I want to work for Medium.

I had to resist the urge to just submit this as my cover letter. Luckily, I thought better of it. I doubt the chuckle it might elicit would convey me as an individual very well to a recruiter.

I could start here by writing about my entrepreneurial college days, which would lead up to my first job out of college, which would lead up to the work I do now on the Google campus. It would all be very typical and would fit the status quo narrative of a cover letter. Instead, the footnotes here aren’t related to companies, dollar figures, lengths of stay, or organized bullet points. I love working with bright people to build something that none of us could on our own. I have fun seeking opportunity and taking action. I want to build something with the caliber of people who work for Medium, and seek out partnerships to help Medium grow. That’s it really. I think anything else I could say about myself would be superfluous and I don’t need to get into it until I have an interview.

I would rather talk about you; about Medium.

Edit — On the (wise) advice of Katie Zhu, I am adding in a bit more about myself and my interests, and how that jives with what is going on at Medium. I’ve made my background in business development and growth. I’ve worked in the start-up world and the non-profit sector (more similar than you would think), and am currently a vendor for the Real Estate and Workplace (REWS) Team at Google.
Writing this, I’m reminded. I have been fortunate to work on some awesome projects with some even better people. I really believe it’s all been leading up to working on something as meaningful as Medium. As a non-technical background, 1. you have to possess grit, and 2. you have to be crazy about the product. I have no doubt there are candidates more qualified, more experienced, and aesthetically more silicon-valley looking than myself (can’t grow a very good beard). But I am stoked about what Medium is and believe my most valuable ability is to get other people as excited about it as I am. When Steven Levy was on the Google campus I was able to ask him a question about the future of sponsored content for Medium. The product is beautiful, the network is burgeoning, and organizations can use that to connect with their audiences in a way that has never been done. I want to seek partnerships and build bridges for Medium.
In my spare time I am an avid NBA fan, freelance writer, Wine entrepreneur, and proud advocate of elevator close-door buttons.

..I would rather talk about you; about Medium.

I initially came to Medium for a publishing tool. Sorry, Ev. After more research, I understood. If Blogger was sacrificed to the lord of light, then Medium stood up in the ashes with it’s dragons. By now I know, it’s not a publishing tool, it’s a network; a gestalt for ideas and writing of substance. (Despite that I now know that Medium is so much more than a publishing tool, I have to state here that it is a damn beautiful — functionally and aesthetically — publishing tool.)

You can admire a project like Medium from a distance, but if you want to make an impact you have to get up close. I started mindfully planning how to reach my goal, mentally making the kind of webbed case charts that detectives make in noir crime movies. I attended Steven Levy’s talk at Google, and I asked him a few questions about sponsored content. I read up on holacracy, communication, and working with bright people. About mindfulness, dealing with tension, and Friday Afternoon Meetings. A workplace where managers are leaders, where we dig each other out of the status-quo-quicksand rather than sink independently.

Something I admire about Medium, is that it’s not entitled; not trying to push it’s way into the conversation at dinner. You won’t hear Medium describe itself as “the (insert famous start up) for (insert consumer product)!” It’s a simple, profound idea. Tom Hanks and quality content fending for themselves in a vast sea of click bait. Give people a platform, an opportunity to build something with their voices, together…and the rest is gravity.

I would love to chat further.
alec.nakashima@gmail.com
209.327.7495