Ask HN: PR for Startups? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: PR for Startups?

11 pointsprhn014 comments

Long-time HN member using a throwaway account for business reasons.

I’m thinking about launching a PR firm focused on helping startups/small companies and am hoping for some feedback.

I know it’s been done before, but I haven’t seen it executed well. I’ve spent time at both startups and PR firms and still see a massive void that needs to be filled.

I understand there’s a stigma around hiring PR firms at small companies because they’re typically too expensive, they don’t understand the needs of a small company, they don’t help you acquire new customers, the results are difficult to measure, etc.

So, what else? What are you looking for in a PR firm? Would you never, ever hire a PR firm? Do you currently work with an awesome PR company that I should know about? In SF and want to discuss over coffee? Any feedback in the comments or by email (in my profile) would be greatly appreciated.

Could you model your PR business to take equity in exchange for your services? Most lean startups wouldn't be able to pay you much cash, but I think a lot of them would be willing to give you equity. In fact, I think taking equity rather than cash would offset the "the results are difficult to measure" issue you mentioned; if I give you $5,000 to do some PR for my startup, then (to my mind) you have the money regardless, and you could be spending 60 hours a week for two months traveling the world and evangelizing about my startup to all the right people, or you could just ask a friend to post it to his blog and call it good.

If you have equity, however, then your profit is tied directly to the success of my startup, so I could rest assured that you would have a (literal) vested interest in making my company successful.

This is a question I too have been asking myself over the years. I'm a marketing consultant, and I LOVE startups. But trying to find work with early stage startups is really difficult because they generally can't pay much, or prefer to hire developers over marketing resources. So I end up working mostly with companies that are further along and have revenue, but wish I could figure out a way to work exclusively with startups and still make a living. If there were a way to scale these services beyond just a 1:1 effort to revenue ratio that would be ideal...

Thought you might like this article: http://thenextweb.com/media/2011/08/21/pitch-perfect-a-start...

Happy to be your alpha tester =)

Awesome! Drop me a line with your contact info at pr.hn.01 (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll be in touch shortly.

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