Episode #57: Pitch a Startup with Samantha Stokes
“If you really want your funding round covered, offer up the pitch deck.”
Samantha Stokes, on pitching startup news to Insider
Today’s episode is all about pitching startup and VC news to a reporter at Insider. Interestingly, the story we explore does not come from one single pitch, but many pitches, spanning the course of many months. Aside from exploring the extensive email organization skills that our guest possesses, we learn the ins and outs of having your pitch stand out and increasing your chances of coverage for your startup, VC funding round, and/or founder (think: transparency and timeliness).
In this episode, you'll learn…
The important roles of intro calls, press pages, and pitch decks
What’s actually considered timely in the startup new cycle
Other considerations for ensuring efficient collaboration
Our guest is:
Samantha Stokes, a VC/startups reporter at Insider writing about healthtech. She's especially interested in mental healthtech and women's health startups. Previously, she was on Insider's finance team, where she wrote about Wall Street and Big Law. Samantha graduated from the University of Missouri and Columbia Journalism School.
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Show Notes:
:00– Jackie introduces our guest.
2:05– Jackie asks Samantha to talk about a piece that stemmed from a PR pitch (spoiler: this one stems from multiple).
6:27– Britt asked how many pitches were considered for the final piece.
7:35– Jackie asks how long it took to complete the research for the piece.
8:50– Jackie remarks that she’s encountered intro calls in the past. This leads to a conversation about the role of intro calls in Samantha’s work and what they entail.
13:40– Britt asks if social media following is a factor in considering a founder to interview.
16:37– Britt asks if she ever comes across anyone on TikTok that she’d like to cover.
19:00– Jackie asks if when she’s qualifying a story, being covered by another outlet is a dealbreaker.
21:40– Jackie asks Samantha about her email habits.
27:40– Jackie asks Samantha if she appreciates a follow-up.
28:33– Jackie asks Samantha to read her Tweet and to tell the story behind it.
31:48– Jackie mentions her experience with press pages.
33:04– Samantha shares her hypothesis of why a startup might not have their contact information publicly available, as well as what she’d like to see on a startup website’s press page.
37:40– Samantha shares the most common factual error that startups have incidentally made.
39:55– Jackie asks for final tips from Samantha about how to pitch her for Insider.
43:45– Britt asks Samantha to clarify what she means by timeliness.
45:40– Britt asks Samantha if she’s received pushback from regarding pitch decks.
47:50– Jackie asks Samantha to give a shoutout. She shouts out Audrey Cronin of Caraway. She also gives a shoutout to the women at JBC.
Things we talked about…
Connect with Samantha Stokes
Connect with Jackie & Britt
