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'why are they getting so much attention from everyone?' Its called a PR firm, and they take care of bombing every worthy media outlet with a tailored-made hype

by drubio 19y ago

'why are they getting so much attention from everyone?' Its called a PR firm, and they take care of bombing every worthy media outlet with a tailored-made hyper-inflated story on how they will change the world (a.k.a 'Press release'). They are generally expensive, but are often worth every penny since they have contacts in all the major media departments, which in turn create this type buzz. Wait till their PR budget runs out, then we will see if the software stands on its own.

shayan 19y ago
sure PR firms can help ... but there is not way you can get Fred Wilson to use the product before its launched, or get Dave Winer to try it out... or its not even that easy to get TechCrunch, and many other A List bloggers to write about your product... some of these blogs are big because no PR firm can get them to just publish the stuff, they are very picky... And of course if an average person wants TechCrunch to write about their product they will have very little chance to get any attention, but if I can get PG to ask TechCrunch, then its a different story, which is fair since they know who PG is and they know their time is not being wasted, whereas its hard to know what other people thinking... They have surely had great PR and they have probably got advice on what they should do, but what they are getting back is not simply because they are willing to spend dollars on a PR firm ... and if it is, and there are such influential PR firms please introduce them to me
- brezina 19y ago
  PG doesn't ask TC to write stories for his companies. TC asks PG. YC is a quality filter - it works for follow-on investors, acquirers, and press alike. edited: I didn't intend for this comment to be insulting. "TC asks PG" was hyperbole. What I meant to get across is that TC is interested in writing about YC companies because YC acts as a good filter for all the stuff that comes across Arrington's inbox.
  - shayan 19y ago
    you are laughing as if you are very confident about your answer ... well I am not as sure as you are what exactly PG does ... but I doubt TC calls up PG or anyone else for that matter on daily basis to find out whats new... and maybe PG doesn't do it but a lot of other VC's do (check this interview video with Michael Arrington about how to get on TC http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/11/how_to_get_in_t.html http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/11/how_to_get_in_t.html ) ... if I am going to work with YC I would expect them to help me with these kind of stuff ... I mean that is the whole point of YC (don't start with saying they are not a PR team and they are not there to create news for you, I know that) .. but the way YC is structured (which I think is great) is to mostly give you advice and support ... And this kind of support could mean more than anything else to help you launch your business, create traction and gain users, specially with Disqus that is late in the game, and needs the support of bloggers, and has many competition, and there is only a need of one of these services on each blog, and it has been proven that its not so easy to get dominance in this field
    - jey 19y ago
      "you are laughing as if you are very confident about your answer" FWIW, brezina is a cofounder of YC-funded Xobni, so he has the inside scoop.
      - shayan 19y ago
        oh thats interesting ... so maybe he should be kind enough to answer the questions and give us his insight!!! I would find that more useful and interesting :) and congrats to him as well for xobni they have done a great job
  - shayan 19y ago
    I see your point now and we are in agreement ... I kind of mentioned that myself in the last sentences too
danielha 19y ago
I wish we had money for a PR firm. I couldn't write a press release to save my life (and thus haven't). :P
pg 19y ago
Its called a PR firm Neither Disqus nor YC has a PR firm. I think the main reason Disqus gets attention from bloggers is that it's designed for bloggers. They know better than anyone what a pain it is to manage comment threads.
- shayan 19y ago
  could you give some points about Q1 and Q3 as well?
  - pg 19y ago
    Q1: They were energetic and smart. Q3: We liked the idea because it was clearly something the world needed. Comments are badly broken on most blogs, including even big ones like Techcrunch. I have no idea how big the market is in dollars. It's not worth thinking too much about anyway. Startups evolve. It's enough to start with something you know people need.
    - shayan 19y ago
      thanks for the response, and I am happy to see these as your answers to my questions
- dhouston 19y ago
  they also picked out the key influencers (a-list bloggers) in that community and either met them face to face (e.g. fred wilson @ demo day) and/or sent them personalized, polite emails asking them to try disqus. then it trickles down from there ("if it's good enough for fred wilson's blog, it's good enough for mine."). "the tipping point" by gladwell has other examples of this. their product is inherently viral, too ("what are those cool threaded comments on your blog? powered by disqus?")

by drubio 19y ago

shayan 19y ago

sure PR firms can help ... but there is not way you can get Fred Wilson to use the product before its launched, or get Dave Winer to try it out... or its not even that easy to get TechCrunch, and many other A List bloggers to write about your product... some of these blogs are big because no PR firm can get them to just publish the stuff, they are very picky... And of course if an average person wants TechCrunch to write about their product they will have very little chance to get any attention, but if I can get PG to ask TechCrunch, then its a different story, which is fair since they know who PG is and they know their time is not being wasted, whereas its hard to know what other people thinking... They have surely had great PR and they have probably got advice on what they should do, but what they are getting back is not simply because they are willing to spend dollars on a PR firm ... and if it is, and there are such influential PR firms please introduce them to me

brezina 19y ago
PG doesn't ask TC to write stories for his companies. TC asks PG. YC is a quality filter - it works for follow-on investors, acquirers, and press alike. edited: I didn't intend for this comment to be insulting. "TC asks PG" was hyperbole. What I meant to get across is that TC is interested in writing about YC companies because YC acts as a good filter for all the stuff that comes across Arrington's inbox.
- shayan 19y ago
  you are laughing as if you are very confident about your answer ... well I am not as sure as you are what exactly PG does ... but I doubt TC calls up PG or anyone else for that matter on daily basis to find out whats new... and maybe PG doesn't do it but a lot of other VC's do (check this interview video with Michael Arrington about how to get on TC http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/11/how_to_get_in_t.html http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/11/how_to_get_in_t.html ) ... if I am going to work with YC I would expect them to help me with these kind of stuff ... I mean that is the whole point of YC (don't start with saying they are not a PR team and they are not there to create news for you, I know that) .. but the way YC is structured (which I think is great) is to mostly give you advice and support ... And this kind of support could mean more than anything else to help you launch your business, create traction and gain users, specially with Disqus that is late in the game, and needs the support of bloggers, and has many competition, and there is only a need of one of these services on each blog, and it has been proven that its not so easy to get dominance in this field
  - jey 19y ago
    "you are laughing as if you are very confident about your answer" FWIW, brezina is a cofounder of YC-funded Xobni, so he has the inside scoop.
    - shayan 19y ago
      oh thats interesting ... so maybe he should be kind enough to answer the questions and give us his insight!!! I would find that more useful and interesting :) and congrats to him as well for xobni they have done a great job
- shayan 19y ago
  I see your point now and we are in agreement ... I kind of mentioned that myself in the last sentences too

danielha 19y ago

I wish we had money for a PR firm. I couldn't write a press release to save my life (and thus haven't). :P

pg 19y ago

Its called a PR firm Neither Disqus nor YC has a PR firm. I think the main reason Disqus gets attention from bloggers is that it's designed for bloggers. They know better than anyone what a pain it is to manage comment threads.

shayan 19y ago
could you give some points about Q1 and Q3 as well?
- pg 19y ago
  Q1: They were energetic and smart. Q3: We liked the idea because it was clearly something the world needed. Comments are badly broken on most blogs, including even big ones like Techcrunch. I have no idea how big the market is in dollars. It's not worth thinking too much about anyway. Startups evolve. It's enough to start with something you know people need.
  - shayan 19y ago
    thanks for the response, and I am happy to see these as your answers to my questions
dhouston 19y ago
they also picked out the key influencers (a-list bloggers) in that community and either met them face to face (e.g. fred wilson @ demo day) and/or sent them personalized, polite emails asking them to try disqus. then it trickles down from there ("if it's good enough for fred wilson's blog, it's good enough for mine."). "the tipping point" by gladwell has other examples of this. their product is inherently viral, too ("what are those cool threaded comments on your blog? powered by disqus?")