Lecture, Keynote, Conference Presentation, Webinar
PR + Content for Growth by Kat Mañalac and Craig Cannon
Y CombinatorCraig Cannon, Kat Manalac, Jeff, Gustav, Wade Foster, Paul Graham, Jessica, Robert, Trevor, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Ice-T, Mathilde, Harge, Laura Kolodny, Casey Neistat, Alex Jones, Kathleen Kingsbury
- Early-stage startups are advised to begin crafting and spreading their narrative early, though Y Combinator recommends prioritizing product development and user engagement over press or content marketing until the product gains traction and retention is stable.
- Founders anticipate that content marketing will require dedicated time investment, ranging from one hour weekly to two days per post, and expect to discard approximately 25% of content efforts due to high competition from the entire internet.
- Specific content goals should focus on "engagement" for social platforms or "conversions" for others, utilizing analytics tools like Mixpanel and Facebook Pixels to track user behavior and future remarketing, while "brand" is considered a lower priority at this stage.
- Distribution strategies involve identifying customer platforms through direct questioning and observation, with founders expecting promotion to be a repetitive, necessary process focused on a single primary channel rather than relying on scalable user acquisition via press.
- Founders planning to produce content should allocate significant time for brainstorming to avoid derivative output, potentially employing rigorous filtering processes similar to editorial models where only 5% to 10% of ideas survive.
- Regarding press relations, founders expect that most media outlets no longer cover very early-stage startups and that TechCrunch receives hundreds of daily pitches, necessitating a strong news hook rather than novelty.
- Timing for press pitches is expected to align with fundraising rounds or specific milestones, while pitching during major industry events is predicted to yield drastically lower response rates compared to other times.
- Response rates for media outreach are projected to improve significantly with warm introductions, expected to succeed at least half the time, compared to a 1 in 10 success rate for cold emails, while exclusive offers can increase story pickup likelihood.
- The press acquisition timeline is anticipated to require a minimum of two weeks for introductions, meetings, and publication, making immediate requests unrealistic.
- Founders are expected to draft jargon-free one-sentence pitches and three-to-five sentence explanations, utilizing tools like HARO to build relationships without constant pitching, and should avoid sending regular product updates unless explicitly requested by the outlet.
- Alternative content strategies include using text interviews as a high-efficiency "cheat code" and recognizing that publishing books is powerful for influencer status but difficult to track and better suited for later stages.
- Financial and resource constraints are highlighted by expectations that PR firms are too expensive for early stages due to monthly retainers, and that paying influencers is generally not worth it unless they are already organically enthusiastic about the product.
- Founders planning long-term communication should read news for at least 30 minutes weekly to map milestones in three-to-six-month increments, prepare answers to common questions with three to five key points, and have response plans for potential catastrophe scenarios involving celebrity endorsements.