Founders bring companies into being because they don’t take no for an answer, because they bravely tackle obstacles, because they never, ever give up. But these qualities play havoc with founders when they try to communicate externally. Ninety-five percent of the time, The Wall Street Journal is going to say ‘no’. If you keep asking a journalist to write a story that serves you and not them, their resistance hardens. You’ll destroy the reputation you’re trying to build.
If you want a ‘yes’ from a major business publication, you have to pitch a story they want to put in their pages. They do not care about how your product works. What they care about is the river of money.
Business press covers business. They cover the flow of goods and services and money between creators, suppliers, and buyers. Our global economy is a massive, interconnected river of money. A brand new tributary in the river of money is business news. A tributary that overtakes and subsumes another tributary is business news. So is a giant river of money that dries up through its own lack of momentum.
When you’re sitting in your first big interview with that business press reporter, expect her to ask for customer references, industry analyst data, sales and market figures, and research. She won’t just take your word for it that you’re doing great. She requires proof. Give it to her.
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