Oct 12, 2023 · 1h 42m · lennys-podcast
How to get press for your product | Jason Feifer (editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine)
0:00 / 0:00
▶ Watch on YouTube →
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode, Lenny Rachitsky interviews Jason Feifer, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, who breaks down an actionable, audience-first framework for startup founders to pitch journalists, select the right media outlets, and leverage press coverage for long-term credibility.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Lenny holds 16.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Lenny as informed peer 2.8 Guest teaching 5.9 Guest disagreement 1.5 Lenny pushing back 0.1
speaking balance: gold is Lenny, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:40 The media doesn't care about you
Jason forcefully shatters the premise that journalists exist to help founders promote products, bluntly stating editors only care about their audience.
Hardest push from Lenny ▶ 10:37 Probing on bad press investmentsLenny pushes back against the conventional assumption that all press is desirable, prompting Jason to provide concrete cases where media outreach is a waste of effort.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 46:15 Pitching hungry freelancers over top editorsJason deconstructs newsroom dynamics to show why salaried top editors ignore pitches while freelance writers actively hunt for viable stories to earn a living.
Lenny holds their own ▶ 1:35:03 Life is maintenance frameworkLenny brings his own philosophical framework to the discussion on workload and sustainability, extending Jason's reflection with a practical mental model on maintenance.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Lenny as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Lenny pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The High Volume of Editorial Inboxes and PR Automation | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | Lenny opens by inquiring about the scale of pitches journalists receive and notes his own experience getting automated emails. Jason explains that editorial inboxes are flooded with mass-blast PR and outlines why automated pitches fail. | |
| Defining the Purpose and Measurable Impact of Press | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | Lenny asks about the measurable growth impact of press and probes for situations where founders should avoid chasing media. Jason uses the DC hot dog cart example to demonstrate how founders waste effort targeting national publications that cannot drive their local business goals. | |
| The Three-Step Press Framework and Media Mindset | 1 | 7 | 3 | 0 | Jason outlines his three-step PR framework and forcefully dispels the myth that media outlets exist to provide a promotional service. He emphasizes that journalists care strictly about their audience rather than the founder's desire for exposure. | |
| Aligning Pitches with Publication Missions: The Butter Dish Case | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | Jason explains how publication missions dictate coverage, contrasting Fast Company with Entrepreneur. He illustrates this with the hinged butter dish case, showing that an unconventional airport market research method mattered far more than the product itself. | |
| Step One: Strategic Preparation and Framing Your Narrative | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | Jason explains strategic prep and how to slice a brand narrative into different angles for different outlets. Lenny synthesizes the steps clearly, noting how goals, audience missions, and specific narrative hooks connect. | |
| Evaluating PR Agencies: Relationships Versus Wire Blasts | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | Jason delivers sharp criticism of PR agencies relying on wire releases and automated blasts that end up in ignored syndication feeds. He emphasizes that PR value lies entirely in genuine personal relationships and candid founder feedback. | |
| Step Two: Outlet Selection and Press as Social Proof | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | Jason explains that the true ROI of mainstream press often lies in downstream social proof and 'as seen in' collateral rather than direct readership conversions. He shares how coverage in Variety yielded no direct listeners for his podcast company but proved invaluable in sales outreach. | |
| Targeting the Right Contact: Bypassing Top Editors for Freelancers | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | Jason details why pitching top editors like himself is ineffective and explains why targeting hungry freelancers yields vastly higher success rates. Lenny distills the guidance into a comprehensive four-part execution checklist. | |
| Step Three: Crafting Concise, Targeted Pitch Emails | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | Jason outlines pitch email mechanics, advising founders to keep emails under three paragraphs, target specific past coverage honestly, and avoid phone calls or intrusive DMs. He reiterates that concise, relevant pitches save editors sourcing time. | |
| Sponsor Message: Eppo | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | Following an ad read for Eppo, Jason reads an exemplary cold pitch from landscape painter Meg O'Hara and explains why journalists favor messy problem-solving narratives over sanitized success stories. Lenny breaks down the precise structural reasons the pitch succeeded. | |
| Pre-Pitch Relationship Building and Alternative Press Tactics | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | Lenny asks for quantitative benchmarks on pitch volume and time investment. Jason explains pre-pitch warming tactics on social media and alternative routes like positioning founders as expert commentary sources for breaking news. | |
| Managing Exclusives, Embargoes, and High-Profile Access | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | Jason outlines strategies for managing news exclusives and embargo windows without alienating reporters, citing a tiered exclusive arrangement and a Mark Cuban broadcast interview package. | |
| Embracing Vulnerability and Lack of Control in Media Coverage | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | Lenny recounts his own anxiety during a Fast Company profile where he had zero editorial control. Jason affirms that surrendering control is essential, warning that defensive or controlling behavior prompts journalists to dig for critical angles. | |
| Trendjacking and Data PR: The Ripple Rug and Corcoran Reports | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | Jason details trendjacking and data PR through the Ripple Rug Amazon-to-eBay arbitrage investigation, Barbara Corcoran's early market reports, and Zapier app rankings. He explains how providing macro context or survey data turns otherwise unpitchable products into major news. | |
| Final Takeaway: Retaining Authenticity and Being Human | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | Jason emphasizes authentic human communication, then enters the lightning round covering interview strategies and career growth via Opportunity Set B. Lenny actively contributes by sharing his complementary philosophy on maintenance and tracking growth through difficult moments. | |
| Conclusion, Resources, and Contact Information | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Lenny concludes the interview by summarizing his excitement to apply the framework. Jason shares his book and newsletter details where listeners can connect with him directly. |
Statements from this episode (29)
Only 25% of media pitches come directly from founders
“The percentage of direct messages from founders that I'm getting is, is low. I would say probably 20, 25%. And then the 75% is PR in some capacity, either targeted PR where somebody's Intentionally reaching out to me or mass blast press releases.”
Most PR pitching is an automated blast, not tailored storytelling
“One of the great insights that you can get into the challenges of that industry is how completely automated a lot of it is, where a lot of people in PR are not thinking specifically about how to tell the right story to the right Potential media outlet. And ins…”
Press coverage is too unpredictable to rely on for startup growth
“This is not something that I think that you should bank on as a strategy for growth. It's a great add-on, but if you think that press by itself is going to solve your problems, you're wrong, because it might, but it's way too unpredictable.”
Treat getting press like raising money: only do it with purpose
“Think about press the same way that you think about raising money, which is to say, you do it when you know what the money is for, and you should do it when you know what the press is for.”
National press is wasted effort for local, geo-constrained businesses
“If he is selling hot dogs in Washington, D.C., then I understand what press is for him. Press is to drive hot dog sales. That's what he wants to do. Entrepreneur is not going to do that for him. Full stop. Why? Because entrepreneur reaches a national to intern…”
Journalists do not care about you; they care about their audience
“The editor, the writer, they, like, 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. That's who they care about. That's who they're serving. And if …”
Entrepreneur magazine focuses on counterintuitive problem-solving, not company news
“The way that I think of entrepreneur is that it's not even a magazine about business, it's a magazine about thinking. What I want to do is make sure that everybody who comes to the magazine walks away with great insights into how to think through the challenge…”
Founders can decode pitching requirements by analyzing a publication's story patterns
“No, you have to step back and read what these publications are publishing and ask yourself, What are they doing? What is the purpose here? The editors and the writers are making decisions about what goes in this magazine, and they're making decisions about how…”
Founders should never pay a PR agency for a traditional press release
“If you go to a, if you hire or talk to a PR agency, and one of the things that they recommend doing that you should spend money on is a press release, like a traditional press release, run as fast as you can away from that. Like, I don't know if you know this,…”
PR agencies cannot guarantee press coverage due to subjective editorial decisions
“If a PR person is guaranteeing you press, that's another reason to run out the door as fast as possible, because the PR people cannot control this. The writers and editors, they do what they want. It's a completely subjective industry.”
Startup stories in major publications typically reach only 5k-10k readers
“In fact, the largest possibility here is that your story will reach, like, five to 10,000 people. A small number of people. Because these publications are publishing tons of stuff.”
Website media logos are often more valuable than actual story readership
“As seen in is probably more valuable than anyone actually reading that story to begin with.”
Good journalists actively source stories rather than waiting for inbound pitches
“A good journalist, a good media, a good writer, is not actually sitting around thinking that their job is to wait for people to pitch them so that they can just write about the best pitches. Their job, as they see it, is to go and find the most useful things f…”
Pitching freelance writers is often more effective than pitching staff editors
“Jen is getting a lot fewer pitches than me. The chances of her reading it are close to a hundred percent, and the chances of her taking it seriously, if it's relevant to any of the publications that she writes for, is much higher than me. So sometimes going to…”
Cold pitch emails to media should be three paragraphs maximum
“The email that you're writing is, don't go on forever, like three paragraphs max”
Audiences find pure success uninteresting; they want to learn about problem-solving
“Success stories are not interesting. They're not interesting to anybody, right? It's not. Useful for you to just hear that someone else succeeded. What's useful is for you to hear how someone else faced challenges that you faced and got through them so that yo…”
Engaging journalists on social media before pitching increases email open rates
“Before you ever pitch, just get me to recognize your name. You know? Like, just engage in social media in a very casual way, such that when you email me, I think, do I know who that person is? Like, Meg O'Hara, that, I think I know who that person is. It just …”
Standalone press coverage for niche B2B services is rarely worth attempting
“If you are a, like, some kind of B to B service, Especially in some kind of very niche or wonky space. It's going to be really hard for you to get, like so hard that it might actually not even be worth trying.”
An expert quote is enough to claim 'As Featured In' credibility
“You might get a quote in a story, which again, is all you need To be able to say as featured in on your website.”
Media outlets have zero tolerance for founders playing them against competitors
“The number one rule here is just don't do it in a way that the people in media feel like you're playing them. They won't have tolerance for it.”
Combine broad news releases with a single-outlet exclusive executive interview
“Sometimes you can offer an exclusive to someone in that you're going to release the news to everybody, but only one media outlet is going to get the interview, which works really well if you have a big personality.”
Entrepreneur and Fast Company avoid negative hit pieces to protect audience trust
“Like entrepreneur, and I would say fast company are just sort of not in the business of running negative stories. And the reason is because it doesn't serve our audience. Like, you know, my audience is coming to me to learn things for their business. Tearing s…”
Attempting to control reporters can trigger negative coverage out of suspicion
“The more you try to control it, The more the reporter is going to be annoyed at you, and the more, in fact, the reporter might try to, like, take a shot at you in the story as a result, because they just, they found you too controlling, because they felt like …”
Founders can get press by inserting themselves into broader trend stories
“Sometimes, and here's the lesson, sometimes you are not the story, but you can be part of the story.”
Barbara Corcoran built authority by publishing proprietary real estate sales reports
“She came up with an idea, which was to take her own sales data, right? The only window she has into the Manhattan real estate market at that time is what she is buying and selling, or, you know, what her clients are buying and selling, which she is facilitatin…”
Zapier gets guaranteed annual press by publishing its own platform data
“Zapier is a great example. I get a pitch from Zapier every single year about the fastest growing business apps of the year, based on Zapier data, because they see what people are using, and they just compile that together into a top 10 list, and people run it.”
Media is barely data-driven because the editorial product constantly changes
“Media is a sort of barely data-driven industry because every story is kind of different. It's like, it's hard. It's hard to optimize the product because the product changes every minute.”
Pitching real-time theories to interviewees forces them into authentic answers
“My favorite strategy for interviewing people is to Throw a theory at them. And I don't mean like a theory of the world, right? I mean that maybe 10 minutes in, after they have told me a couple different things and answered some different questions, I'll make a…”
Pursuing unasked opportunities is far more important than fulfilling expected responsibilities
“What I have found throughout my own career is that opportunity set B is always more important, infinitely more important, because the thing is that if you only focus on opportunity set A, then you are only qualified to do the things that you're already doing. …”