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Startups and PR Firms - The Gross Disconnect

6 points by rkord 16y ago

mbenjaminsmith 16y ago
Before I got into tech I founded a PR agency. I agree that you shouldn't outsource PR as a startup. If you can't fumble your way through a pitch to a journalist you either a) have a shitty product or b) shouldn't be running a business. Journalists are remarkably tolerant of the amateur if she is honest and believes in what she's doing. The 'clueless staffer' email is a bit old though. No agency worth their salt would put out something like that. I'd say the #1 issue in PR is not having a solid story to work with. 'PR in the boardroom' is considered the holy grail of agency/client relationships and frankly pure BS if anyone ever tells you they have it. PR doesn't guide business decisions. That means the business is either newsworthy or it isn't, regardless of what the agency does.
- ugh 16y ago
  PR agencies just can’t make the launch of a USB stick sexy. In my limited experience with PR agencies I have sadly seen that they seem to have huge problems telling that the client. They will write a press release when the client tells them to, no matter how unimportant the thing the client wants to announce is. I think this article is quite apt, small companies and startups don’t really need a PR firm. A long and intensive relationship between client and PR agency is the foundation for good PR work by the agency and such relationships just won’t happen when you are a startup. Journalists don’t bite, be nice to them, make it easy for them and write good stuff for them. That’s all.
dnsworks 16y ago
In 1999 I was dismayed by the sheer number of otherwise incapable people who staffed the various startups I slaved away for. They had titles like "Director Of Marketing", "VP of Communications", etc. They were opportunists looking for a job that would make them wealthy, but without the skills or the real drive to become competent enough at that job to achieve their goals. I do my best to keep track of the people I've developed some nominal relationship with professionally. LinkedIN has been awesome for this. After the bubble burst, the most useless people I knew left the tech industry. They became Mortgage Brokers, Real Estate Agents, and Recruiters. After the real estate bubble burst, a lot of these same people rebranded themselves as Social Media Experts. For every dollar your startup earns or raises, there are hundreds of looters trying to convince you to give it to them.
- krav 16y ago
  My God, you're so right! I was there as well, same thing - the dot.com boom made ad agencies tons of money.

6 points by rkord 16y ago

Before I got into tech I founded a PR agency. I agree that you shouldn't outsource PR as a startup. If you can't fumble your way through a pitch to a journalist you either a) have a shitty product or b) shouldn't be running a business. Journalists are remarkably tolerant of the amateur if she is honest and believes in what she's doing. The 'clueless staffer' email is a bit old though. No agency worth their salt would put out something like that. I'd say the #1 issue in PR is not having a solid story to work with. 'PR in the boardroom' is considered the holy grail of agency/client relationships and frankly pure BS if anyone ever tells you they have it. PR doesn't guide business decisions. That means the business is either newsworthy or it isn't, regardless of what the agency does.

ugh 16y ago
PR agencies just can’t make the launch of a USB stick sexy. In my limited experience with PR agencies I have sadly seen that they seem to have huge problems telling that the client. They will write a press release when the client tells them to, no matter how unimportant the thing the client wants to announce is. I think this article is quite apt, small companies and startups don’t really need a PR firm. A long and intensive relationship between client and PR agency is the foundation for good PR work by the agency and such relationships just won’t happen when you are a startup. Journalists don’t bite, be nice to them, make it easy for them and write good stuff for them. That’s all.

dnsworks 16y ago

In 1999 I was dismayed by the sheer number of otherwise incapable people who staffed the various startups I slaved away for. They had titles like "Director Of Marketing", "VP of Communications", etc. They were opportunists looking for a job that would make them wealthy, but without the skills or the real drive to become competent enough at that job to achieve their goals. I do my best to keep track of the people I've developed some nominal relationship with professionally. LinkedIN has been awesome for this. After the bubble burst, the most useless people I knew left the tech industry. They became Mortgage Brokers, Real Estate Agents, and Recruiters. After the real estate bubble burst, a lot of these same people rebranded themselves as Social Media Experts. For every dollar your startup earns or raises, there are hundreds of looters trying to convince you to give it to them.

krav 16y ago
My God, you're so right! I was there as well, same thing - the dot.com boom made ad agencies tons of money.