You know it’s bad when even a moderate liberal is scared she might get canceled for disagreeing with the powers that be. We have covered moderate liberal Michelle Tandler a few times in the past as she has been outspoken about the damage her own party’s policies have done to public education – she has also been very honest about the levels of crime in her own community. She is fair and calls out both sides, it’s just so rare to see someone on the Left call their own ‘side’ out, ya’ know?
We really like reading and writing about her.
So this thread about perhaps having to stop tweeting to keep her business from being hurt or even destroyed is very disappointing (but sadly, not at all surprising):
I've been pretty quiet here the past two weeks…
I went for a walk with a potential customer who said yes, I need to stop tweeting or I'm going to lose out on sales and hiring.
My company is gaining traction… It may be time to take a pause. I'm doing some soul searching.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
We shouldn’t have to choose between having an opinion or losing our business.
Or job.
But here we are.
What's tough about this decision is that tweeting has become something I find a lot of purpose in.
I find it both interesting and meaningful to engage in intellectual debate about politics and what I observe around me in the world.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
Additionally – I feel like I have found a community of like-minded people here that I don't have in the real world.
Being a solo founder has been the loneliest and hardest experience of my entire professional career.
Twitter has helped me through it…
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
My world – especially socially – is pretty small.
I live in a city. Virtually all my friends share the same political beliefs. Most people around me think in similar ways.
Twitter has popped that bubble in more ways than one.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
The letters (DMs) I have received have been extraordinary.
I've received probably somewhere between five and ten thousand at this point.
From prison guards in Wyoming to bus drivers in SF, police officers, professors, bankers, billionaires – the breadth has been astounding.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
People say that our country is divided into two halves.
They are forgetting the people in the middle. There are millions of them – people who don't feel at home on either side – who feel politically "homeless."
Those people have become "my people" I think…
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
So. Much. This. ^
So yes, I am doing some soul-searching on what to do about this conundrum.
It is impossible for me to tweet without sharing my true stripes. And my true stripes aren't red or blue – they are purple.
It's hard to be purple without pissing people off…
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
To be fair, it’s hard to be blue or red without pissing people off …
I have a lot of critiques of both sides, and they seem to just flow out of me…
There's a part of me that has a lot of opinions – and when I'm on Twitter in the morning writing from bed, sometimes words come out slightly the wrong way.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
Join the club.
Heh.
But – now that my audience has grown – I'm held to a higher standard.
With all due respect, I am not a journalist.
I'm just a person trying to sort some things out, better understand the world, and have a little fun along the way.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
I've known that I'm playing with fire – and that I had a chance of getting burned – which I have…
But now things are slightly shifting. @GrowthPathLabs is about to have its first few customers. These are not individuals – these are corporations…
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
What happens if one of our users looks me up and sees that nasty article in The Examiner about me? What will her impression be of me, the company, and the product?
Will she take it less seriously? Do I jeopardize this company with my tweets? What is my fiduciary duty?
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
All fair but sad questions.
If we navigate a successful seed round, we will soon be hiring.
Will I hurt our chances of recruiting the best people for the role because of my politics?
Will my future team be frustrated with reduced sales or a smaller hiring pipeline b/c of me?
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
I cannot tell you how many founders & business leaders have reached out over the past two years – thanking me for speaking out because they felt they could not.
This saddens me. That we are in such a polarized world that talking about politics puts one's career at risk.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
But this is just the reality we lived in.
Last week I reached out to about a dozen friends asking if they had any Republican friends. Almost everybody said no. A few had one or two.
It was an "aha" moment.
We are tribal. I don't have a tribe. I must proceed with caution.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
Another fair but sad point.
So I'm seriously considering giving it up.
A few people in my life have begged me to stop a number of times.
I've kept going because I love it here. It's hard to imagine life without Twitter in it… This is one of the places I am my truest self…
So – more soul searching.
— Michelle Tandler (@michelletandler) September 12, 2022
We really appreciate her point of view and how balanced her posts typically are, and clearly, our readers do as well, so we hope in all of her soul searching she figures out we need her voice on Twitter. Maybe more now than ever.
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