I almost don’t care what they do…just as long as they change their jingle for the podcast. 
2 Likes
Link for those that may not be subscribed:
2 Likes
Oh man, I LOVE the jingle. Really.
2 Likes
Blocked and reported. 
2 Likes
Sad to see James’ post on IG this morning. Guessing he was expecting to land at the Placeholders 
.
Picking you’ll see this at some stage James. I really hope you land somewhere cool soon. Good luck.
9 Likes
Yeah, I kind of figured this was the case when the answer to Caley’s quiz about a technical person didn’t end up being “James”. I hate it, but I know he’ll end up in a good place. He has too much talent to disappear.
2 Likes
I just hope he didn’t leave CyclingTips thinking there was a spot for him. That would feel really garbage.
2 Likes
My guess is they couldn’t afford him.
8 Likes
In a new venture like this it’s almost like a startup, especially if they want it member funded and not ad supported. That has to mean there will be lean years or no pay in the beginning but potential equity? For sure something like this has risk. Without starting capital you can’t afford salaries, benefits, etc….so they would need financial backing from an outside source and we all saw how that went down last time….
Whichever, I wish him the best
Disappointed, but not surprised. A start-up just wasn’t gonna be able to afford everyone from the old CT.
Lots of opportunities out there for James, I’m sure….heck, if I was him I’d be tempted to look for a gig with a major supplier and get out of the media rat race. Get some job security and probably a few extra $$ along the way. He has the skills and knowledge base to easily transfer into product development.
3 Likes
It’s obviously all speculation at this point, but my reading of that JH/Placeholders situation is the 2 sides weren’t able to come to a financial agreement. Whether or not James expected some sort of agreement is perhaps the key question. I wish all concerned all the best for their new ventures (though I’m still on the fence about whether to become a paying subscriber to the Placeholders - without JH, they lose something, imo)
2 Likes
It’s important to remember that James also has a family to take care of. We don’t know the financial pressure placed on James or other editors due to dependents, spousal income etc. I personally think that the membership is going to be a smashing success and they’ll go back to James with the bag he deserves. 
2 Likes
I just received the following via email from Wade’s substack:
Dear readers,
Today is the day we stick our necks out in an attempt to fill an important gap in cycling media.
Why?
Because we believe cycling is the greatest sport on Earth and that it lends itself to some of the most incredible stories that any sport has to offer.
We want to bring these stories to life with some of the most talented journalists, storytellers and creators in the business. We want to make you feel something. We won’t just report the news. We’ll bring you the stories that you would never hear about otherwise, and things you didn’t even reailze would be fascinating, entertaining, or informative.
We are launching this today because, with your support, we can make this happen. If we hit our member target we can bring you a variety of voices, stories, and beat reporting and coverage like you’ve never seen before in cycling. You deserve this. Our wonderful sport deserves this.
Please go to www.escapecollective.cc to find out more. If you like what you see, I look forward to welcoming you as a member.
Thank you for your support. We won’t let you down.
PS I’ll be communicating via the www.EscapeCollective.cc platform now and shutting down this SubStack account soon. If you want to unsubscribe from the new platform, you can do so here.
5 Likes
James Huang is listed on the web site. Maybe??!
3 Likes
Bold move inviting people to unsubscribe before you even launch… 
2 Likes
Yeah, that line seemed odd to me as well.
INTERESTING… I had not made it there yet.
Some great photographers listed there too.
1 Like
