SVFI June 25, 2013 Presentation & Publicity - Jonathan Greechan

7/28/2019 SVFI June 25, 2013 Presentation & Publicity - Jonathan Greechan

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/svfi-june-25-2013-presentation-publicity-jonathan-greechan 1/37

http://fi.co | @founding

Presentation &

Publicity

SVFI Spring 2013

J onathan Greechan, Partner, FounderInstitute




Who am I?

v.01: Intern --> Marketing Lead, Game Trust• B2C: 10mm+ players, Billboard Award Winning Game Producer• B2B: AOL, Liberty Media, MiniClip licensing/ 100+ developers

writing

• Raised $16mm, Acquired by RealNetworks (2007)

v.02: Startup Marketing Consultant & Ski Bumv.03: Launched TheFunded.com, Founder

Showcase– < $1,000 paid marketing

v.04: Partner, Founder Institute– <




4 Startup PR Fails*

J onathan Greechan, Partner, Founder Institute




* And How to Avoid Them!

J onathan Greechan, Partner, Founder Institute




4 Startup PR Fails

1. “ PR is Fluff”2. Neglect the

Basics3. On the Outside

Looking In4. No Story




1.1: “PR is Fluff ” - Only Focus on Product

• Sacrilege?• We use crappy

products every day.

• Product is not king.

• …TRACTION IS, and

there are manydifferent ways to get it




1.2: Be Reasonable

• Product is number one.

• But not everyone canwin on product.

• Press can win you

partners, deals, andinvestment

• Use all the toolsavailable




1.1: “I’ll Do it Myself”

• PR for seed-stageis only useful to

handle inbound• Do it yourself

• Intern? Maybe..• Freelancer? Rarely..




2.1: Ghetto Website/ Tech




2.1: Be Prepared

• Thorough testing

• Several days of stability

• 10,000 users in a 3 hr period

•10 signups/second

• Amazon EC2 or Azure




2.2: Basic Press Requirements

Stop making it

so hard topromote you!




2.2: Help Them Help You

Easily found on your site:

1. 1 SentenceDescription

2. Clear positioning inyour competitivelandscape

3. Lo o and art acka e

READ: http://FI.co/posts/504




2.3: No Basic Planning

• Launching in the pressis not a rite of passage

• Is it the right time?• Press is not a tool for

idea validation, MVPtesting, or productfeedback




2.3: Basic Planning

• What is your goal?– “Announcing our X” is not

a goal

– Early adopters?Credibility? Investment?Recruitment? Mainstreamadoption?

• How does this effectyour strategy?




Fail #3: Outside Looking In

“ Hello, my name is…we launch onMonday.”

1. Don’t know the narrative

– The Storytellers– The Story

2. Don’t have anycredibility




3.1: Get to Know the Storytellers

• You don’t pitchpublications - you pitch

journalists

• Who is covering your sector? Your competitors?

• What are they passionateabout?

• Engage & try to providevalue




3.1: Get to Know the Narrative




3.2: Contribute to the Narrative

• The TMZ-ification of online media

• Everyone is apublisher

• This is anunprecedentedopportunity to publish

and gain credibility!





• Guest Posts– Top 10/ How-To/Common Misconceptions

– What to Expect/ What weLearned

– Round-ups

• Infographics

• Share Data

• Build Credibility!




3.2: Be Opportunistic




4: You Drink the Kool Aid

• Your baby is notspecial

• How do you makeother peoplecare?

• Tell a story.




4.1. Build a Meaningful Story

Build ameaningful

story whereyour company

plays animportant role.





Pitch a trend,not a company

– Don’t start with“I”, “my”, our“our”

– Start with “the”,“today”, “there”





We like Drama1. Good vs. Evil2. David vs. Goliath3. Evolution (X for

Y)

4. Success/ Failure5. Cultural

Anomaly/ Shift6. People





People are moreinteresting than

companies– Your story

– Your customer’sstory





CreateRelevancy

– Validation(traction, funding,etc)

– Interesting datapoint

– Take a stand ona major issue




But Wait! Gut Check

• Journalistswade through

BS all day• Don’t get

caughtmanufacturing

news




Everyone Has a Story

• There arealways angles

• It’s your job tofind and apply

them




Workshop: What’s Your Story?

• What is your goalwith your press?

• What is thenarrative?

• What is your story?




Appendix: The Pitch

READ: http://fi .co/guides/93




In Closing

Advertising is bought.PR IS EARNED.

You need to startEARNING it NOW.




Jonathan GreechanPartner, Founder Institute

Producer, Founder Showcase

Twitter/ Insta: @jonnystartupFB/ Linked: jonathan.greechan

Thanks!

SVFI June 25, 2013 Presentation & Publicity - Jonathan Greechan

Documents

Transcript of SVFI June 25, 2013 Presentation & Publicity - Jonathan Greechan