At Initialized, we understand that as a founder, your initial experiences matter deeply, and every decision can feel like it carries significant weight. That’s why our founder impact team is launching a new blog series, ‘Your First…,’ aimed at guiding founders through key moments in areas such as marketing, PR, talent, go-to-market strategies, design, community/ events, storytelling, content creation, and more.

Our first post helps founders craft and launch their first funding announcement.

With almost 90 years of collective experience in PR, communications, HR, talent, marketing, community events, and video production, the founder impact and marketing team is here to help you grow your business and effectively communicate your story, setting your company up for long-term success. Stay tuned as we share practical advice and strategies to support you every step of the way.

You just closed a round of funding (maybe your first) and you are ready to announce the news. So, what do you do now? As head of portfolio PR for Initialized, I’ve helped place dozens of funding stories in top-tier media publications like TechCrunch, Fast Company, Coindesk, and Fortune. Here is the process I work through in order to optimize this landmark moment for your startup.

Why Do a Funding Announcement

First, consider why you want to announce. PR can help with recruiting, customer acquisition, gaining credibility, and building brand equity. Your goals will determine both your messaging and target audience. If you are recruiting engineers, consider placing an inspiring story in a tech-focused publication. If you are trying to land bigger partnerships, maybe you want a founder profile in a more business-focused outlet. As you develop your messaging for the announcement, keep your objectives in mind and direct your messaging to your target audience.

Although the news is a funding round, the story itself will be much broader. As you build out your messaging, make sure you answer the following questions:

  • Why did you start this company? 
  • Why has this never been done before, and what challenges did you face getting here?
  • What data points, numbers, or customer information can help validate your brand?
  • What will you do with this funding? 
  • If you become successful, how will your industry/world change?

Having refined messaging is critical not only for your media interviews, but for all communications efforts. At Initialized, I offer several messaging and media relations basecamps each year to help founders develop these skills, as well as playbooks to continue learning and refining as you grow your business. Working with an expert on messaging can only help you grow as a thought leader and as a speaker, and may be worth the investment.

Preparing Your Media Assets

In order to share your story with the press, you’ll need to prepare a media kit—a collection of assets that tell your story. The most commonly discussed aspect of the media kit is your press release; this is a formal statement from your company that outlines the news. While the press release is meant to be objective, it should still incorporate the above messaging elements so that it serves your objectives. Press release templates can be found here, and Initialized founders can reach out to receive our custom release templates. Alternatively, you can present the news in blog form, if that feels more appropriate and on brand for you and your company.

As you build out your media kit, you’ll want to include the following:

  • Press release (or blog post)
  • Company logo/wordmark
  • Founder headshots/team photo
  • Corresponding visuals (optional)
  • Video/demo (optional)
  • Fact sheet or FAQ (optional)
  • White papers (optional)
  • Quotes from investors and/or customers (optional)

Remember that anything you put in your media kit can end up in the final story, so be sure these are all media-ready assets. Once complete, compile your folder in an easily accessible format such as a Google Folder or Dropbox, and prepare to pitch it.

Pitching Your Funding Announcement

Once your messaging is ready and your media assets are compiled, it’s time to pitch your story. Research journalists who cover funding stories of your size and in your industry. Most funding stories are pitched as exclusives, so prioritize your list from top to bottom. If the first journalist you pitch declines, or does not respond after two or three follow-ups, move to the next person on your list. 

You’ll also want to consider pitching under embargo, meaning the journalist will agree to publish the story at a certain date and time. This allows you to plan for amplification upon publishing, and to line up additional stories after the embargo lifts. Once a journalist is interested in the story and agrees to the embargo, you can send the media kit and schedule the relevant interviews.

An initial pitch should include an introduction of yourself and your company, a teaser of your breaking news (amount raised, high-profile investors, or an interesting element about the round), and 2-3 sentences that explain why this is impactful to your industry and to their readers. Since you’ll be following up with the full media kit, the role of the pitch is to quickly show that your raise is both newsworthy and relevant to this writer. Pitches should be succinct, like a personal note to the journalist. As an editor once told me — anyone can raise a round, but a journalist wants to know why you and why now.

Preparing For Your Announcement

Your story is confirmed, and now it’s time to conduct your interviews and prepare for your announcement. While it’s difficult to summarize in one blog how to do a media interview, I recommend putting together talking points that will help you keep your conversation focused. Practice questions and answers with your team or a person close to the business. Definitely don’t wing the conversation, even if you’ve done dozens of investor meetings — media and investors are different audiences and will have different questions/goals in mind.

The conversation should stay organic and conversational, but the most successful funding story interviews will include the following:

  1. Tell your founder story chronologically from inception to today, highlighting your expertise and what challenges you had to overcome.
  2. Talk through or demonstrate the end-to-end product experience, providing a juxtaposition as to how things were done before your product existed versus how they are done today.
  3. Share your vision as to how this will change your industry and/or the world at large.

After your interview, be sure to send a thank you note to the journalist, and include key facts and any clarifications you need to make. This is also a good moment to re-confirm the date and time of publication so that you can prepare for amplification.

In advance of the article going live, be sure to audit your website (as you will likely get a spike in traffic) as well as your social media channels (or create them if they don’t exist). It can also be helpful to send a note to your broader network letting them know the timing of the announcement, and asking them to follow your social media accounts in preparation.

Optimizing Your Announcement

As soon as the story is published, the first thing you’ll want to do is read through for factual accuracy. While you can’t change the story if you don’t like it, you can email the writer asking to amend any factual errors. Don’t forget to also say thank you and offer to stay in touch for the next story.

Then it’s time to alert your network—send a note to everyone you know with links to the article and your social media handles/posts, asking them to like and reshare. If you’re not happy with the article, consider publishing your funding blog post or press release and referring readers to those links instead. You’ll then want to alert relevant VC and fundraising newsletters of the news, and as desired, use this moment as an impetus to make introductions to other relevant journalists who cover your industry. Lastly, follow up with any journalists you previously emailed with the news to keep communication open. 

While it’s difficult to track the qualitative success of earned media, you can check your website analytics, social media traction, and customer conversions to see how this moment impacted your business. Many companies will choose to include articles or media logos on their websites to add credibility to their products. The important thing to remember is that a funding announcement is often just a first step in your media and PR journey; use this moment as a learning experience to help refine your techniques and messaging moving forward.

Key Takeaways

  • Know why you’re announcing, and gear your messaging and media strategy toward these objectives.
  • Develop messaging and media assets that clearly express why you and why now.
  • Send a pitch that feels concise and relevant to the specific journalist.
  • Craft talking points and practice for your interview.
  • Audit your website and social media before the announcement goes live.
  • Alert your network and ask for support amplifying the announcement on social media.
  • Use this moment as a first step toward building stronger media relationships, setting you up for success in your future communications efforts.