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Getting press coverage is often viewed by founders as a mysterious lottery or a transaction where you simply order a story and wait for delivery. However, according to Jason Feifer, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur magazine, the reality is far more nuanced. Feifer receives dozens of pitches daily, the vast majority of which are immediately deleted because they fundamentally misunderstand how media works.
To navigate this noise, you need to shift your perspective from "how do I get coverage?" to "how can I be useful to a journalist?" By understanding the motivations of editors, targeting the right individuals, and crafting a human-centric narrative, startups can secure valuable media real estate without necessarily hiring expensive PR firms.
Key Takeaways
- Media is not a service provider: Journalists do not work for you; they work for their audience. Your story must provide value to their specific readership.
- Define your "Why": Before pitching, determine exactly what you want press to achieve (e.g., investor interest, brand validation, or sales) to avoid wasting effort on the wrong publications.
- Pitch freelancers, not Editors-in-Chief: Freelance writers are constantly hunting for stories to pay their bills, making them far more receptive to pitches than salaried editors.
- Be the context, not just the subject: If your product isn't naturally "newsworthy," insert yourself into a larger trend or expose an industry problem to become part of a broader story.
- Humanize your approach: Avoid robotic press releases. The most successful pitches are short, personalized emails sent from one human to another.
The Core Misconception: The "Hamburger" Theory
The most common mistake founders make is treating media outlets like restaurants. They approach an editor thinking, "I would like one article, please," much like they would order a hamburger. They assume that because a publication writes about entrepreneurs, they are obligated to write about their specific startup.
This transactional mindset is fatal to your PR efforts. To succeed, you must internalize a harsh truth about the industry.
"The editor, the writer... I’ll just say it as plainly as possible: they don't care about you. They care about their reader or their listener or their viewer. That's who they're serving."
Journalists are not in the business of promoting companies; they are in the business of serving their audience. If you cannot articulate how your story benefits their specific audience—whether by teaching them something, entertaining them, or helping them solve a problem—you will be ignored.
Understanding Publication Missions
You must decode the specific mission of the publication you are pitching. Feifer contrasts his experience at two major business titles:
- Fast Company: Focused on the future of business. Stories here need to show where an industry is going or highlight innovation.
- Entrepreneur: Focused on the psychology of business. The goal is to help readers think through challenges. A story here needs to offer a tactical lesson or a problem-solving insight.
If you pitch a "future of business" story to a magazine focused on tactical problem-solving, you will face rejection, regardless of how good your product is.
Step 1: Preparation and Story Discovery
Before you send a single email, you must answer two questions: What is this press for? and What is the actual story?
If you are a local food truck owner in Washington D.C., chasing a feature in a national magazine like Entrepreneur is a waste of time. Even if you got the article, 99.5% of the readers couldn't buy your hot dogs. In this case, local press is far more valuable. Conversely, if you need credibility for investors, a logo from a major tech publication like TechCrunch is worth pursuing, even if it drives zero immediate sales.
Finding the "Problem-Solving" Narrative
Often, the story isn't your product—it's the journey you took to build it. Feifer cites the example of a founder who created a specialized butter dish. A butter dish is not an exciting story for a business magazine. However, the founder had a fascinating anecdote about how she couldn't afford market research, so she spent days at an airport interviewing bored travelers at the boarding gates.
That is a story about ingenuity and problem-solving. That is a story that fits the mission of Entrepreneur magazine. You must look past your product features to find the narrative hook that resonates with the publication's mission.
Step 2: Identifying the Right Target
Once you have your story, who do you send it to? A common error is emailing the Editor in Chief or the most visible name on the masthead. These individuals are often buried in administrative work and are not the ones sourcing daily stories.
The Power of Pitching Freelancers
The most tactical advice for getting coverage is to bypass staff editors and pitch freelancers. Staff writers draw a salary regardless of what they write. Freelancers, however, only get paid when they sell a story.
"A freelancer is hungrier for stories... She has to hustle for her food. She has to find stories and pitch those stories to editors... and that's when she gets paid."
If you hand a freelancer a compelling, well-researched story on a silver platter, you are helping them pay their rent. They are incentivized to champion your story to the editors. You can identify freelancers by checking author bios on articles; if it doesn't say "Staff Writer," or if their personal website lists them as a contributor, they are likely freelance.
Step 3: The Pitch
When it comes time to reach out, keep it simple. Do not call. Do not send Instagram DMs unless you have an existing rapport. Send an email.
The subject line and opening sentence are critical. They must signal immediately that this is a customized message, not a mass blast. Mentioning a specific podcast episode the journalist hosted or a recent article they wrote proves you have done your homework.
The "Problem/Solution" Format
A highly effective pitch structure mirrors the format of a good business case study:
- The Hook: Acknowledgment of the journalist's work or audience.
- The Problem: A relatable challenge your business faced (e.g., "When Covid hit, my ski resort painting business went to zero").
- The Solution: The specific, counter-intuitive insight or pivot you used to survive.
- The Takeaway: Why this matters to their readers.
Feifer recalls a pitch from an artist named Meg O'Hara. She didn't just pitch her art; she pitched a story about reinventing a business during border closures. She bullet-pointed her problems and solutions, making it easy for the editor to see the structure of a potential article. It resulted in a podcast feature and an article because she served the content on a platter.
Alternative Strategies: Being "Part" of the Story
Sometimes, your product is boring. If you sell B2B consulting or cat toys, you might struggle to get a feature story dedicated solely to you. In these cases, you should aim to provide context.
The "Context" Play
Feifer shares the story of the "Ripple Rug," a cat toy company. The founder initially pitched the product, which was rejected. He then pivoted and pitched a story about a massive scam on Amazon and eBay involving arbitrage that was hurting small businesses like his.
The editor didn't care about the rug, but he cared deeply about the scam. He wrote a 4,000-word investigative piece on the fraud, and the Ripple Rug founder was the main character. He got his press coverage not by selling his product, but by exposing a problem relevant to the audience.
The "Data" Play
Another method is to create the news yourself. Companies like Zapier frequently pitch stories based on their own internal data, such as "The Fastest Growing Apps of the Year." They package this data into a report and send it to journalists.
Journalists love data because it validates trends. By providing the data, you position your company as the authority and the source of the news, even if the article isn't explicitly about your company culture or founding story.
Conclusion
Ultimately, getting press is a human pursuit. It requires vulnerability and a willingness to step away from marketing talking points. Whether you hire a PR agency or do it yourself, success comes from building genuine relationships and respecting the journalist's obligation to their audience.
Remember that press is rarely a silver bullet for growth. It is an unpredictable tool that works best when used to build credibility and social proof over the long term. Approach it with a service mindset—how can you help a writer tell a great story?—and you will find yourself moving from the "deleted" folder to the front page.
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