INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Tim Hsia - Neil DevaniContributorMore posts by this contributorWelcome to this edition of The Operators, a recurring Extra Crunch column
produced by insiders with executive experience at companies like AirBnB, Brex, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Lyft, Slack, Square, Twitter, and
Uber, sharing their stories and insights
enterprise sales, product management, and finance/accounting.When and how should a company seek press coverage?The difference between
marketing and communicationsBuilding relationships with reportersBeing or identifying a great communications leaderEarly on, most founders
Broadly, communications consists of how and what information to share, both inside and outside of the company, touching domains like
management, recruiting, marketing, and business development
He previously worked for Governor Pete Wilson of California and has founded two separate communications firms, with clients including Slack,
Her communications experience also began in government, working for US Senator Jeanne Shaheen before managing comms at Square and Uber
She was then a marketing executive at Dropbox before becoming the Director of Communications at Aurora, a leading autonomous vehicle
company, with investors including Sequoia Capital, Amazon, and Hyundai.Adi Raval started as a journalist at ABC News and the BBC, covering
9/11, the Iraq War, and the White House
He moved into government as a diplomat for the State Department serving in Afghanistan, and later, as a spokesperson and Director of
After leaving government, Adi was the top communications executive for the Bechtel Corporation, the Head of Comms and PR for TaskRabbit, and
now the Head of Communications at Kodiak Robotics
the full episode.When and how should a company seek press coverage?Investors love to see public recognition of their portfolio companies,
and founders sometimes believe press coverage will solve all their problems, yielding a panacea of inbound customers, employees, and new
Being unprepared for an influx of inbound interest can lead to bad experiences and a negative reputation
response means knowing what you want the response to be, which in turn means knowing what you have to say, and why anyone will listen and
clear purpose in mind before approaching reporters will also help you execute
For some startups, landing a story with trade press may be better than being written up by a generalized tech publication
