which aims to reinvent the blog, secures first external investmentMedium, Twitter co-founder Ev Williams's online publishing venture, has no shortage of ambition – to reinvent the blog as a digital storytelling format and match the impact of the microblogging service, no less.Williams, who launched Medium in August 2012 with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, has said their aim is "re-imagining publishing in an attempt to make an evolutionary leap" by building a new platform from scratch that would put an emphasis on ideas, stories and collaboration. To achieve this, however, the company will have to get over several hurdles, not least addressing the confusion over Medium's perceived strategy and business model, summed up by Reuters media commentator Jack Shafer, who describes it – while not lacking potential – as up to now being "a mystery wrapped up in a hashtag concealed by a catchy URL".This uncertainty has clearly not put off investors: Medium, which employs 50 full-time staff, announced last week that it had secured its first external investment, a $25m funding round led by Greylock Partners, with participation from Google Ventures and individual investors. Initial funding for the platform came from Williams's investment vehicle The Obvious Corporation.Perhaps this enthusiasm shouldn't be a surprise. As well as co-founding Twitter, Williams launched blog publishing service Blogger in 1999 and Medium is, ostensibly, similar – with... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Two Bookstores Close, While Two Move Forward, in Wisconsin

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[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Time Inc. shakeup: Pearlstine returns from Bloomberg

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[ Crains New York | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US court throws out class-action status in Google books case, for now

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[ PC World | 2013-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Postal Service Moves Forward with Location Consolidation Plan

Despite a bill partially designed to stop this effort, the United States Post Service will move forward with its 9-month modified consolidation plan. The first step will consolidate 48 locations this summer, with larger-scale consolidation to follow at the start of 2013. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2012-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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