Sign In

Buster Benson

Principal Product Manager at Medium and Founder of 750 Words

Buster Benson is the Principal Product Manager at Medium, a position he has held since August 2022. He is based in Berkeley, California. Before joining Medium, Benson had an extensive career in product management and entrepreneurship, including roles at notable companies such as Twitter, Slack, and Patreon.

Professional Background

  • Medium: Principal Product Manager (August 2022 - Present)
  • 750 Words: Founder (December 2009 - Present)
  • Patreon: Senior Product Manager (March 2018 - September 2018)
  • Slack: Group Product Manager - Platform (December 2016 - February 2018) and Senior Product Manager (June 2015 - December 2016)
  • Twitter: Senior Product Manager (February 2013 - June 2015) and Senior Software Engineer (August 2012 - February 2013)
  • Habit Labs: Co-founder, CTO, and CEO (August 2011 - August 2012)

Benson is also an author, having published a book titled "Why Are We Yelling? The Art of Productive Disagreement" and has been involved in various startups and projects focused on human behavior and productivity.12

Highlights

Sep 15 · linkedin

Hey, guess what? After kinda burning out from the tech world in 2018, and publishing a book in 2019, and… [insert pandemic / world / life chaos here]… I have emerged from the ashes with new energy and have just started a new job at Medium, doing my product thing.

I’ve been a strong believer in Medium’s ad-free, clutter-free, writer-friendly, thoughtful publishing tools and subscription-based membership since I first saw it, and have happily paid for it since the beginning.

https://lnkd.in/gkmyDArh

I also think the space of possibilities for being thoughtful on the internet has evolved in exciting ways since Medium was founded 10 years ago. Substack and podcasts and patronage and a number of trends are swirling about, looking for better ways of connecting people and ideas.

💫

Jun 13 · linkedin

My book is a Kindle Daily Deal, and only $1.99 for the day: https://lnkd.in/g9WFeT6 (93% off!)

A good portion of chapter 3 on biases leans heavily on examining how acknowledging that we’re complicit in systems of racism is going to feel inescapable and very uncomfortable. And yet, learning how to participate in proactive ways that reduce the harms of bias and racism within this discomfort is key to our growth, and desirable.

The passage in the screenshots is an adapted list of suggestions from Robin DiAngelo’s book White Fragility, which I highly recommend. I’ll post notes I took from the book in the comments.

I’m still learning a lot about this stuff and continue to find new tricks my brain pulls to protect myself instead of questioning itself and identifying ways to be helpful rather than merely safe.

Mistakes are guaranteed AND we need to keep having these conversations.

Related Questions

What are some of Buster Benson's most notable achievements at Medium?
How did Buster Benson's experience at Slack influence his career?
What inspired Buster Benson to start 750 Words?
Can you tell me more about Buster Benson's book "Why Are We Yelling?"?
What are some of the key projects Buster Benson has worked on at Patreon?
Buster Benson
Buster Benson, photo 1
Buster Benson, photo 2
Add to my network

Experience

Principal Product Manager at Medium (August 2022 - Present)
750 Words (December 2009 - Present), Self-employed (October 2018 - Present), Senior Product Manager at Patreon (March 2018 - September 2018), Group Product Manager - Platform at Slack (December 2016 - at JFA Development (October 2001 - January 2003)

Location

Berkeley, California, United States