Open Letter to Friends of Medium
I Have A Question. I Am Listening
I’ve been writing on Medium for about two years now. I’m closing in on 8,000 followers. I like it here.
The platform gives me a place to put words down about things I’ve actually lived: building wealth from almost nothing, retiring at 42, being a dad who shows up, and the quieter parts of financial independence that most people writing about the topic never quite reach.
I also write on my blog, but I like Medium better. B ecause so many of you engage with what I write here. The (often positive) feedback is rewarding.
Who Am I, And How Am I Different?
I started with $800 when I was 21. I bought a rental house. I kept buying them. I worked in financial services for over 20 years, held the CFA, ran risk and investment teams, and never sold anything.
By my late 30s I had a liquid net worth over a million. I retired at 42 so I could spend time with my kids instead of treating work like the favorite child the way my own dad did. I’m actually third-generation early retiree.
None of us inherited money. We just watched how the previous generation behaved with time and money and decided to do better at the parts that mattered.
I write about that. Not because I need the money. I already made mine. I write because almost no one who actually retired early spends their time publishing.
I also write because my mom (who passed away a few years ago in her early 60s) always told me I should be a writer. Telling my story makes me feel a connection with her.
The internet is full of people describing the path from the outside. I can describe it from the inside.
AI can’t do that either. I’ve tried. It produces the same polished, incomplete 101-level drafts everyone else gets, because there simply aren’t enough real early-retirement experiences online for it to learn from.
My writing style has been the same for nearly 40 years. Sometimes people accuse me of being AI anyway. I’m not. I’ve just been writing like this before the people who built many of the AI tools were born.
I Love Medium
I enjoy Medium. I like the readers who show up. I like the conversations in the comments. I like that I can publish something and have an immediate audience.
But I hate spending money on things I don’t need.
That is not a performance. It’s how I got here. I said no to a lot of ordinary expenses for a long time so I could buy time later.
Medium membership is another recurring expense. I’m ok paying it, because it helps cover the expenses of my blog (which I dont even have ads on).
But I’m trying to figure out whether or not to upgrade to Friends of Medium.
Why Do You Love Friends of Medium?
So there’s my question.
Why do you love being a Friend of Medium (on top of regular membership)?
I already write here without being a Friend of Medium. I already read what I want.
So why would I become a Friend of Medium?
That’s the question I’m asking the people who already are.
I want to hear from you.
Not the marketing version. The real version.
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What do you actually get out of being a Friend that makes the cost feel worth it to you? Do you write here, or do you mostly read?
Has the membership changed how you use the platform, or is it mostly about supporting writers you like?
Does the unlimited reading matter to you in practice, or do you mostly stick to a handful of people anyway?
Have you noticed better engagement, more thoughtful comments, more reach, or access to anything that actually improved your own writing or your own life?
I’m not looking for a sales pitch. I’m looking for the same kind of honest accounting I try to give people when they ask me about early retirement.
Some things are worth the money because they buy you something you value more than the cash.
Some things are just another subscription that feels fine until you look at the total. I want to know which one this is for the people who have already made the decision.
What Is In It For Me?
My situation is specific. I don’t write to make a living. I write for fun and to pay it forward while my kids are in school. I don’t need the Partner Program money.
I’m in it to so I don’t lose so much writing for fun.
I already have the financial independence I spent decades building. So the usual reasons some writers join don’t apply the same way to me. If the main benefit is better distribution or higher earnings, that changes the math.
If the main benefit is being part of a community that actually talks back, or reading without friction, or simply supporting a platform that still lets independent writers reach people, that is a different calculation.
I’ve also watched what happens when platforms become the business model instead of the tool.
People start optimizing for the platform instead of writing the thing they meant to write. I don’t want to do that.
I already have a website where I can say whatever I want without a paywall. I post on X when I feel like it. (btw, if you aren’t following me on X, please do)
Medium is Great, Is Friends of Medium Greater?
Medium is useful because the audience is there and the format is clean.
Two years and nearly 8,000 followers is not nothing. Enough people have found the stories useful that I keep showing up.
Some of you are already Friends. Some of you have been reading long enough that they know I’m not selling a course or a newsletter funnel. (I do have a newsletter, but its free).
So I’m asking directly. If you are a Friend of Medium, why do you enjoy it?
What do you get that you wouldn’t get for free? Has it been worth the money for you as a reader, as a writer, or both?
If you write here and you’re in the Partner Program, does the membership change anything meaningful about how your stories perform, or is that mostly separate? ?
I just want the real answers before I take on another expense. I generally try to avoid recurring expenses (its one of the ways I got to where I am).
Leave a comment. Tell me your favorite thing about being a Friend, instead of just a Partner.
Tell me if it isn’t worth it….(privately if more comfortable).
I’ll read every comment.
Thanks for reading, and sharing.
Whether you’re a Friend or not, I’m glad you’re here….and I love Medium.
Zulie @ Medium tagging you in case you have anything to add or just want to read the comments too.
