What was your first job as a journalist?
Columnist at Practical Ecommerce. I was running the Stupid Cancer store and started writing about what was actually working and what wasn't. The column was called Selling for a Cause. It ran from 2015 to 2020 and covered everything from switching ecommerce platforms to managing third-party fulfillment. That honest, operational angle is still how I approach every piece I write.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Never owned one, but my mom was a transcriptionist who worked evenings at home, so I grew up around the sound of one. I'd play with hers when she wasn't working.
How is social media changing news?
Social media has collapsed the gap between an event happening and the world knowing about it. For organizations like the Testicular Cancer Foundation, that speed is powerful. We can reach patients with timely information before traditional channels catch up. But it also means misinformation spreads just as fast, which is why I focus on building trust through consistency rather than chasing virality.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
J. Jonah Jameson
What does it mean to be a journalist?
I don't call myself a journalist, but I've been a columnist and contributor for over a decade. To me it means being willing to share what you've actually learned, not what sounds impressive. The pieces I wrote for Practical Ecommerce and Forbes came from real operational experience, not theory. The best writing, whether journalism or business content, earns trust by being specific and honest.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I'm more of a systems guy than a hashtag guy. Ask me about nonprofit ecommerce metrics and I'll talk all day.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Email with context. Tell me why it's relevant to what I write about, whether that's nonprofit operations, AI adoption, flexible workspaces, or ecommerce. I've written for Forbes, Practical Ecommerce, and Propmodo, so I'm open to conversations that align with those topics. Keep it short and skip the flattery. Contact page is at kenny-kane.com.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Zapier, Asana, OfficeRnD, Claude, ChatGPT, Manus
What's your favorite social network?
Instagram
Who do you wish followed you?
Guy Kawasaki. He was an early influence on how I thought about community building and evangelism. A lot of what I learned scaling Stupid Cancer's community came from studying how he turned users into advocates. I'd love for him to see what that thinking turned into across three organizations and three books.
Why did you become a journalist?
I didn't set out to be one. I was running ecommerce at Stupid Cancer and started documenting what I was learning. Practical Ecommerce picked up my column, Selling for a Cause, and it grew from there. Forbes Business Council came later. Writing became the way I processed what I was building across Firmspace, TCF, and Gryt Health. Three books later, I'd say I became a writer by doing the work first and writing about it second.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I contributed here and there but nothing major. My real writing career started years later when I began documenting what I was learning as COO of Stupid Cancer. Turns out the best preparation for writing wasn't journalism class, it was having something worth writing about.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My first book, The Accidental Nonprofiteer. It sat as 5,000 words in a Google Doc for eight years before I finally finished it with Claude as a writing partner. It captures everything I learned building Stupid Cancer with Matthew Zachary, from systems and ecommerce to community building. I've since written two more, Mission-Driven Ecommerce and Own Your Name, but that first one meant the most because it almost didn't happen.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Build your byline before you need it. The same way I tell nonprofit leaders to build systems before they scale, I'd tell aspiring journalists to publish consistently under your own name on platforms you control. Your body of work is your resume. I wrote a column at Practical Ecommerce for years, contributed to Forbes, and none of it came from cold pitching. It came from showing up with useful things to say and being easy to work with.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Early morning. I'm an email-first person and I process my inbox before the day gets going. If your pitch is sitting there when I open it, it gets real attention. By afternoon I'm deep in operations across Firmspace and TCF and anything that isn't urgent gets pushed to tomorrow.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
A university professor in Texas had his entire class build a Facebook marketing campaign for Stupid Cancer as their semester project. Nobody pitched me in the traditional sense. They just showed up with a fully formed idea, executed it, and it ended up driving our community from 11,500 to over 310,000 followers on a budget of $10 a day. Best pitch I ever got wasn't a pitch at all. It was someone doing the work.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Any email that starts with "I love your work" and then makes it obvious they've never read a word of it. The worst ones are generic templates that could have been sent to anyone. If you can't tell me which piece you're referencing or why your idea connects to what I actually cover, I'm not reading past the first line.
What's your favorite drink?
Diet Coke. No ice.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Walking around Austin with my family, probably near a coffee shop or taco spot. I spent five years doing cross-country road trips for Stupid Cancer, hitting all 50 states, so I still get restless if I sit still too long. These days the adventures are smaller but the company is better.
