Thinking before the pitch lands
Original thinking on earned media, founder positioning, and the diagnostic gaps most PR programs miss. No trend roundups.
Why most founders pitch before the story is ready
Earned media fails at the diagnosis stage, not the pitch stage. When the founding angle is unclear, reporters sense it immediately. The fix starts well before any outreach begins.
This piece walks through the four gaps that appear in almost every founder's PR attempt — and the order in which to close them before building a media list.
The angle your bio is missing
Build a media list that compounds
What makes a placement stick
A founder bio that leads with credentials misses the reporter's actual question: why does this story matter right now, to this audience?
A long list of reporters is not a strategy. Precision targeting — three tiers, ordered by relationship depth — outperforms volume every time.
Not every mention builds credibility. The ones that do share three structural qualities — and most founders never check for them before pitching.
Op-eds that open doors
Positioning before the press release
When search and earned media align
Guest placements only convert to ongoing coverage when the piece is anchored in a specific argument — not a general category perspective.
Most B2B founders write press releases before their positioning is resolved. Here is the diagnostic sequence that closes that gap first.
A well-placed article that also ranks for a founder's core search term is not luck. It requires angle selection before the pitch, not after.