taketomarket 2.2.0 → 2.3.0

package/playbooks/pr-media.md

@@ -1,160 +1,223 @@
 ---
 discipline: pr-media
-asset_types: [press-release, media-pitch, media-kit, byline-article]
-version: "1.0"
+asset_types: [press-release, journalist-pitch, podcast-pitch]
+version: "2.0"
 ---
 
-# PR/Media Discipline Playbook
+# PR/Media Playbook
 
 This playbook extends the base playbook contract (`base.md`) with PR/media-specific production guidance, discipline gates, and format rules. It is loaded by ttm-producer during content generation and parsed by ttm-verify for gate evaluation.
 
+The framework underneath this playbook is **Publication-Specific Founder PR** — the operating model Emilie Gerber (Six Eastern; clients include Perplexity, Ramp, Webflow, ClickUp, Nubank) teaches in her founder-PR masterclasses. Every rule in this playbook collapses to one premise: a reporter does not work for you, they work for their readers. The pitch's only job is to convince one specific reporter that one specific story will land with their specific audience. Anything else is noise.
+
 ---
 
 ## Production Guidance
 
-### Media List Structure
+### Pitch a story, not a product
+
+The first reframe every engineer-founder has to make: reporters are not your distribution channel. They are not "the press." They are individuals with bylines who have to publish something this week that their editor agrees is a story. If your pitch is "we built a thing and the thing has features," you've handed them a product brochure and asked them to do the work of finding the story inside it. They won't. They'll delete the email.
+
+A story has three components a reporter can immediately recognize:
+
+1. **A news hook.** Something happened: funding closed, a customer signed, a hire was made, a milestone crossed, a product shipped, a regulator ruled. Without a hook, there is no story — just a company that exists. "We've been around for two years and we're doing well" is not a hook. "We hit $1M ARR in 11 months selling to municipal water districts" is.
+2. **A protagonist.** Reporters write about people more reliably than about software. The founder, the customer who used the product to do something specific, the engineer who left Google to build this — name the person and what they did.
+3. **A reason this matters now.** Why this week? What in the world has changed that makes this newsworthy on a Tuesday in May? Funding rounds, regulatory shifts, layoffs at incumbents, public data drops — these are the pegs your story hangs on.
+
+If you cannot state the news hook, the protagonist, and the reason-now in one sentence each, do not pitch. Build the story first.
+
+### Match the publication
+
+The single biggest mistake founders make is treating "the press" as a monolithic blob. It is not. Every publication has a beat, a reader profile, and a pace. A pitch perfectly tuned for TechCrunch will be silently rejected by The Wall Street Journal — and vice versa. The publication-fit map below is non-negotiable: pitch the publication that wants this exact story.
+
+| Publication | What they want | What they reject |
+|---|---|---|
+| TechCrunch | Funding rounds, product launches, acquisitions in tech | Pre-launch teasers, no-funding "founder profiles" |
+| Axios Pro Rata / verticals | Fintech, healthcare, M&A, deals with named numbers | Generic SaaS announcements without dollar figures |
+| Business Insider | Founder stories with metrics, pitch deck breakdowns, salary/comp data | Pure product news |
+| WSJ / CNBC / Bloomberg | Substantial business numbers, regulated industries, public-market implications | Sub-$10M ARR companies without an unusual angle |
+| The Information | Insider tech industry reporting, exec moves, strategy leaks | Press-release-shaped news |
+| VentureBeat | AI, machine learning, enterprise infra | Consumer apps without an AI angle |
+| Forbes contributor network | Founder narrative, lessons learned, advice posts | Hard breaking news (handled by staff) |
+| Industry trade press | Vertical-specific applications, customer case studies | Horizontal-platform announcements |
+| Substack newsletters (Lenny's, Stratechery, Platformer, etc.) | Deep operator analysis, contrarian frameworks, behind-the-scenes detail | Press-release language |
+| Podcast hosts | Personal story, specific operator lessons, conversational chemistry | Pre-recorded marketing pitches |
+
+Before drafting any pitch, name the publication and the specific section. "TechCrunch" is not enough; "TechCrunch's enterprise vertical, Ron Miller" is the right granularity.
+
+### Research the reporter's last five stories
+
+Earn the right to pitch. Before you email a reporter, open their author page and read the last five things they published. Note the date. Note what they cover, what they don't, what they're skeptical of, what they're excited by. Bookmark at least one of those five pieces so you can reference it in the first sentence of your pitch.
+
+This is not optional flattery. It serves three functions:
+
+1. **Filter:** If five recent articles tell you this reporter doesn't cover your space, do not pitch them. You just saved a relationship.
+2. **Hook:** Referencing a specific piece in your first sentence is the strongest signal that you respect the reporter's work. It also tells them the email is not a blast.
+3. **Angle:** Their recent coverage tells you what angle to use. If their last story was skeptical of AI hype, do not pitch yours as "the AI-powered platform for X." Lead with metrics and operator detail.
+
+If the reporter has not published anything in the last 90 days, they may have left the outlet. Check their LinkedIn or X bio before pitching.
+
+### The three-sentence rule
+
+If your pitch is more than three sentences, it's too long. Brevity is the entire pitch craft. The three sentences are:
 
-Every PR campaign starts with a structured media list. Do not pitch without one:
+1. **Sentence one: connection.** Reference the reporter's recent work specifically. ("Your piece last Thursday on Klarna's IPO filing was the only one I saw that flagged the consumer-credit exposure detail.")
+2. **Sentence two: news hook.** State what happened, when, and why it's a story. ("We closed an $11M Series A this morning to build the first underwriting engine specifically for buy-now-pay-later defaults in the under-30 segment.")
+3. **Sentence three: offer.** Make one clear offer with a clear next step. ("Happy to send the round details under embargo until Tuesday 9am ET, or hop on a 15-minute call this week if useful.")
 
-- **Minimum 10 contacts** with: outlet name, journalist name, beat/coverage area, recent relevant article, and a specific pitch angle tailored to that journalist
-- **Tiered organization:** Tier 1 (national/major trade), Tier 2 (regional/niche trade), Tier 3 (blogs/newsletters/podcasts). Allocate effort proportionally -- Tier 1 gets the most customization.
-- **Beat matching:** Only pitch journalists who cover your space. A fintech pitch sent to a healthcare reporter wastes both parties' time and damages future relationships.
-- **Recency check:** Verify each contact is still at the listed outlet and still covering the same beat. Journalist turnover is high -- stale lists produce bounced emails and irrelevant pitches.
+That's the whole pitch. No bullet points. No attachments. No "About [Company]" paragraph. No second offer. No follow-up CTA at the bottom. If the reporter wants the deck, the financial model, the customer reference, or the headshot, they will ask. If they don't ask, none of those documents would have changed their decision.
 
-### Pitch Angle Customization
+### Founder as source, not spokesperson
 
-Generic pitches fail. Every pitch must connect the story to the journalist's specific interests:
+The pitch goes out from the founder's email address, signed by the founder, in the founder's voice. Not from the PR person. Not from an agency. Not from a generic info@ inbox.
 
-- **Reference recent work:** Mention a specific article the journalist published and explain how your story extends, contrasts with, or adds a new angle to their coverage.
-- **Angle-per-journalist:** The same announcement should be pitched differently to a product reviewer (focus on features/UX), an industry analyst (focus on market impact), and a business reporter (focus on funding/growth).
-- **Subject line discipline:** 6-10 words, specific and newsworthy. Avoid clickbait, ALL CAPS, or exclamation marks. The subject line is the pitch -- if it does not convey the news, the email will not be opened.
+Reporters cover companies but they trust people. A founder's name in the From field tells the reporter: this is the real source, this is who I'll quote, this is who I can fact-check with. A PR person in the From field tells the reporter: this is a managed message, the founder isn't actually available, the quote will be sanitized.
 
-### Embargo Management
+This applies through every stage:
 
-Embargoes give select journalists early access to a story in exchange for coordinated publication:
+- **First contact:** Founder's email, founder's words.
+- **Reply:** Founder responds personally within 24 hours, even if just to schedule.
+- **Interview:** Founder takes the call. No "PR present on the line." No talking points handed across the table. The reporter wants the unvarnished operator answering operator questions.
+- **Quote:** The quote in the published piece reads like the founder actually said it. If it sounds like it was written by a press release writer, the reporter will either rewrite it or pull a different quote — and the company has lost share-of-voice in its own coverage.
 
-- **Clear terms:** Specify exact date and time (with timezone) for embargo lift. Use written confirmation (email) -- verbal agreements are unreliable.
-- **NDA when needed:** For sensitive announcements (M&A, funding, partnerships), require a signed NDA before sharing embargoed information.
-- **Break protocol:** Document what happens if an embargo is broken. Typically: immediate release to all other embargoed journalists, note the breaking outlet for future exclusion.
-- **Selective use:** Reserve embargoes for genuinely significant news. Routine product updates do not warrant embargo complexity.
+The PR function — research, list-building, embargo logistics, fact-sheet packaging — runs in the background. The founder is the source.
 
-### Press Release Structure
+### Exclusives over blasts
 
-Follow the inverted pyramid -- most important information first:
+Blasting the same press release to 200 reporters is the single most reliably bad PR tactic for founders. Response rates fall below 1%, reporters recognize the blast pattern instantly, and the few who do cover it write a thinner story because they know everyone else has it.
 
-1. **Headline:** Factual, specific, 8-12 words. State the news clearly.
-2. **Dateline:** City, State/Country -- Date
-3. **Lead paragraph:** Who, what, when, where, why in 2-3 sentences
-4. **Supporting details:** Context, background, market data (2-3 paragraphs)
-5. **Executive quote:** One quote from a named executive providing perspective
-6. **Product/company details:** Specifics about the product or initiative
-7. **Boilerplate:** Standard company description paragraph (consistent across all releases)
-8. **Media contact:** Name, email, phone number for press inquiries
+The default move is the opposite: pick one reporter, offer the story exclusively, and trade exclusivity for a deeper, more prominent piece.
 
-### Byline Article Positioning
+The exclusive bargain is simple. The reporter gets the story 24-72 hours before anyone else and a guarantee no other outlet will have it on launch day. In exchange, the reporter commits to publish on launch day and typically writes a fuller piece — interview, multiple sources, real reporting — instead of a 200-word post that everyone else has.
 
-Byline articles (op-eds, thought leadership pieces published under an executive's name) require:
+Choose the exclusive partner using three criteria:
 
-- **Original perspective:** The article must offer a viewpoint not available in the company's standard marketing. Personal experience, contrarian takes, or proprietary data analysis.
-- **Publication fit:** Match the article's tone, length, and topic to the target publication's editorial standards. Read 5+ recent bylines in the target outlet before writing.
-- **Attribution balance:** The byline builds the author's credibility and the company's thought leadership. Avoid overt product promotion -- publications reject advertorials.
+1. **Reader fit:** Does the publication's audience overlap with your ICP? Tier-1 reach is meaningless if their readers don't buy what you sell.
+2. **Reporter fit:** Has this specific reporter covered companies like yours, sympathetically and accurately? Pull their last five pieces and check.
+3. **Cadence:** Will they actually publish on launch day? Some reporters sit on exclusives. Confirm the publish slot in writing before agreeing.
 
-### Earned Media Measurement
+Reserve the broadcast pitch (sent to your tier-2 list 30 minutes after the exclusive goes live) for after the anchor coverage exists. The exclusive piece becomes the proof point the broadcast pitch references.
 
-Plan measurement before pitching, not after:
+### News pegs and the embargo calendar
 
-- **Baseline:** Document current share of voice, existing coverage volume, and brand mention frequency before the campaign starts.
-- **Tracking method:** Specify how coverage will be monitored (Google Alerts, media monitoring tool, manual search, or combination).
-- **Success criteria:** Define what "success" looks like in measurable terms (e.g., 5 Tier 1 placements, 20% share-of-voice increase, 500 referral visits from coverage).
+Real PR planning is calendar-driven. You don't pitch when you feel ready; you pitch when the news peg lines up. Maintain a rolling 8-week news peg calendar:
+
+- **Internal pegs:** Funding close (target announcement date), customer milestones (logo go-live, ARR threshold), product launches (GA date, not beta), hires (start date), and report drops (data you've collected and packaged).
+- **External pegs:** Industry events your launch can ride alongside, competitor moves you can react to with on-record commentary, regulatory deadlines, earnings season for your buyer's parent companies.
+
+Embargoes are the lever that aligns your internal pegs with publication production schedules. A 48-hour embargo lets the reporter draft, fact-check, and pre-clear the piece with their editor before publish. A 0-hour "for immediate release" leaves them no production time and typically yields no coverage. Set the embargo clearly: date, time, timezone, and what the embargo applies to. Get written acknowledgment from each reporter who receives embargoed material.
+
+### Diversify beyond legacy press
+
+A LinkedIn post from a respected investor can outperform a TechCrunch hit for an enterprise SaaS company. A 90-minute podcast appearance on a niche operator show can produce more inbound demos than any major-outlet placement. Treat the press universe as broader than legacy media.
+
+The four surfaces every founder-PR plan should map:
+
+1. **Legacy press:** TechCrunch, WSJ, Axios, Bloomberg, trade publications. High reach, low conversion per impression, high prestige signal.
+2. **Newsletters and Substacks:** Lenny's, Stratechery, Platformer, The Diff, vertical operator newsletters. Smaller audiences, much higher trust, often a single placement drives more conversions than a Tier-1 hit.
+3. **Podcasts:** Founder podcasts (Acquired, This Week in Startups, 20VC), operator podcasts in your buyer's vertical. Long-form lets the founder narrative breathe.
+4. **Owned distribution amplified by trusted voices:** A founder LinkedIn post, an investor LinkedIn post quoting the founder, a customer LinkedIn post — these are PR. Track them, plan them, brief participants the same way you'd brief a reporter.
 
 ---
 
 ## Discipline Gates
 
-### DISC-PR-MEDIA-01: Media List Structure -- Tier 1
+### DISC-PR-MEDIA-01: Publication Fit -- Tier 1
 
-**Checks:** Media outreach includes a structured journalist/outlet list with angles per PLAY-10
-**Against:** Media list document or pitch plan
+**Checks:** Pitch is targeted to a specific publication whose audience and beat actually match the story
+**Against:** Pitch document, publication identification, and reporter beat history
 
 #### Evaluation Criteria
 
-1. **List completeness**
-   - PASS: Media list includes at least 10 contacts with outlet name, journalist name, beat, and a specific pitch angle per journalist
-   - WARN: Media list has contacts but uses the same generic pitch angle for all journalists
-   - FAIL: No media list, or list has fewer than 5 contacts, or no pitch angles defined
+1. **Specific publication and reporter named**
+   - PASS: Pitch identifies a specific publication, a specific section/vertical within that publication, and a specific reporter (first and last name) whose recent coverage demonstrates beat alignment
+   - WARN: Specific reporter named, but their last five articles do not clearly cover this story's vertical or angle
+   - FAIL: Pitch addressed to a generic editor (editor@, news@, tips@) or a list of reporters with no per-reporter rationale
 
-2. **Contact recency**
-   - PASS: List notes when contacts were last verified (within 30 days) or references recent articles by each journalist
-   - WARN: List exists but verification date is not noted
-   - FAIL: List contains obviously stale contacts (wrong outlets, inactive journalists)
+2. **Reporter's recent work referenced**
+   - PASS: Pitch's first sentence cites a specific article the reporter published in the last 90 days and connects it to the pitched story
+   - WARN: Pitch references the reporter's beat broadly ("Since you cover fintech...") without citing a specific recent piece
+   - FAIL: No reference to the reporter's work, or the cited piece is older than 6 months / written by a different author
 
-### DISC-PR-MEDIA-02: Pitch Angle Specificity -- Tier 1
+### DISC-PR-MEDIA-02: Story Angle Specificity -- Tier 1
 
-**Checks:** Each pitch is customized to the journalist's beat and recent coverage per PLAY-10
-**Against:** Individual pitch content compared to journalist profile
+**Checks:** The pitch leads with a real story angle — news hook, protagonist, and reason-now — not a product description
+**Against:** Pitch content compared to news-hook definition
 
 #### Evaluation Criteria
 
-1. **Journalist-specific customization**
-   - PASS: Pitch references the journalist's recent work or beat and connects the story to their audience's interests
-   - WARN: Pitch is topically relevant to the beat but does not reference specific recent coverage
-   - FAIL: Generic pitch with no journalist-specific customization
+1. **Named news hook present**
+   - PASS: Pitch states an explicit, datable news hook (funding round with amount and date, named customer go-live, product GA date, hire with start date, data-report release, milestone with number)
+   - WARN: News hook present but vague on specifics ("we recently launched" without a date, "we're growing" without a number)
+   - FAIL: No news hook — pitch describes the company, the product, or the market without naming what specifically happened this week
 
-2. **Angle differentiation**
-   - PASS: Different journalists receive different angles of the same story (e.g., product angle vs. market impact angle)
-   - WARN: Slight variations in pitch but substantially the same angle for all contacts
-   - FAIL: Identical pitch sent to all journalists regardless of beat or outlet
+2. **Story specificity over category claim**
+   - PASS: Pitch describes the specific story (named protagonist, specific number, specific moment) without relying on category-novelty language
+   - WARN: Pitch makes one generic claim ("first AI-powered ___" or "the leading platform for ___") but otherwise grounds the story in specifics
+   - FAIL: Pitch is built around category claims ("disrupting X," "first of its kind," "next-generation") with no specific protagonist, number, or moment
 
-### DISC-PR-MEDIA-03: Embargo Management -- Tier 2
+### DISC-PR-MEDIA-03: Three-Sentence Discipline -- Tier 1
 
-**Checks:** Embargo terms are documented and communicated if applicable per PLAY-10
-**Against:** Pitch documentation and communication plan
+**Checks:** Pitch email body adheres to the brevity and format rules: pitch length, no attachments, founder-as-sender
+**Against:** Pitch email body and metadata
 
 #### Evaluation Criteria
 
-1. **Embargo clarity**
-   - PASS: Embargo date/time with timezone clearly stated in pitch, NDA or embargo agreement terms defined, break protocol documented
-   - WARN: Embargo mentioned but terms are vague (no specific date/time or missing timezone)
-   - FAIL: Embargoed information sent without embargo terms, or conflicting embargo dates across pitches
+1. **Pitch length**
+   - PASS: Pitch email body is 3 sentences or fewer (excluding greeting and signature), under 100 words total
+   - WARN: Pitch is 4-5 sentences or 100-150 words — still readable but breaks the discipline
+   - FAIL: Pitch exceeds 5 sentences or 150 words, or includes bullet lists / multi-paragraph "About [Company]" sections inline
 
-2. **Non-embargo acknowledgment**
-   - PASS: If no embargo applies, the pitch explicitly states the information is for immediate use
-   - WARN: N/A (linked to embargo decision)
-   - FAIL: Ambiguous about whether information is embargoed or not
+2. **Founder-as-sender and no first-contact attachments**
+   - PASS: Pitch is sent from the founder's named email address, signed by the founder personally, with no attachments on first contact (no decks, no PDFs, no press releases attached)
+   - WARN: Sent from founder address but cc's an agency / PR person, OR sent with an inline media-kit link (acceptable but suboptimal)
+   - FAIL: Sent from a PR firm address, a generic info@ inbox, or with one or more attachments on first contact
 
-### DISC-PR-MEDIA-04: Press Release Structure -- Tier 2
+### DISC-PR-MEDIA-04: Founder Quote Substance -- Tier 1
 
-**Checks:** Press release follows inverted pyramid with required elements
-**Against:** Press release content
+**Checks:** Any founder quote in the pitch or press release sounds like a real human said it and contains operator-level specificity
+**Against:** Quote text in the asset
 
 #### Evaluation Criteria
 
-1. **Required elements**
-   - PASS: Includes headline, dateline, lead paragraph (who/what/when/where/why), supporting details, executive quote, boilerplate, and media contact info
-   - WARN: Missing one non-critical element (e.g., dateline or boilerplate)
-   - FAIL: Missing headline, lead paragraph, or more than 2 required elements
+1. **Non-platitudinous content**
+   - PASS: Quote contains at least one specific number, customer detail, contrarian view, or operator observation that a press-release ghostwriter would not produce
+   - WARN: Quote contains one specific detail but is wrapped in generic excitement language ("We're thrilled to...")
+   - FAIL: Quote is composed entirely of platitudes — "thrilled to announce," "transforming the industry," "empowering customers," "next chapter of growth" — with no specific content
 
-2. **Inverted pyramid structure**
-   - PASS: Most newsworthy information appears in the first paragraph; details expand in subsequent paragraphs
-   - WARN: Key news is present but buried below background context
-   - FAIL: Release leads with company history or product features before stating the actual news
+2. **Voice authenticity**
+   - PASS: Quote reads in a recognizably individual voice; if removed from the release, an informed reader could identify it as written by an operator, not a PR writer
+   - WARN: Quote is competent corporate-speak but indistinguishable from any other CEO quote
+   - FAIL: Quote uses press-release boilerplate that a reporter would either rewrite or replace with a different source
 
-### DISC-PR-MEDIA-05: Earned Media Measurement -- Tier 2
+### DISC-PR-MEDIA-05: Exclusive vs Blast Strategy -- Tier 2
 
-**Checks:** Coverage tracking and measurement plan exists per PLAY-10
-**Against:** Campaign measurement documentation
+**Checks:** Distribution strategy is intentional — exclusive offered when justified, blast reserved for post-anchor amplification
+**Against:** Pitch plan and distribution timeline
 
 #### Evaluation Criteria
 
-1. **Measurement plan completeness**
-   - PASS: Measurement plan specifies tracking method (media monitoring tool or manual), target outlets, share-of-voice baseline, and success criteria
-   - WARN: Success criteria defined but tracking method not specified
-   - FAIL: No measurement plan for earned media outcomes
+1. **Strategy named**
+   - PASS: Distribution plan explicitly states whether the launch is exclusive (one outlet, named, with reason for choice), embargoed (multiple outlets, named, with embargo time and timezone), or broadcast (with anchor coverage already secured)
+   - WARN: Strategy implied but not documented; embargo terms missing timezone or break protocol
+   - FAIL: Pitch goes simultaneously to 20+ outlets with identical content and no exclusive/embargo framing
+
+2. **Anchor-then-amplify ordering**
+   - PASS: If broadcast is used, an anchor placement (exclusive or embargoed tier-1) is sequenced first; broadcast pitches reference the anchor coverage
+   - WARN: Broadcast and anchor pitches go out simultaneously, reducing the value of the anchor
+   - FAIL: Broadcast-only with no anchor, or anchor exclusive promised to multiple outlets simultaneously
+
+### DISC-PR-MEDIA-06: Surface Diversification -- Tier 2
 
-2. **Baseline documentation**
-   - PASS: Pre-campaign baseline metrics documented (current coverage volume, share of voice, brand mentions)
-   - WARN: Baseline mentioned but specific numbers not recorded
-   - FAIL: No baseline established before campaign launch
+**Checks:** PR plan includes non-legacy surfaces (newsletters, podcasts, owned distribution amplified by trusted voices)
+**Against:** Overall PR campaign plan, not individual pitch
+
+#### Evaluation Criteria
+
+1. **Multi-surface coverage**
+   - PASS: Campaign plan names at least one target in each of three surfaces: legacy press, newsletter/Substack, and podcast OR investor/customer LinkedIn amplification
+   - WARN: Two of three surfaces covered
+   - FAIL: Campaign is legacy-press-only, or treats newsletter and podcast pitches as afterthoughts with no named targets
 
 ---
 
@@ -162,135 +225,212 @@ Plan measurement before pitching, not after:
 
 | Base Gate ID | Default Tier | Override Tier | Reason |
 |-------------|-------------|---------------|--------|
-| GATE-02 (Claim Accuracy) | Tier 2 | Tier 1 | Press claims are amplified by journalists and become public record; inaccuracies are nearly impossible to retract once published |
+| GATE-02 (Claim Accuracy) | Tier 2 | Tier 1 | Press claims are amplified by journalists and become public record once published; corrections require formal retraction and damage future relationships. Every metric, customer name, and superlative in a PR asset must be verifiable on the spot. |
+| GATE-06 (Positioning Invariant) | Tier 1 | Tier 1 | Default Tier 1 retained but called out: PR is the most public channel; positioning drift in a press quote is the hardest drift to retract, since reporters lift quotes verbatim into permanent indexable coverage. |
 
 ---
 
 ## Format Rules
 
-### Press Release Format
+### Journalist Pitch Email
 
-- **Headline:** 8-12 words, factual, no jargon. Title case.
-- **Dateline:** CITY, STATE (Month Day, Year) --
-- **Lead paragraph:** 2-3 sentences. Answer who, what, when, where, why.
-- **Body:** 3-5 paragraphs, 400-600 words total (excluding boilerplate).
-- **Quote:** Attributed to a named individual with title. 2-3 sentences maximum.
-- **Boilerplate:** 50-75 words. Consistent across all releases.
-- **Media contact:** Full name, title, email, phone. At the bottom.
+- **Subject line:** The subject line IS the angle. 6-10 words. State the news, name the metric, or pose the contrarian frame. Examples that work: "Series A close: $11M for BNPL underwriting (under embargo to Tues 9am ET)" / "Following your Klarna piece — defaults data from 47k loans". Examples that fail: "Quick question" / "EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT" / "[Company] Press Release".
+- **Greeting:** "Hi [First name]," — never "Dear Editor," never "Dear [First] [Last]," never "Hello [Last]."
+- **Body:** Exactly 3 sentences. Connection → news hook → offer. Maximum 100 words.
+- **Attachments on first contact:** Zero. No deck. No press release. No fact sheet. No headshot. Inline media-kit link only if useful.
+- **Signature:** Founder's full name, title, company name, one phone number. No corporate footer, no legal disclaimer, no scheduling-link CTA.
+- **Send from:** Founder's named email address (firstname@company.com or firstname.lastname@company.com). Not info@, not press@, not from an agency domain.
 
-### Media Pitch Email Format
+### Podcast Pitch Email
 
-```
-Subject: [6-10 words, specific news angle -- no clickbait]
+Same three-sentence discipline, adapted to podcast hosts:
 
-Hi [Journalist first name],
+- **Sentence one:** Reference a specific recent episode and what stuck with you. Hosts can spot a templated podcast pitch in two seconds — the antidote is showing you actually listened.
+- **Sentence two:** State the operator angle you'd bring (not the company you'd promote). What specific lesson, story, or contrarian take would the host's audience want to hear from you?
+- **Sentence three:** Offer concrete timing and format. ("I'm free for a 60-minute recording any morning ET in the next three weeks if useful.")
 
-[1 sentence referencing their recent coverage or beat relevance]
+Never pitch a podcast as "I'd love to come on and talk about [Company]." Pitch the topic the host's audience wants. The company mention happens in the bio at the end of the episode, not in the pitch.
 
-[2-3 sentences stating the news/story and why it matters to their audience]
+### Press Release
 
-[1 sentence offering: interview, exclusive data, demo, or early access]
+Used as the supporting document a reporter requests AFTER the pitch lands — not as the pitch itself. Inverted pyramid:
 
-[1 sentence with a clear ask: "Would this be worth a conversation?"]
+- **Headline:** 8-12 words. Factual. Names the news. Title case. No "thrilled," no "proud," no "leading."
+- **Dateline:** CITY, STATE (Month Day, Year) —
+- **Lead paragraph:** 2-3 sentences. Who, what, when, where, why. The lead must answer "what's the news?" in the first sentence.
+- **Body:** 3-5 paragraphs, 400-600 words excluding boilerplate. Each paragraph adds context, not new news.
+- **Founder quote:** Exactly one. Attributed to the founder by name and title. 2-3 sentences. Must pass DISC-PR-MEDIA-04 — operator specificity, not press-release platitudes.
+- **Customer or investor quote (optional, one only):** Same standard. No more than two quotes total in the entire release.
+- **Boilerplate:** 50-75 words. Consistent across all releases. Updated only when company facts change.
+- **Media contact:** Founder's name and direct email — not a PR firm's general inbox — unless the company is large enough to have a dedicated press lead with named ownership.
+
+### News Peg Calendar
+
+Maintained alongside the campaign, not inside the pitch:
+
+- Rolling 8 weeks forward
+- Each entry: peg date, peg type (funding / customer / hire / launch / data / external event), pitch readiness state (story drafted / list built / exclusive identified / embargo set)
+- Updated weekly; nothing gets pitched without a calendar entry
+
+---
+
+## Examples
+
+### Good: Three-sentence journalist pitch
+
+```
+Subject: Following your Klarna piece — $11M Series A for BNPL underwriting (embargo Tue 9am ET)
+
+Hi Mary,
+
+Your piece last Thursday on Klarna's IPO filing was the only one I saw
+that flagged the consumer-credit exposure detail in footnote 14 — that's
+the exact problem we built our company to solve. We're closing an $11M
+Series A on Tuesday led by [Investor], to scale an underwriting engine
+that's reduced default rates by 38% across 47,000 loans for three
+mid-market BNPL lenders we'd be happy to put you in touch with. Open to
+a 20-minute call this Friday or Monday if useful, otherwise the embargoed
+fact sheet is yours on request.
 
 Best,
-[Name]
-[Title, Company]
+[Founder]
+CEO, [Company]
 [Phone]
 ```
 
-Total pitch length: 100-150 words. Shorter is better.
+**Why it works:** Subject line is the angle and signals the embargo. First sentence references a specific recent article with operator-level detail (footnote 14) — proves the founder actually read it. Second sentence has a real news hook (Series A, $11M, named investor, dated for Tuesday) and a substantive metric (38% default reduction across 47k loans). Third sentence makes one concrete offer with one concrete next step. Founder is the sender. No attachments on first contact. Three sentences, under 100 words in the body.
 
-### Media Kit Contents
+### Good: Podcast pitch
 
-1. **Company fact sheet:** 1 page with founding date, HQ, team size, funding, key metrics
-2. **Executive bios:** 100-150 words per executive, with high-resolution headshots
-3. **Product screenshots/visuals:** High-resolution, properly licensed, with captions
-4. **Press release archive:** Links to 3-5 most recent releases
-5. **Brand assets:** Logo files (SVG, PNG), brand color codes, usage guidelines
-6. **Media contact:** Dedicated PR contact with direct email and phone
+```
+Subject: Operator angle for the show — when we killed our $2M ARR product line
 
-### Byline Article Structure
+Hi Lenny,
 
-- **Length:** 800-1200 words for most publications (check target outlet guidelines)
-- **Opening:** Personal anecdote or contrarian statement -- NOT a product pitch
-- **Body:** 3-5 supporting points with data, examples, or industry references
-- **Closing:** Forward-looking perspective or actionable takeaway
-- **Bio:** 2-3 sentences about the author, company mention in final sentence only
-- **Product mentions:** Zero to one. More than one and the publication will reject it.
+Your episode with the Linear founder on saying-no-to-customer-asks
+genuinely changed how I run our product roadmap — we used the framework
+to kill a $2M ARR product line three months ago that was eating 40% of
+our eng team for 8% of revenue. I think the operator story of how we
+decided, who we lost, and what happened to NRR afterward would be useful
+for your audience of PM- and founder-listeners. Free for a 90-minute
+recording any morning ET in the next three weeks if it's a fit.
 
----
+Best,
+[Founder]
+```
 
-## Examples
+**Why it works:** Names a specific recent episode and connects it to a specific operator action ("used the framework to kill a $2M ARR product line three months ago"). Pitches the topic, not the company. Quantifies the operator story (40% of eng, 8% of revenue) so the host can see the substance. Offers concrete timing.
 
-### Good: Customized Pitch
+### Bad: Spray-and-pray blast
 
 ```
-Subject: New data on developer tool adoption in enterprise (for your DevOps series)
+Subject: EXCITING NEWS FROM [COMPANY] — Revolutionary AI Platform Launches!!!
 
-Hi Sarah,
+Dear Editor,
+
+[Company] is thrilled to announce the launch of our next-generation
+AI-powered platform that is revolutionizing the way businesses transform
+their digital journey. As the leading provider of innovative solutions
+in the rapidly growing $400B market, we are uniquely positioned to
+empower customers worldwide.
 
-Your recent piece on CI/CD pipeline sprawl in Fortune 500 companies resonated
-with what we are seeing in our customer base. We have new data from 200+
-enterprise deployments showing that tool consolidation reduced pipeline
-failures by 34%.
+Our platform features include:
+- AI-powered automation
+- Seamless integration
+- Enterprise-grade security
+- Scalable architecture
+- Real-time analytics
 
-Would you be interested in an exclusive look at the data before we publish
-the full report next month?
+[continues for 500 more words]
+
+Attached: Press release, Pitch deck, Logo pack, Founder headshot, FAQ.
+
+Please let me know if you would like to cover this exciting news.
 
 Best,
-[Name]
+[PR Agency]
+on behalf of [Company]
 ```
 
-**Why it works:** References specific recent coverage, offers exclusive data, makes a clear ask, under 100 words.
+**Why it fails:**
+- **DISC-PR-MEDIA-01 FAIL:** Addressed to "Dear Editor" — no named reporter, no recent-work reference, no publication-fit logic.
+- **DISC-PR-MEDIA-02 FAIL:** No news hook. The "launch" has no date, no metric, no protagonist. Built entirely on category claims ("revolutionary," "next-generation," "leading").
+- **DISC-PR-MEDIA-03 FAIL:** Sent from PR agency, not founder. Five attachments on first contact. Body exceeds 500 words with bullet lists and "About" paragraphs.
+- **DISC-PR-MEDIA-04 FAIL:** Quote (not shown but implied) would be pure platitude.
+- **DISC-PR-MEDIA-05 FAIL:** Subject line and content indicate blast distribution with no anchor outlet.
 
-### Bad: Generic Spray-and-Pray Pitch
+This pitch will land in a reporter's deleted folder before they finish reading the subject line.
 
-```
-Subject: EXCITING NEWS FROM [COMPANY]!!!
+### Bad: No-hook founder-profile pitch
 
-Dear Editor,
+```
+Subject: Story idea — founder profile
 
-[Company] is thrilled to announce our latest product update! We are the
-leading provider of innovative solutions that empower businesses to
-transform their digital journey. Our new features include...
+Hi Sarah,
 
-[500 words of product description]
+I'm the founder of [Company] and I think my story would make a great
+piece for your publication. I started the company two years ago because
+I saw a gap in the market, and we've been growing steadily ever since.
+Our customers love us and we're really proud of what we've built. Would
+you be open to a conversation about doing a profile?
 
-Please let us know if you would like to cover this exciting news.
+Best,
+[Founder]
 ```
 
-**Problems:** No journalist name, no beat relevance, subject line is clickbait, self-congratulatory tone, too long, no specific ask, no news angle.
+**Why it fails:**
+- **DISC-PR-MEDIA-02 FAIL:** No news hook. "I started the company two years ago" is a fact, not news. "Growing steadily" is not a number. There is nothing here that has to be published this week — or any week.
+- **DISC-PR-MEDIA-01 WARN/FAIL:** No reference to the reporter's specific work. The pitch could be sent to anyone.
+- The fundamental error: pitching a profile before earning one. Founder profiles are written about companies the reporter is already tracking, not companies that ask for profiles.
 
 ---
 
 ## Anti-Patterns
 
-1. **Spray-and-pray pitching** -- Sending the same generic pitch to 200+ journalists. Response rates drop below 1%. Customize every pitch or do not send it.
+1. **Spray-and-pray pitching.** Identical pitch BCC'd or mail-merged to 50+ reporters. Response rates fall below 1%, and reporters who recognize the pattern blacklist the sender for future pitches. The discipline is the opposite: fewer pitches, each one researched and tailored.
+
+2. **"Disrupting X" with no metrics.** Category-novelty language ("first AI-powered platform for X," "the next generation of Y," "disrupting the legacy Z industry") without a specific number, customer, or operator detail behind it. Reporters parse these phrases as "we have nothing concrete to share." Replace every category claim with a number.
 
-2. **Self-congratulatory press releases** -- Leading with "We are thrilled/excited/proud to announce..." The journalist does not care about your feelings. Lead with the news and why it matters to their readers.
+3. **No news hook.** Pitching a "story" about the company existing, or "growing," or "having an interesting vision." Without a datable event that happened (or will happen), there is no story — only an existence announcement. Wait for the hook.
 
-3. **Ignoring journalist beat** -- Pitching a cybersecurity story to a consumer tech reporter. Shows you did not research the journalist and guarantees your email is deleted.
+4. **PR firm as sender.** First contact from agency@firm.com signed by an account manager. Reporters know what this signals: the founder isn't actually available, the message has been laundered, the quote will be sanitized. Send from the founder.
 
-4. **Burying the news** -- Starting the press release with 2 paragraphs of company history before stating what actually happened. The news goes in the first sentence.
+5. **Attachments on first contact.** Decks, press releases, fact sheets, headshots attached to the first email. Modern reporters won't open attachments from unknown senders, and large attachments get filtered by spam systems. Pitch in the email body; send supporting documents only when requested.
 
-5. **Pitching without a media list** -- Ad-hoc outreach to whoever comes to mind. Without a structured list, you miss key outlets, duplicate efforts, and cannot track results.
+6. **Following up more than twice.** A polite follow-up 3-5 business days after the initial pitch is acceptable. A second follow-up 7-10 business days later is the absolute ceiling. Beyond that, you are damaging the relationship for every future pitch. Move on.
 
-6. **Breaking your own embargo** -- Publishing on social media or the company blog before the embargo lifts. This kills journalist trust and ensures future embargoes are ignored.
+7. **Embargo as afterthought.** Sharing material with "Don't share until Tuesday, OK?" in passing. Embargoes require date, time, timezone, scope, and break protocol — all in writing, all acknowledged by each reporter. Casual embargoes get broken.
 
-7. **Product pitches disguised as bylines** -- Submitting a byline article that reads like a product brochure. Editors reject these immediately and may blacklist the author.
+8. **Burying the founder behind talking points.** Putting the founder on the interview call with a PR person on the line, pre-loading them with talking points, asking the reporter to send questions in advance. Reporters notice. The piece reads thinner. Let the founder speak.
+
+9. **Treating legacy press as the only surface.** Spending three weeks chasing a TechCrunch hit while ignoring a Substack with 30,000 operator readers who would all be buyers. Distribution surfaces have shifted; the campaign plan should reflect that.
+
+10. **Promising exclusivity to multiple outlets.** Telling Reporter A "you have the exclusive" and Reporter B "we're giving you first look" simultaneously. When (not if) they find out, the entire press relationship is over — and reporters talk.
 
 ---
 
 ## Metrics
 
-Track these indicators for PR/media content after shipping:
+Track these indicators for PR/media work after shipping. Note: the most important metric is not coverage volume — it's coverage quality and the share-of-voice the founder personally captured.
+
+- **Placement rate per pitch:** Number of placements divided by number of pitches sent. Healthy founder-PR sits above 15% when the publication-fit and three-sentence disciplines are followed. Below 5% means the list, hook, or pitch is failing.
+- **Tier-1 placements:** Count of placements in publications whose audience overlaps your ICP (not necessarily the most prestigious — the most relevant). One Lenny's Newsletter mention may outweigh five trade-pub mentions.
+- **Journalist response rate:** Percentage of pitched reporters who responded, even if declining. Response rate is a leading indicator of pitch quality; placement rate is a lagging indicator.
+- **Founder share-of-quote:** Percentage of resulting coverage that quotes the founder by name (vs. quoting an investor, a customer, or pulling boilerplate from the press release). Founder share-of-quote >70% indicates the founder is being treated as the source, not the spokesperson.
+- **Quote pull-through:** Percentage of coverage that retains the founder's exact quote vs. the reporter rewriting it. Low pull-through indicates the quote was too platitudinous and got replaced.
+- **Inbound from coverage:** Demos booked, qualified leads, or partnership inquiries traceable to specific pieces of coverage. Set up UTM tracking and ask new sign-ups how they heard about you for 30 days after each major hit.
+- **Exclusive-anchor lift:** When an exclusive is used, measure the lift in follow-on coverage volume vs. comparable broadcast-only launches. The exclusive bargain only works if the anchor outlet's coverage demonstrably catalyzes the rest.
+- **Surface diversification ratio:** Distribution of placements across legacy press, newsletters/Substacks, podcasts, and trusted-voice LinkedIn amplification. A founder PR program that only produces legacy hits is leaving 60-70% of conversions on the table.
+- **Embargo respect rate:** Percentage of embargoed pitches where every recipient honored the embargo. A single break tells you that journalist or outlet should be excluded from future embargoes.
+
+---
+
+## Sources
+
+The Publication-Specific Founder PR framework codified in this playbook is drawn from Emilie Gerber's (Six Eastern) published guidance and operator interviews:
 
-- **Media mentions** -- Total coverage count across Tier 1, 2, and 3 outlets, measured per campaign
-- **Share of voice** -- Brand mention frequency compared to competitors in the same coverage period
-- **Backlinks from coverage** -- Number of dofollow links from media articles pointing to the brand's domain
-- **Referral traffic from coverage** -- Website visits originating from media articles, tracked via UTM or referral source
-- **Tier 1/2/3 coverage ratio** -- Distribution of coverage across outlet tiers to assess campaign quality
-- **Pitch-to-placement rate** -- Percentage of pitches sent that resulted in published coverage
-- **Message pull-through** -- Percentage of coverage that includes key messaging points from the pitch
-- **Journalist response rate** -- Percentage of pitched journalists who responded (even if declining), indicating list quality
+- Lenny Rachitsky — "The ultimate guide to PR for startups | Emilie Gerber (Six Eastern, ex-Bospar)" — https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-pr-emilie-gerber
+- Open Source CEO — "How to do PR: An interview with Emilie Gerber" — https://www.opensourceceo.com/p/emilie-gerber-interview
+- Six Eastern (Gerber's agency, with public client list and case studies) — https://www.sixeastern.com/
+- Lenny's Podcast — Emilie Gerber episode (founder PR masterclass audio + transcript) — https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/podcast
+- First Round Review — adjacent founder-PR operator guidance referenced for the news-peg-calendar pattern — https://review.firstround.com/