{"id":1021,"date":"2015-01-14T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2015-01-14T14:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinkapps.com\/blog\/?p=1021"},"modified":"2016-03-31T16:59:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T23:59:22","slug":"how-start-startup-getting-press-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkapps.com\/blog\/launch\/how-start-startup-getting-press-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Start a Startup: Getting Press the Right Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

“A lot of people, I think, when they first get started with entrepreneurship think about getting press …\u00a0as something that happens magically. They think about it …\u00a0like a meritocracy, which is absolutely not the case.”<\/em><\/p>\n

As part of\u00a0Y Combinator<\/a>\u00a0president\u00a0Sam Altman<\/a>\u2019s How to Start a Startup<\/a> series at Stanford University, Justin Kan educated up-and-coming startups<\/a> on the seemingly-elusive art of getting press coverage.<\/p>\n

Kan<\/a>\u00a0is a\u00a0YC partner\u00a0and previously founded\u00a0Kiko<\/a>\u00a0and Justin.tv<\/a>\u00a0(which later became Twitch<\/a>). His ventures have received\u00a0coverage on tech sites and beyond, and he gave some tactical, step-by-step advice on how to get media attention\u00a0and handle your own PR.<\/p>\n

(For more startup advice, check out\u00a0How to Start a Startup: The Book<\/a><\/em>. It’s\u00a0the ultimate reference guide to creating a successful tech startup.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

But before you start reaching out to news sources at all, you have to ask yourself some questions. When you have answers for these questions, you\u2019ll be better able to respond to\u00a0queries\u00a0from the press when they come a knockin.\u2019<\/p>\n

What Is Your Goal?<\/h2>\n

What do you want people to come away from\u00a0the story knowing about your startup? Make sure you keep these business goals in mind before talking about your\u00a0company so you can speak about it clearly and concisely. “Um”s and “you know”s don’t read well in an interview.<\/p>\n

Who Do You Want to Reach?<\/h2>\n

Consider your audience before reaching out<\/a> to news outlets. Writers want material that will interest their readers, so make sure you\u2019re pitching in places where your story is likely to have\u00a0an audience.<\/p>\n

Kan gave an example of how he went about finding an audience for Twitch PR:<\/p>\n

\u201cTwitch TV… is like ESPN for gamers, kind of like a live stream community for gamers. Our goal was to reach the gaming industry … whether they were developers or advertisers. [We wanted them] to think about us as an important place where influencers were, so we really targeted industry trades and game dev blogs. Stuff that the industry was reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kan suggests that it\u2019s best to handle PR yourself, at least early on. \u201cIt\u2019s generally not a good use of money, especially in the early days [to hire a firm].\u201d He said that most firms can only help you with contacts and logistics. They can\u2019t create your story.<\/p>\n

What Type of Story Are You Pitching?<\/h2>\n

When you have an idea of your story and the audiences\u00a0you want to tap into, it\u2019s time to see what type of story you\u2019re bringing to the table. Once you know which of these you fulfill, you\u2019ll be better able to pitch your story in a convincing way.<\/p>\n

Product Launches<\/b>: The beginning is always a good place to start.<\/p>\n

Fundraising<\/b>: People love a good financial success story.<\/p>\n

Milestones\/Metrics<\/b>: Did you make a lot of revenue in one week? That could be news; numbers talk.<\/p>\n

Business Overviews<\/b>: Startup stories are always great reads but more often than not, this coverage only comes when you\u2019re a bit beyond the early startup phase.<\/p>\n

Stunts<\/b>: Think guerrilla advertising.<\/p>\n

Hiring Announcements<\/b>: Like when former Etsy designer Cap Watkins becomes BuzzFeed\u2019s first VP of Design<\/a>, that\u2019s big news.<\/p>\n

Contribute Articles<\/b>: Contribute your own voice to the outlets your audiences are reading.<\/p>\n

Step-by-Step Pitch Process<\/h2>\n

Even after you\u2019ve nailed down your goals, found an audience, and picked which type of story you want to present, you\u2019re still going to have to actually pitch your story to someone who will hopefully write about it. Kan has some step-by-step\u00a0advice on how to do that:<\/p>\n

1. Think of a story<\/h3>\n

Before you pitch your story, Kan says, \u201cWhat you really need to think about objectively is, ‘If I wasn’t the founder of this company, would I want to read a story about what I’m pitching?’\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Get introduced<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s best to get introduced to a reporter through someone else. Think about someone who already covered a friend or fellow entrepreneur who you know and ask your contact\u00a0to make the introductions.<\/p>\n

3. Set a date<\/h3>\n

Give the reporter at least four to seven\u00a0days to write and publish your story \u2014 more if you can.<\/p>\n

4. Reach out<\/h3>\n

A lot can get lost in translation over email. Get a commitment from the reporter, face-to face if possible, or at least on the phone if you can.<\/p>\n

5. Pitch them<\/h3>\n

When pitching your story, write out bullet points of what you want covered. This is what Olivia Pope calls \u201ccontrolling the narrative.\u201d Yes, that was a Scandal<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>reference.<\/p>\n

6. Follow up<\/h3>\n

Leave things on a good note before the launch and thank the reporter for her\u00a0time. Also, tie up any possible loose ends by reaffirming potential lingering details: names of founders, time of launch, etc.<\/p>\n

7. Launch your news<\/h3>\n

And hopefully the reporters\u00a0are publishing the articles you pitched at the same time!<\/p>\n

Final Rules of Thumb<\/h2>\n

In your pursuit of press, it\u2019s important to keep in mind that a lot of press does not a good product make<\/a>. Kan reminds startups,<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting press is like a vanity metric: It feels like you’re being successful because many successful companies like Facebook are covered in the press all the time, but it doesn’t actually mean you’re successful. It doesn’t actually mean you’re making money, getting users, or making those users happy<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Still, if you\u2019re keeping your users happy, making a stellar product and maintaining good relationships with reporters, you\u2019re definitely on the right track to getting the kind of coverage you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

Next Steps<\/h2>\n

You can read a full transcript of Kan’s\u00a0lecture here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also, if you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out\u00a0How to Start a Startup: The Book<\/a><\/em>. It’s\u00a0the ultimate reference guide to creating a successful tech startup.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

Featured image was taken from the video of Justin Kan\u2019s lecture<\/a> at Stanford.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Y Combinator partner and Twitch founder Justin Kan gives tactical, simple advice on how to reach out to press outlets and actually get a story out of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":1064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[97,90,126,72,105,106],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Start a Startup: Getting Press the Right Way<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Y Combinator partner and Twitch founder Justin Kan gives tactical, simple advice on how to reach out to press outlets and actually get a story out of it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thinkapps.com\/blog\/launch\/how-start-startup-getting-press-coverage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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