Many founder pitches fail before the journalist finishes the first paragraph, and almost never because the company is uninteresting. They fail because they are sent to the wrong person, about the wrong thing, in a form that makes the reporter do the work of finding the story.
The most coverage I have earned came from a campaign that had a story built into it: more than 250 billboards across the United States in 2021 asking for federal recognition of National Arab American Heritage Month. The month gave journalists a reason to write now, and the scale and the outcome gave them something to report. Every good pitch I have written since borrows from that. It hands the writer a story, not a request.
Here is how I would approach it as a founder doing it yourself.
Start with the story, not the company
Before you write to anyone, write one sentence that a reader of that publication would find interesting even if they had never heard of you. A finding, a first, a change in your market, a result that runs against what people expect, or a strong position you can defend.
If the sentence only makes sense as an announcement about your company, it is not a story yet. Launches, funding and new hires can be news, but usually only to the trade press that covers your exact niche, and even then the angle matters more than the event.
The questions I use to test whether something is genuinely newsworthy are in how to design a digital PR campaign journalists cover.
Find the right writer, not the biggest outlet
Read before you pitch. Find the people who have written about your subject in the last few months, read what they wrote, and note what they seem to care about. A short list of writers who already cover your story is worth far more than a long list of famous names.
For each person on the list, you should be able to say in one sentence why this story belongs to them. If you cannot, take them off the list.
The five parts of a pitch that gets read
Keep it short enough to read on a phone without scrolling much. In practice that means five parts.
A subject line that is the story. Not "Partnership opportunity" or "Story idea." The actual angle, in plain words, as specific as you can make it.
Why this writer. One sentence connecting the story to something they have written. It shows you read their work and saves them deciding whether it fits.
The story in two or three sentences. What happened, why it matters now, and the one fact that makes it surprising.
Why you. One line on why you are a credible source for this particular story, with a link to something they can check, such as your press kit. Not your whole biography.
What you can offer. Data, a conversation, access to a customer who has agreed to speak, images. Make the next step easy.
Then stop. No attachments unless they asked. No paragraph about your mission.
What the structure looks like in practice
Here is the skeleton of a pitch built from one of the real angles in my own press kit. It is a structure to adapt, not a template to copy, and every fact in it is one I can document.
Subject: One immigrant, 250 billboards, and a national heritage month
Why you: A sentence pointing to the writer's recent coverage of Arab American communities or civic campaigns, written fresh for each person.
The story: In 2021 I self funded more than 250 billboards across the United States asking for federal recognition of National Arab American Heritage Month. The campaign was recognized by the U.S. Department of State and received a public letter from President Biden.
Why me: I ran the campaign, and the record is public, with a link to the page that documents it.
The offer: An interview, campaign images, and the timeline.
Notice what is missing: adjectives, a mission statement, a request for coverage. The writer can see the story, check it, and decide in under a minute.
Timing
Pitch with enough notice for the kind of piece you want. Features take longer than news. If your story is tied to a date, a season, an anniversary or a policy change, pitch well before it, because that date is the reason they can publish it then.
Avoid sending something that only makes sense today to someone who works weeks ahead, and avoid sending something slow to someone covering breaking news.
Following up
One polite follow up after a few working days is reasonable, ideally with something new: a fresh data point, a quote, a change in the story. After that, let it go. Silence is an answer, and a pitch that is not right for someone today may be right next month if you have not worn out your welcome.
If someone tells you it is not for them, thank them. That reply is rarer than you think, and the people who send it are worth staying on good terms with.
What never to send
Mass emails. If the same text could go to fifty writers, it will be read by none of them.
Pitches through personal channels. Unless you already have that relationship, use their work email.
Offers of payment for coverage. Editorial coverage is not for sale. Anyone who accepts money to write about you is selling something else, and it will cost you more than it saves. I go through the difference between earned and paid in how to get featured in Forbes and publicist vs PR agency.
Claims you cannot back up. A reporter who finds one inflated number will doubt the rest. Check every line before it goes out.
When it works, make it easy
If a journalist replies, answer quickly, be available when you said you would be, and give them what they need without editorial demands. Do not ask to approve the article. Do not ask for questions in advance unless the format genuinely needs them.
Afterwards, thank them, share the piece, and add it to your press kit. One good experience is the start of a working relationship, and that relationship is worth more than any single story.
When to bring in help
Doing this yourself is the right starting point for most founders, and the skills carry over to everything else in your public profile. When your news arrives faster than you can pitch it, or the stakes of a single announcement get high, a publicist or an agency can earn their fee. I lay out how to choose between them in publicist vs PR agency.
If you want help shaping a story or a pitch before it goes out, get in touch with me and the X Firm team. And if you have not built one yet, start with a press kit for founders, because it is the first thing a curious journalist will open.