This week, we’re taking some questions that Sifted’s reporters often get asked — what’s the best way to pitch to the media and do startups need to pay to get PR? — and asking it to the actual experts: the comms people. 

We also picked up some negotiating tips from a former FBI hostage negotiator. Yup, you read that right. 

Enjoy!

\How to

Get noticed by the press

With a LinkedIn profile that includes comms roles at Wise, young people’s digital bank Osper, startup accelerator Minc, mapping platform Mapillary — and now VP of communications at Joint Academy, a Swedish healthtech platform — Sandy Errestad knows how to get a whole range of startup profiles in front of the media. Today, she shares some advice on how to get your company noticed.

Pitch to humans, not journalists. Remember that when you pitch to a journalist, it’s an actual human being on the other side of the email. Personalise it: go to their Twitter page, look at their author bio on the publication they work for to see what their beat is and how they write their pieces. What are they interested in? 

Personalise your subject line. Make sure it doesn’t look like a mass email. I’d write ‘One for Sifted?’ and then the news hook.

Do more than just send a press release. That’s not going to get you anywhere; you need to write a pitch as well. ‘Hello, my name is X, I do this, I thought you’d be interested in this because of this…’ Address the five Ws: who, what, why, where and when. 

Choose your medium carefully. If you’re targeting an older generation of customers, don’t go for influencers on YouTube or Instagram. That’s not where they are: target print or, once you have some traction, a morning TV show. 

Tap into themes and look at big numbers. What problems is your company solving? Really look beyond yourself and your product to the great problem you’re solving in the world. And illustrate that with statistics. 

Focus on your one thing. How does what you do impact something or someone — and how can you make that interesting? In the early days of Wise, PR was a big part of how the company narrative was shaped. The whole narrative around changing something that is substantially wrong in society today that affects a lot of people was really successful. It stemmed from the immense passion the entire company had for this cause. 

Hire an in-house comms person around Series A. If you haven’t done it by Series B, you will have missed out on a lot of valuable PR opportunities along the way. And if you’re a D2C or a B2C company, you’ll need to hire somebody in-house sooner than a B2B company. Once they join, it’s their job to hone the founder’s vision from a communications perspective, build on media relations that already exist and get the story out there in a more systematic way. 

Don’t be evil. You can’t communicate your way out of rubbish business practices. Communication can’t solve a bad culture or a bad business model; if business practices are ethically or morally questionable, communication can only keep crises at bay for so long.

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\Opinion

Startups, you’re paying way too much for PR!

Loads of PR can be done in-house in the early days. Think founders’ blogs, newsletters, conference sponsorships and good old fashioned networking. 

And when your startup does reach the stage where it needs to bring in outside support, there are ways to avoid getting fleeced. 

Mary Glazkova, PR partner at The Untitled Ventures, shares a few tips.

\On the Subject of...

Getting noticed by the press

⏰ How the press forces a narrative. An oldie but goodie from 2015 that uses the metaphor of a clock to show how the media covers tech companies. 

💭 How to become a thought leader. Many startup PRs are charged with building founders into thought leaders — so how do they do it? According to content marketing agency Animalz, it’s all about ‘earned secrets’. 

📢 Align all stakeholders. PR veteran Sam Ahmed of Nauta Capital gives key advice on managing expectations, negotiating deliverables and setting timelines in this excellent Dear BAMf podcast episode. 

🇺🇸 Scaling your PR to the US. It’s more expensive but good stories can still get coverage, says founder of PR agency CommsCo.

\People Moves

Luke Lang says bye bye to Crowdcube. After 12 years, the crowdfunding site’s founder is stepping down from his post as CMO. He’s joining business incubator SETsquared Exeter as an entrepreneur in residence, and peer-to-peer lending platform Plend as chair.

Diversity VC has a new CEO and COO. Ladi Greenstreet and Daisy Onubogu are taking over the reins at the non-profit organisation, which promotes DEI across the venture industry. Amy spoke to them about their plans. 

Northzone has a new partner. Elena Pantazi, the VC firm’s current head of talent, has been promoted to a non-investment partner role. She’ll be recruiting internally and supporting portfolio companies on all things people.

\Smart Reads

1) Cofounder disputes. Seedcamp VC Carlos Espinal looks at how to find the root cause of the problem and how to solve it — and that sometimes means breaking up. 

2) What’s it like working at a fast-scaling company? CTO of upskilling startup On Deck, Andreas Klinger, has worked at a few high-growth businesses and has some advice on how to make the most of it. 

3) Encouraging paternity leave. “It was when a man took leave but his competitors did not that his earnings suffered.” This piece argues that cementing parental leave into policy is a good start, but making it commonplace should be the goal.

4) Want to write inclusive job descriptions? Don’t ask for Oxbridge grads, rockstars, ninjas… instead, be specific about the job, the company and the compensation. 

5) What’s happened to our mental health? CharlieHR and mental health startup Spill report on the impact of the past year, including diminishing work-life balance.

Forwarded this newsletter?

\Podcast of the Week

How we can all use negotiation to make our lives better, from Secret Leaders

If you want to learn about how to negotiate like an expert, there’s probably no better person to learn from than former chief FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss. (Right?) On this week’s episode of the Secret Leaders podcast, he shares some of the tricks of the trade and how you can apply them to those awkward business situations. Here’s what I learned:

1) Ask a question at least three times. Turns out, this isn’t just a trick used by journalists; negotiators do it too. But when you’re negotiating, questions serve a different purpose. They’re not ways to get hold of information, says Voss; they’re a way to plant seeds of doubt in the mind of the person on the other side — and make them really stop and think. 

2) Mood matters. Smile. Joke. You can encourage a positive mindset in your counterpart just by being upbeat. Negative thinking makes you dumber. A positive frame of mind makes you smarter.

3) Let the other side talk first. When people are dying to say something, they’re not listening. So let them speak first — and then the part of their brain that really listens will kick in by the time it’s your turn. If they feel heard, they’ll also be more open to your ideas.

4) Deference is a super power. It’s incredible what you can get away with, and what you can say, with a deferential tone of voice. You can be more assertive from a deferential point of view.

So, try out those tricks when you’re haggling over your next pay rise — and let us know how it goes.

— Amy