11 Steps to Get Your Raise in The News Without a PR Firm
You worked hard — now let’s get that TechCrunch feature!
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After closing our round, we immediately started looking to build our team. However, hiring when you’re an unknown startup is challenging for many reasons, mainly because people have never heard of you. A quick way to increase your credibility is to have well-known news outlets cover your startup.
Press coverage is also helpful for other reasons like:
- More people knowing about you can lead to new opportunities (team members, customers, investors, etc.)
- Backlinks help with SEO
- Increases your credibility with candidates already in your pipeline
We were fortunate to have a PR firm help us with the process, but other startups can easily follow the process we used. Here’s how we did it.
1. Write a press release
The first step is writing a press release. At first, it may feel intimidating but just look at a few press releases from startups that have recently raised to get a feel for the format. Here are some example seed-stage press releases:
- Gated Launches Donation-based Email Management Solution — Raises $3.5M Seed Round
- Daybase Announces Nearly $10M in Seed Funding for First-Ever National Hybrid Work Platform
- Dig exits stealth with $11M for first cloud Data Detection and Response solution
After reading a handful of similar press releases, you can pretty quickly get a feel for the “Mad Libs” type format (What does your company do, who are your investors, what do you plan to do with the money, a quote from each founder, a quote from the lead investor, etc.). Then, circulate the press release with your team to proofread it and get feedback.
2. Take high-quality team & product pictures
Similar to the press release, look at pictures of other startups that have recently raised in TechCrunch or your outlet of choice to get a feel for their style. You can then find a friend with a nice camera or use a service like Snapper to take some high-quality team pictures. It’s also…
