Should a startup spend on press or on creators first?

What a press story gets you

• A story outlasts a post. It gets indexed, it shows up when people search your category, and AI tools read it when someone asks for the best options.
• You can use it again: on your site, in your newsletter, in the deck you send investors.
• A big business paper is mostly read by investors and the people you're trying to hire. Your buyers may never see it.
• One big story does more than a long list of small mentions. Go after fewer, better ones.
• If you're small and you need people on your website this month, a press campaign usually isn't the first thing to pay for.

What creators get you

• A creator talking about you because they like the product carries more weight than any message you pay to put out. People read it as someone volunteering.
• One post is hit or miss. Fans need to see you on the same channel again and again before they believe the creator really uses it.
• Seeing the same product many times sticks better than seeing many products once. Pick a handful of creators and stay with them.
• Sending boxes with no plan behind them is a gamble. Most of what comes back is a story that's gone in a day or two.
• Watch for overlap. When every startup in your space books the same few creators, buyers tune them out.

Three questions before you hire a PR firm

1. Is there something new here that people need? If you can't say what it is in one line, a reporter can't either.
2. Has the founder done this before, or are your backers names a reporter knows? Without something new, a repeat founder or known backers, it's early for press.
3. Is your website ready for the visit? Every story and every creator post sends people to it, so it has to sell.

How we'd split it

• Creators first, weeks or months before the launch: product in hand, the relationship before any fee, and a coupon code or link on each one so you can see who brought in customers.
• Then one press moment on launch day, built from what the creators are already showing.
• If you have a PR firm, they keep the reporters and we take the creators, so both tell the same story.
• See how a launch moment works, or read what influencer PR is.

Source: Our transcript library: Jessica Schaefer of Bevel, Emily Austen who ran Huel's PR, Lee Caraher of Double Forte, and Lydia of Visibility on Purpose, each named on our sources list