Startups and PR Firms - The Gross Disconnect

Before I got into tech I founded a PR agency. I agree that you shouldn't outsource PR as a startup. If you can't fumble your way through a pitch to a journalist you either a) have a shitty product or b) shouldn't be running a business. Journalists are remarkably tolerant of the amateur if she is honest and believes in what she's doing.

The 'clueless staffer' email is a bit old though. No agency worth their salt would put out something like that. I'd say the #1 issue in PR is not having a solid story to work with. 'PR in the boardroom' is considered the holy grail of agency/client relationships and frankly pure BS if anyone ever tells you they have it. PR doesn't guide business decisions. That means the business is either newsworthy or it isn't, regardless of what the agency does.

In 1999 I was dismayed by the sheer number of otherwise incapable people who staffed the various startups I slaved away for. They had titles like "Director Of Marketing", "VP of Communications", etc. They were opportunists looking for a job that would make them wealthy, but without the skills or the real drive to become competent enough at that job to achieve their goals.

I do my best to keep track of the people I've developed some nominal relationship with professionally. LinkedIN has been awesome for this. After the bubble burst, the most useless people I knew left the tech industry. They became Mortgage Brokers, Real Estate Agents, and Recruiters.

After the real estate bubble burst, a lot of these same people rebranded themselves as Social Media Experts. For every dollar your startup earns or raises, there are hundreds of looters trying to convince you to give it to them.