Maybe investors are twisting management's to make more money (I have no idea. I just know these things happen.) The braindead way to make more money is to cut costs and/or increase revenue. It's a death spiral. For companies like Medium, taking this route ultimately kills a company. As another commenter said, Medium needs say "no" to any braindead strategies and take the long view. One option is to find investors who believe in the mission Medium aspires to, and have those investors buy out the current short-term investors.

The end goal is a long-term business strategy to the effect of "build it and they will come" (i.e., offer real value). That's a strategy that can work with commitment and patience. The strategy of "let's get them to come, take their money, and then build it" usually doesn't work.