Lenny's PodcastThe ultimate guide to PR | Emilie Gerber (founder of Six Eastern)
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- March 21, 2024
- Duration
- 1h 33m
- Channel
- Lenny's Podcast
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Emilie Gerber is the founder and CEO of Six Eastern, a top PR agency that’s worked with over 100 tech companies, from stealth startups to publicly traded companies. Before starting her own firm, she worked at Uber, where she led PR for the business development team and B2B programs. Prior to that, she worked at Box on product communications, with a focus on product launches and partnership announcements. In our conversation, we discuss:
- Why, and when, getting press is worth your time
- Common misconceptions about the impact press can have
- The second-order effects of press
- Which areas each publication (TechCrunch, Axios, The Verge, etc.) cares most about
- How to craft your pitch
- How to find and reach reporters
- How pitching press is different from pitching customers
- The effectiveness of direct communication through social media versus traditional press
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- Sprig—Build a product people love: https://sprig.com/getstarted?utm_source=lenny&utm_medium=podcast
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Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-pr-emilie-gerber Where to find Emilie Gerber:
- Substack: http://onbackgroundintel.substack.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilie-gerber-59612230/
- Website: https://sixeastern.com/
- Email: hello@sixeastern.com
Where to find Lenny:
- Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
- X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Emilie’s background (04:56) The value of press and second-order effects (12:57) When press is not worth your time (17:01) Different publications and their suitability (25:36) Avoiding negative stories (27:23) Finding aligned podcasts and awards (30:55) Advice for reaching out to reporters (37:23) Controversial pitches (41:16) Avoiding category creation (43:26) Examples of pitches that have worked well (52:35) Pitching to Lenny (55:42) Effective pitching strategies (57:44) Improving pitch announcements (01:03:01) Press releases (01:07:06) Crafting a compelling story (01:09:41) Traditional press vs. newsletters, podcasts, and social media (01:12:43) Building a social media presence (01:17:54) How to get a Morning Brew feature (01:19:32) Advice on choosing a PR agency (01:22:25) Timing and budget for PR (01:25:31) Lightning round Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
SPEAKERS
Emilie Gerber
guestLenny Rachitsky
host
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Lenny's Podcast, featuring Emilie Gerber and Lenny Rachitsky, The ultimate guide to PR | Emilie Gerber (founder of Six Eastern) explores startup PR, Demystified: Tactical Playbook from Six Eastern’s Emilie Gerber Emilie Gerber, founder of PR agency Six Eastern, breaks down highly tactical, step‑by‑step advice for startups on how to get and leverage press. She reframes PR’s value for B2B as second‑order effects—credibility, sales enablement, recruiting, and partnerships—rather than direct sign‑ups, and explains when PR *does* directly drive growth for consumer products.
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