Episode Summary
Executive Summary: Jason Pfeiffer explains how to earn press by thinking like an editor: understand each publication’s mission, target the right writer/freelancer, and pitch a human story that serves their audience—not your ego. He emphasizes that press is tactical, unpredictable, and best used for validation, positioning, or access to specific audiences, not as a primary growth engine.
Main Topics: How journalists and editors think: Pfeiffer stresses that media professionals care about their audience first, not the person pitching them, so successful outreach starts with understanding the publication’s mission and content patterns. What press is actually for: Press should be pursued only when you know the business goal: awareness, fundraising credibility, positioning, recruiting, partnerships, or validation—not just vanity exposure. How to choose the right publication and person: Rather than pitching generic outlets or editors-in-chief, founders should identify the specific writer, beat, or freelancer who covers relevant topics and whose audience matches the product. Pitching mechanics that work: Effective pitches are short, customized, and immediately signal relevance. They should reference the publication or writer intelligently, avoid buzzword-heavy PR language, and tell a compelling human story quickly. When PR agencies help—and when they don’t: PR can save time if the agency has strong relationships and judgment, but many agencies over-rely on press releases and mass blasts. Good PR people push back and know the media ecosystem deeply. Alternative ways to get coverage: Beyond feature stories, founders can get quoted as experts, create trends/surveys, or pitch themselves as part of a larger industry story rather than being the main subject. Mindset: be human and embrace uncertainty: Media is subjective and hard to control. The best approach is to be honest, open, and human with reporters, accepting that outcomes are uncertain and sometimes the real value is downstream.
Key Arguments: Editors and writers do not serve founders; they serve their audience, so pitches must show how the story benefits readers/listeners/viewers. Press is not a reliable growth strategy by itself; it is best treated as a strategic add-on with a clear objective. A publication’s mission should determine the pitch angle: the same company can have different stories for Entrepreneur, Cosmo, Fast Company, or a trade outlet. Freelance writers are often easier and better targets because they are hungry for story ideas and actively looking for pitches. Founders should pitch the specific person who covers their category, not the editor-in-chief by default. A strong pitch is short, customized, and focused on an interesting, often counterintuitive human story—not a generic product description. PR agencies are only valuable when they provide relationships, editorial judgment, and honest pushback; press-release distribution is usually low-value. Sometimes the best outcome is not audience reach but credibility—an “as seen in” badge used for outbound sales, partnerships, or fundraising. Founders can create news by generating data, reports, or trends that make them part of a broader story. Being open about challenges makes stories more credible and useful; polished success stories are usually less compelling.
Data Points: Pitches per day in inbox: 30-50 - Jason estimates how many pitches he receives by the time a podcast recording ends. Founder-direct pitches share: 20-25% - Approximate share of pitches Jason says come directly from founders rather than PR people. PR-driven pitches share: 75% - Approximate share of pitches coming from PR, including targeted outreach and mass-blast press releases. Audience reach of a typical story: 5,000-10,000 people - Jason says even major publications’ stories may only be read by a small subset of their total traffic. Press release distribution value: Low to zero actual readership - He explains that press releases posted on Yahoo Finance/MarketWatch often receive little to no real attention. Butter dish market research cost avoided: $10,000 - A founder used airport travelers for consumer research instead of paying a market research firm. Top income segment for ski resort customers: Top 5% - In the example of a Canadian painter, skiers were described as a high-earning demographic. Podcast/article production length example: 3,000-4,000 words - Jason describes the length of the Ripple Rug feature he wrote.
Pivotal Quotes: "The editor, the writer, I'll just say it as plainly as possible, they don't care about you. They don't care about you. They care about their reader or their listener or their viewer." — Jason Pfeiffer: Explaining the core principle behind successful media pitching. "What's the point of building something if you can't maintain it?" — Jason Pfeiffer: His favorite life motto, used to frame sustainable ambition and long-term work. "Opportunity set B is always more important, infinitely more important." — Jason Pfeiffer: Defining the growth mindset of pursuing unasked-for opportunities beyond core responsibilities.
Implications: Founders should stop treating press as a magic growth lever and instead approach it like targeted persuasion: clear goal, right outlet, right person, right story. Done well, press can unlock credibility, partnerships, and leverage far beyond direct traffic.
About Lenny's Podcast
Lenny Rachitsky interviews world-class product leaders and growth experts about building products and growing careers.