Alan Weinkrantz's approach to hacking your own startup's PR and Communications initiatives and how to rise Above The Code.

1. ABOVE THE CODE™
TechStars Cloud @Geekdom
March 5, 2012
San Antonio

2. Hacking Your Startup’s PR and
Communications Initiatives
To Get You
Above The Code™

3. ABOUT
• 30 years - yup, I am an old school PR guy :) -
• Based in San Antonio, TX / Desk in Tel Aviv @ TechLoft
• Works with Jeff Pulver on State of NOW -#140Conf & incubating 30
startups in Israel
• Involved with Israel’s traditional tech sector for the last 18 years

4. Life in three labs....
Tel Aviv
NYC / London / Tel Aviv,
etc. San Antonio

5. NOTES...
• This presentation is online....
• alanweinkrantz.com
• slideshare.net/alanweinkrantz

6. GOALS FOR TODAY
• How going Above the Code....
• can be applied as an element of your R&D and development
strategies
• help you accelerate the potential for success
• prepare
your company for gaining coverage before, during and after
Demo Day
• prepare your company for being discovered
• be ready when you are found

7. 2 PARTS TO PRESENTATION
• Principles and belief sets for the long run
• Practical and actionable steps to help you be ready for DEMO Day.

8. THE MEDIA IS
YOUR FIRST
MARKET
to share and tell your story

9. The Media is Your Customer....
bloggers
you analysts the &
end
enter-
users
prise
media

10. I’M NOT READY FOR THIS...
• WTF is a PR person doing in the room?
• We gotta focus on getting to - and through Demo Day
•I am hoping to have some fun at SXSW :)
•a good place to watch companies that rising Above The Code
•I don’t have time for this :)

11. GOOD NEWS :)
• Very low cost / no cost to create a start-up
• Big Idea
• Core team
• Strong will
• Servers / hosting
• Coding

12. BAD NEWS :(
• Someone in Austin, NY, SF, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Mumbai is thinking the
same thing as you are :(
• Hard to have a defensible position
• Hard to protect your IP

13. QUALITIES THEN...
• Strong Intellectual Property
• Defensible technology
• Strategic investors like Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Motorola
• VC funded

14. QUALITIES NOW
• No Intellectual property
• Nothing really defensible
• Strategic
investors & partners - Friends, Family, Angels, TechStars,
Google, Yahoo, AT&T, Rackspace, etc.
• Up until recently....No funding, or angel, micro, friends & family funding
• Easy
to run a virtual company... no real address, presence from a co-
working space and an IP phone number

15. THE WORLD AS WE KNEW IT
• Hardware
• Software
Go to School
• Telecom
Go to College / University
• Security Summer Job
Go to Work
• Bio Sciences
• Medical Devices

16. THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
High School
• Hardware Start-Up
Gap Year
• Software Start-Up
College / University
• Telecom
Start-Up
Work
• Security
Startup
• Bio Sciences Quit Day Job
Startup
• Medical Devices

17. Outbound / Inbound Strategy
Outreach to media
pick me
Being found by the media
find
me

18. PR in the past.....
company agency media
company analysts

19. WHAT I BELIEVE
• 12 Fundamental Belief Sets
• Not everything I do always works
•I do this for me. I do this for clients.
• There’s always exceptions to the rules
• Discussion is based on a combination of experience and principles

20. From >
Code

21. To >
Above The Code

22. Alan’s
12 Fundamental Belief Sets

23. #1 - STOP PITCHING
• Start story telling
• Yourpitch helps clarify / define
what you do, but really sucks as
a way to get coverage

24. #2 - YOU’RE REALLY A MEDIA
COMPANY THAT....
•Create and make media • Pinterest
so you’ll be discovered, • Instagram
found and shared
• Cinchcast
• YouTube
• SoundCloud
• Twitter
• Google Plus
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Blog

25. #3 UNDERSTAND THE
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BEING...
being
discovered and
• Discovered - random
being found
• Found
increases your
- search
chances of
sharing

26. #4 IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU
• How do you help others do
something in a compelling way
you could not do before

27. #5 BE HUMAN
• Get off your perch and write
like you would speak
• Conversewith your potential
market wherever they are

28. #6 LIKE MINDED PEOPLE TEND
TO FIND EACH OTHER
• Givethem a place to connect
and share their story

29. #7 HAVE A MISSION
• We’re out to make __________ better
• We want to help _____ do _______
• We want to help others the opportunity to ________
• We’re connecting _______ with ______ so they can ________
• Make it easier to ____________
• Have your voice be heard about _________

30. #8 THINK LIKE A SOCIAL
DEMOGRAPHER
• The potential to collect “Big Data” means you have something of
incredible value to a potential partner, investor, or brand
• Gives you a better chance of a lift when an exit may present itself
• Bigdata lends itself to infographics, which contributes to your thought
leadership and a great way to get media coverage

31. spark -
what if?
“some
funding.”..
technology platform
story... narrative to
real value
engagement
BIG DATA
Lift towards an exit... (c) Alan Weinkrantz

32. #9 PUT IT OUT THERE
• You never know who is going to find your content and engage
• You don’t have to have high quality production values to do this
• Hardware is cheap. Tools are free. Tons of creatives to help you

33. #10 DRAW, PAINT,
PHOTOGRAPH, ROCK OUT
• Do something or learn to do
something creative other than
working on your startup
• Itwill re-wire your brain in an
unexpected way
my drums circa 1968

34. #11 IT’S NOT ALWAYS
REPLICABLE
• Justbecause one strategy or
tactic worked for one company
does not mean it will work for
another

35. #12 GET LUCKY
• Go wide
• Get lucky
• Runwith it when you strike a
chord

36. THE MIND OF A DEVELOPER
• Focus on...
• functionality
• application
• utilitarian value

37. HACK YOUR OWN PR!
• Youhave to “know” the
journalist
• Much of this you can do yourself
• “Paper trails” on the Internet
exist if you search correctly

38. PLAN....
• Postand write relevant content • Read and comment on relevant
so you can be a source to media articles without being self
on your field of expertise promotional.
• Develop & publish infographics • Askend user / beta customers if
you can share you can refer to them to media
• Follow a wish list of 20 • Follow editorial calendars
journalists you think should
cover you

39. NOW....
• Reach out to home town media • analysts appropriate to your
space
• Makea wish list of where you
belong • track
competitors or
companies in your periphery
• business / tech / bloggers who on news.google.com to see
are your fans back home who covers and writes about
them
• media appropriate to your
space

40. EXAMPLES
•I did all this in the last 24 hours
• There are current opportunities awaiting in many contexts
• This requires discipline
• It does take time
• The point is to get you into some type of routine to start thinking
about doing this.
• Your mileage may vary

41. Hi Julie, I’m the co-founder of
Vidmaker, based in Madison.
We’ve been part of the
TechStars Cloud program and
temporarily moved to San
Antonio to get our startup off
the ground. We plan to return
to Madison in April and would
love to share our story with you
about our experience.Would
you be interested in learning
more?

42. follow and engage with appropriate journalists where you are
based

43. Mine opportunities with commenting and engagement

44. Comment on relevant
articles.... leave a trail of
expertise

45. Follow editorial
trails....

46. join the edit community
Text

47. follow
journalists
relevant
to your
space

48. Go deep into verticals where you really shine

49. Peripheral
content is
a good
trail of
where
you might
belong

50. Make the
applications of
your
technology
platform the
hero of your
stories.

51. Story submissions to vertical market publications

52. Collecting Data?
Inspire and drive creative story ideas with infographics

53. Capitalize or comment on emerging trends you are creating

54. Not all journalists are “on staff....”

55. Be a set of
eyes and
ears from
SXSW for
your
hometown
media.

56. PLAN FOR PR
• Ifyou follow some of these basic • Get everyone on your team to
principles, you’ll be further make this part of their regimen
ahead. as it will make them aware of
the opportunities that await you
• This process takes at least six when you are ready.
months to one year to really get
on a journalist’s radar and be • Bring
up PR in your team
sticky - sometimes you can get meetings in a “what if...” scenario.
lucky
Be Ready For PR So You Can Succeed

57. HELP!
• My door is open
• Happy to spend one hour with
each company after SXSW to
help you think this through.
• Email me your wish list of media

58. Read. Re-Read.
http://tech.li/2012/03/integrating-pr-into-your-product/
http://gigaom.com/2012/03/03/how-startups-can-hack-the-pr-machine/
http://appsmarketing.mobi/app-marketing-sxsw-2012/

59. Free tools to get you into the groove....
http://www.alanweinkrantz.com/startup-pr-
Who did I pitch today? strategies-who-did-i-pitch-today
http://www.gartner.com/technology/about/
Gartner Briefings request form vendor_briefings.jsp
Editorial calendars http://www.alanweinkrantz.com/
technology-public-relations-2011-
editorial-ca

60. Methodically.
Reach.
Out.

61. ABOVE THE CODE™
please share:)

62. thank you
alan@weinkrantz.com
www.alanweinkrantz.com
Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn.
all photos by me
© Alan Weinkrantz And Company 2012 Above The Code ™