Okay, so I tried figuring out this whole PR thing for my own startup. Felt like throwing spaghetti at the wall. Here’s how it actually went down.
The Starting Point: Confusion City
Honestly? I thought “Founders PR” meant blasting your startup everywhere like a megaphone. Paid some cheap “PR guru” on the internet – big mistake. Threw together this flashy press release full of buzzwords nobody gets. Sent it to like 50 tech blogs using one of those spray-and-pray email tools.
Results? Crickets. Zero replies. Zilch. Felt stupid and wasted cash.
Actually Talking to Humans (Wild Idea)
Got desperate. Reached out to my buddy who runs a tiny indie newsletter. Bought him coffee and actually listened instead of pitching. He asked one brutal question: “Why should my readers care?”
- My answer sucked. Rambled about “disrupting markets” or something cringe.
- Went home, scrapped the whole buzzword script.
- Spent days just writing simple stories: Why I started this thing. The dumb problem I saw people struggling with. The screw-ups trying to fix it.
Felt way less “professional,” but… human.
The Weird Turning Point
Got introduced to this small-time podcaster through another founder. This time, I just… talked. Told her about the coffee I spilled building the prototype. Shared some useless early stats. Didn’t even mention funding. Just genuine crap.
Surprise: She actually used that story. Suddenly had three warm intros from her listeners – actual potential customers – asking to try my beta.
What Finally Clicked
Stopped chasing big publications. Focused on real connections:
- Journalists are people: Found 5 reporters covering stuff like mine. Read their last 10 articles. Commented thoughtfully online. Reached out only when I had something useful (data they might want, not my sales pitch).
- Founders helping founders: Shared my dumb mistakes openly at a local meetup. Got asked to write a tiny guest post for another startup’s blog. Way more impact than that first press release.
- Small beats loud: That little podcast got us 20 signups. Bigger than anything before. Built actual relationships with those people.
Biggest unlock? PR ain’t about shouting your greatness. It’s giving other people stories they can tell. Real ones. Messy ones. Your coffee-stained nightmares included.
