Perhaps the problem is that a company is trying to monetize a fully democratic social network? A network like this deserves to be open-source and non-profit, that's the only way the organization that runs the forum can reasonably hope to remain appearing as a neutral actor in the forum. Also, they do need some self-governance rules, as only to remove liability (which they do [1]).
I think the real threat is the investors demanding outsize returns. I have read elsewhere that Pao might have been a sacrificial lamb - make some changes, get fired, changes stay in place. I'm sure that the board has significant changes around monetization in mind.
The mods should move everything to a non-profit org. The site is open-source already, and you could even use their Oauth to port user accounts over directly. My understanding is that they are just breaking even, which sounds bad for a for-profit but sounds great for a not-for-profit, especially if your executive director is getting CEO level pay.
Now, someone else will spend the time implementing my fantastic idea for me, right? /s
[1] https://www.reddit.com/rules/