PR for startups: is it only for the rich and (already) famous?

Let’s bust some myths!

Have you ever gotten sick of seeing a startup ‘everywhere’ in the press? 

Worst is, you sometimes don’t even think this startup tells interesting stories or provides an outstanding service. 

So how do they do it?

How do they get journalists to write multiple stories about them, when your company can’t even get a single headline? 

The first thing you need to know is that public relations and journalists have often been overly mystified by entrepreneurs. 

Although startuppers admit PR coverage helps them build a strong brand, it strikes me that their mutual interactions can too often be summarized in a single word: ‘misunderstanding’. 

Let’s take a look at the reasons why a few startups are seemingly ‘everywhere’, according to popular wisdom.

Let’s bust some myths!

Spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with money. 

1/ ‘It’s because they raised a ton of money’ 

There might be a correlation between the amount raised by startups and their presence in the press. However, as you know, correlation doesn't imply causation. 

€32.4bn of VC funding have been raised in Europe in 2019*, a 24% increase compared with 2018. In other words, fundraising is not enough of a story any more. Expecting a systematic coverage by major press outlets is still very common among founders, and they keep being disappointed by the outcome. 

In regards to PR, raising funds should only be a pretext to get the press’ attention. 

For instance, Qonto has raised three rounds in its first 2 years of existence: 1.6M€, 10M€, 20M€, with Alven (leading EU fund), and Valar (created by Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal). 

Did journalists welcome us with open arms? No, their feedback (when we were lucky enough to have some) was: 

• ‘Why raise so much money?’

• ‘Peter Thiel? The one who backed Trump’s campaign?’ 

• ‘There are so many neobanks right now, and too many articles on this topic already.’

So how did we manage to grab the attention of the press? 

A typical pitfall would have been to pitch : ‘We raised a ton of money with top VC funds, we’re on the path to becoming the next unicorn.’

Whereas angles we used and that proved to be effective were: 

• Generalist press: how we’re impacting the French (and soon European) economy: jobs created, entrepreneurship made easier through easier access to banking 

• Entrepreneurship press: Small businesses are still left out of the banking revolution: why and how we’re solving this issue 

• For tech/fintech media: how this money will be spent to develop a proprietary core banking system, an open API, artificial intelligence capabilities, and how that makes Qonto stand out compared with the myriad of neobanks (offer an analysis of the market that is documented and easily digestible: journalists are busy!)

To summarize: 

• Explain why the problem you’re solving is impacting society, rather than brag about the amount raised, valuation, or the VCs pedigree 

• If the market you’re operating in is crowded, stop complaining about journalists not ‘getting it’. Instead, provide a framework to ‘read’ the market and explain why you stand out.

• Keep in mind that journalists are not here to ‘pass on’ your press release  or your self-proclaimed innovations to their audience: their role is to inform and educate their audience

2/ ‘Anyway, they had a fancy PR agency I can’t afford’

The idea that a magical PR agency does it all for successful startups that can afford them is an excuse for procrastination. 

Instead of putting efforts in their PR strategy, too many startups are just wondering ‘Should I get an agency? What agency should I get?’. 

Startups that often get coverage usually follow these two steps, and no external agency is actually required, especially when your venture is at an early stage.

Step 1 : They speak to journalists when they do not need them.

Pushing a press release from time to time and asking a journalist you barely know to write about it is as repelling as never speaking to an acquaintance, and asking them for a favor (yes, reading your press release among hundreds of other ones they receive on a daily basis is a favor).

I love this example** by Ashley Mayer, former PR Director at Box: 

‘This is what most reporters’ incoming communications from early startups look like:

Radio silence

“HI YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF US WE HAVE BIG NEWS TOMORROW PLEASE WRITE ABOUT IT!!!”

“Did you get my email…?”

“The news is out, are you going to write an article?”

Radio silence

Rinse and repeat’

So, where can you start? 

I think the best place is Twitter. Follow journalists that are in your field, comment their articles with your unique point of view, add value or help when you can. At some point, they might notice you.
You can also request introductions through your own network (e.g., VCs, other entrepreneurs, etc.).
Or how about connecting journalists with relevant people you know? You would do it for other business partners but very few entrepreneurs think of doing it for journalists. 

Step 2 : They designed a foundation of ‘cold topics’ they built thought leadership on.

Startups don’t always have ‘hot’ news that is worth sharing (no, releasing a new feature is rarely press release material, unless you’re Amazon). 

Typical topics can be: 

• How you are the poster company for the latest societal or technology trend: think future of work, artificial intelligence, for instance.

• How your company culture is unique: Basecamp’ founders Signal vs Noise blog was a pioneer, Front’s CEO Mathilde Collin posts are a great example too. 

Most importantly: don’t brag, share.

Let’s face it, 99% of startups don’t have a unique culture. What makes you unique though, is how you struggled, stepped back, what you learnt. Startups often think they should only show signs of success, which is actually the perfect recipe for bland communication.

You might wonder: what’s the fuss about PR agencies then?

It all comes to a cost / benefit analysis:

About costs:

PR agencies have a financial cost, which varies greatly between a few thousands euros to dozens of thousands euros / month. 

Beyond the retainer cost, I think the additional workload is too often underestimated. However talented it is, it is a supplier like any other one. It has to be managed: provided with guidance, fed with internal news, coordinated by internal teams. 

Additionally, if your product is very technical or B2B, you need to invest time to make sure your agency understands the subtleties of your field. 

It can be perceived like a loss of time, but a good way to view it is like a dry test: if your PR agency does not get it, there’s a high probability that an overworked journalist won’t get your key messages either. 

About benefits:

I would see the agency as a catalyzer: 

• They can get you a first meeting with a journalist outside your network

• Through their network, they can hear of panels, studies of topics that are adjacent to your industry and that you can  jump in. But you’ll get ‘accepted’ only if you built a track record as a thought leader first. 

• They can provide media training on an ad hoc basis (but a lot of coaches are also knowledgeable on this subject). 

To summarize: 

Should you manage PR by yourself? Primarily, yes. At least, be sure you have something to be catalyzed before hiring an agency. Otherwise it’s just time and money thrown out of the window… at best. 

What about the worst scenario?  A PR crisis if the agency has not been sufficiently onboarded or managed. 

I’ve learnt a lot by discussing with Maud Camus, who led PR & Comms at Dropbox, and is now Head of Comms at The Family. 

The two tips that would have saved me the most time when I started working in tech are: 

‘Just as you spend a lot of time understanding how your target customers think, do the same thing with journalists. Nurture your relationship with them, try to support their goals, don’t be transactional, it won’t work. Pay it forward as much as you can.’

‘If you’re an early stage startup, you most likely don’t need a PR agency. And when you do hire one, make sure you… like the team. Even more than for other suppliers, you need to enjoy the personalities of your agency’s team, and TRUST them to pitch your company on your behalf. It’s all about chemistry. ‘

If you want to know more, I highly recommend this article and this video.

--- 

I hope I helped you have a clearer view of how to approach PR! 

As there’s obviously no need to be rich or famous, when are you getting started? 

PS: I have a list of agencies I like if you still need one, feel free to reach out if you want to know more. 

—
* Source: Pitchbook
** Full article here: https://medium.com/@ashleymayer/its-okay-that-your-startup-doesn-t-have-a-communications-strategy-e92f3016c4d9

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash