Startup Pr Outreach

Startup PR Outreach

When to Use

The startup needs media coverage or is planning a PR campaign. Use this skill when:

PR is typically a Phase II+ channel. Phase I startups without newsworthy milestones should use targeting blogs instead.

Context & Input Gathering

Required Context (must have — ask if missing)

Observable Context

Default Assumptions

Sufficiency Threshold

SUFFICIENT: milestone + target audience known
PROCEED WITH DEFAULTS: milestone known, infer target from context
MUST ASK: no milestone exists (not newsworthy)

Process

Use TodoWrite:

Step 1: Identify and Bundle the Newsworthy Angle

ACTION: Determine what's actually newsworthy. Strong angles include:

Bundle smaller announcements. Jason Kincaid's advice: don't pitch small milestones individually if they can be combined. "Launched feature X" is weak. "Launched feature X + hit 10k users + signed partnership with Y" is strong.

The emotional angle test: ask "will this elicit an emotion in readers beyond satisfaction?" Satisfaction is a non-viral emotion. Stories that make readers share need to produce surprise, delight, outrage, or curiosity.

WHY: Reporters receive 50+ pitches daily. The first filter is "is this actually a story?" Bundled, emotionally-engaging milestones clear the filter. Single-milestone pitches get ignored. This isn't about hype — it's about giving the reporter enough material to write an interesting article.

IF no angle emerges → delay PR, build more milestones first, or pivot to targeting blogs for content-led coverage.

Step 2: Build the Media Chain (Small → Top)

ACTION: Stories filter UP the media chain. Small blogs → TechCrunch → New York Times. Start small, not at the top.

Identify the chain for your category:

Target Level 1 first. Top outlets (Level 2-3) often pick up stories from Level 1. DuckDuckGo's Time Magazine feature came via a Twitter relationship with a reporter who then included DDG in a Top 50 list — not via a cold pitch to Time.

WHY: Cold-pitching top outlets has near-zero success rate. Most top reporters scan Hacker News, Reddit, and small blogs looking for stories. Starting at Level 1 puts the story where top reporters are already looking. This is how stories naturally filter up — respecting the mechanic dramatically increases success.

Step 3: Build Reporter Relationships

ACTION: Before pitching, identify and engage reporters who cover your category. Twitter is the easiest channel — many reporters have surprisingly few followers and engage with thoughtful replies.

Tactics:

WHY: Cold pitches to strangers have 1-2% response rates. Pitches from people a reporter recognizes from prior Twitter interactions have dramatically higher response rates. The relationship doesn't need to be deep — recognition alone is often enough. HARO is a fast path to a first mention, which then becomes social proof for the next outreach.

IF there's no time to build relationships organically → HARO is the fastest substitute. Answer 3-5 relevant queries weekly.

Step 4: Draft Pitches Using Proven Templates

ACTION: Use one of the two templates from references/pitch-templates.md:

1. Direct pitch: Subject line with exclusive hook, short paragraphs (hook + product + demo link + exclusive offer), direct contact info at bottom. 2. Ryan Holiday template: Subject "Quick question", reference their prior work, tease the exclusive, give specific results ("25,000 paying customers in 2 months"), ask for their process.

Critical criteria for any pitch:

Run the 6 PR mistakes check — see references/pr-mistakes.md.

WHY: Pitch format matters more than most founders realize. The difference between a 50-word pitch and a 500-word pitch is a 10x response rate difference. Templates prevent founders from writing the "wall of text" mistake. The mistakes check prevents the most common failure modes (wall of text, bad timing, no emotional angle, PR firm via, unclear launch timing, bundling failures).

Step 5: Plan the Amplification Sequence

ACTION: Coverage is step 1. Amplification is what turns coverage into traction. For each piece of coverage that lands:

1. Submit to community sites: Hacker News, Reddit, Product Hunt, Slashdot (category-appropriate), Digg 2. Share on social: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, with founder personal accounts amplifying 3. Pay to boost: Run social ads pointing to the coverage page (often cheaper than ads pointing to landing pages) 4. Email your list: Point subscribers to the coverage 5. Contact tier 2 reporters: Share the coverage as evidence that the story has traction, invite follow-up

Write the amplification plan to pr-amplification.md.

WHY: A TechCrunch feature sends traffic for 24-48 hours. Amplification extends the half-life and creates the chain reaction that drives stories up to top-tier outlets. Founders who skip amplification get coverage but not the compounding effect coverage enables.

Inputs

Outputs

Four markdown files:

1. pr-angle.md — The story, bundled milestones, emotional hook 2. pr-media-chain.md — Target outlets by tier 3. pr-pitches.md — Draft pitches (direct + Ryan Holiday variants) 4. pr-amplification.md — Post-coverage amplification sequence

Key Principles

Examples

Scenario: B2B SaaS product launch

Trigger: "We're launching our analytics tool in 4 weeks. Want TechCrunch coverage. What should we do?"

Process: (1) Bundle milestones: launch + seed funding + 3 pilot customers = one big story. (2) Media chain: Product Hunt launch, Hacker News post, targeted tier-1 analytics blogs → tier-2 TechCrunch/VentureBeat → tier-3 coverage unlikely for early-stage. (3) Relationships: 4 weeks isn't enough to build organic relationships, so HARO + Twitter engagement with 5 reporters who cover analytics. (4) Pitches: direct pitch template, emphasize exclusive access, specific pilot customer results. (5) Amplification: day-of Hacker News + Product Hunt submission, founder Twitter thread, paid social boost to coverage URL.

Output: Week-by-week PR plan with pitch drafts, specific reporters, and amplification checklist.

Scenario: Previous PR attempts failed

Trigger: "We sent 30 pitches to TechCrunch reporters last month and got zero responses. What's wrong?"

Process: (1) Diagnose: cold-pitching top outlets directly is the most common PR mistake. Show the media chain — stories filter up, not down. (2) Review the pitches — apply the 6 mistakes check. Usually at least 3 apply (wall of text, no emotional hook, no clear angle, unclear timing). (3) Re-strategy: start at small blogs and HARO. Build Twitter relationships with 3-5 TechCrunch reporters over 4-6 weeks BEFORE any pitch. (4) Rewrite pitches using the Ryan Holiday template. (5) Amplification plan for when coverage lands.

Output: Diagnosis of why previous approach failed, corrected approach, and new pitch drafts.

Scenario: Unconventional PR stunt

Trigger: "We want to do a publicity stunt like Dollar Shave Club's video or Half.com renaming a town. What makes these work?"

Process: (1) Analyze the pattern: unique + surprising + shareable + on-brand. (2) Generate stunt ideas tied to the company's actual product (not random). (3) Evaluate each against emotional angle test. (4) Pick one and plan execution: budget, timing, amplification plan. (5) Have a backup: stunts have binary outcomes (viral or ignored) — have a secondary launch angle ready.

Output: Stunt plan with clear success criteria and backup launch angle.

References

License

This skill is licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Source: BookForge — Traction: A Startup Guide to Getting Customers by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares.

Related BookForge Skills

Install related skills from ClawhHub:

Or install the full book set from GitHub: bookforge-skills

Scenario: B2B SaaS product launch

Trigger: "We're launching our analytics tool in 4 weeks. Want TechCrunch coverage. What should we do?"

Process: (1) Bundle milestones: launch + seed funding + 3 pilot customers = one big story. (2) Media chain: Product Hunt launch, Hacker News post, targeted tier-1 analytics blogs → tier-2 TechCrunch/VentureBeat → tier-3 coverage unlikely for early-stage. (3) Relationships: 4 weeks isn't enough to build organic relationships, so HARO + Twitter engagement with 5 reporters who cover analytics. (4) Pitches: direct pitch template, emphasize exclusive access, specific pilot customer results. (5) Amplification: day-of Hacker News + Product Hunt submission, founder Twitter thread, paid social boost to coverage URL.

Output: Week-by-week PR plan with pitch drafts, specific reporters, and amplification checklist.

Scenario: Previous PR attempts failed

Trigger: "We sent 30 pitches to TechCrunch reporters last month and got zero responses. What's wrong?"

Process: (1) Diagnose: cold-pitching top outlets directly is the most common PR mistake. Show the media chain — stories filter up, not down. (2) Review the pitches — apply the 6 mistakes check. Usually at least 3 apply (wall of text, no emotional hook, no clear angle, unclear timing). (3) Re-strategy: start at small blogs and HARO. Build Twitter relationships with 3-5 TechCrunch reporters over 4-6 weeks BEFORE any pitch. (4) Rewrite pitches using the Ryan Holiday template. (5) Amplification plan for when coverage lands.

Output: Diagnosis of why previous approach failed, corrected approach, and new pitch drafts.

Scenario: Unconventional PR stunt

Trigger: "We want to do a publicity stunt like Dollar Shave Club's video or Half.com renaming a town. What makes these work?"

Process: (1) Analyze the pattern: unique + surprising + shareable + on-brand. (2) Generate stunt ideas tied to the company's actual product (not random). (3) Evaluate each against emotional angle test. (4) Pick one and plan execution: budget, timing, amplification plan. (5) Have a backup: stunts have binary outcomes (viral or ignored) — have a secondary launch angle ready.

Output: Stunt plan with clear success criteria and backup launch angle.