Interview
a16z Podcast | How to Manage a PR Agency
- PR effectiveness varies by goal; it is less critical for user acquisition but highly beneficial for funding, acquisition, or attention, with early-stage companies seeing easier hiring and fundraising despite minimal direct customer conversion from individual interviews.
- Success requires mutual investment and a close agency relationship; keeping agencies at arm's length, claiming direct control, or lacking executive access degrades results, whereas embedding agency personnel in-office or maintaining weekly contact optimizes their understanding of company culture and milestones.
- Specific use cases for agencies include expanding into new markets without local offices, managing influxes of five to ten media inquiries monthly, defining narrative and value propositions before the first hire, and providing "arms and legs on the ground" for global launches.
- Companies planning to go public must engage a PR firm within two years of a planned filing to prepare before the quiet period, as lacking a PR profile before an IPO leaves potential value on the table.
- Operational models range from monthly retainer Agencies of Record to flexible hiring; CFOs often prefer agencies over fixed employees for flexibility, while "media shops" focus on relations, and specialized firms handle hardware product reviews or financial communications for earnings calls.
- Crisis management and storytelling require specific expertise distinct from brand building; agencies cannot defend against sensitive personal issues like DUIs if undisclosed, and delaying PR help until a crisis occurs is ineffective compared to maintaining low-profile work during growth phases.
- Realistic expectations are essential as agencies cannot guarantee specific headlines or outcomes, and claims like "best search engine technology" require substantiation; viral moments are rare flukes, so companies should focus on aggregating deliberate milestones like fundraising or board appointments.
- Strategic planning involves significant lead times, such as contacting agencies in November for holiday gift guides, and PR standards rise as funding rounds increase, making it counterintuitive but necessary to maintain press relations before negative events occur.
- Executive engagement is critical; CEOs should delegate agency management to staff with significant input rather than managing directly, avoid relying on famous names for RFPs who won't work daily, and maintain direct access to PR personnel, as blocking this communication significantly lowers the caliber of talent attracted.
- Procurement processes for larger companies may shift RFPs to finance teams, requiring careful vetting to avoid "shiny objects," and incumbent agencies re-pitching after a review should generally be fired; best agency referrals often originate from reporters rather than the internal team.
- Internal alignment is necessary to ensure financial communications are unified before earnings calls, and the PR function must promote its value to the CFO who may not recognize the broader story; half-hearted commitments to PR are warned against as a total waste of resources.