1. ABOVE THE CODE™
Mexico City
October 26, 2012

2. Hacking Your Startup’s PR and
Communications Initiatives
To Get You
Above The Code™

3. Coming “Home...”
My parents &
grandparents
in 1946 @
Xochimilco

4. You are not just
building a startup.

5. You’re creating what’s
next in Mexico

6. You have
102 days
to get
ready for
Demo Day

7. 90 DAY PLAN TO GET READY
• November / December / January
• To benefit...
• your startup
• the community
• your country

8. ABOUT
• 30 years - yup, I am an old school PR guy :) -
• San Antonio & Tel Aviv
• Works with Jeff Pulver on State of NOW -#140Conf
• Involved with Israel’s traditional tech sector for the last 18 years

9. Life in three labs....
Tel Aviv
San Antonio
NYC / London / Tel Aviv,
etc.

10. GETTING LUCKY...
• Belief set about getting lucky with....
• PR
• Social
• Content

11. 2 PARTS TO PRESENTATION
• Principles and belief sets for the long run
• Practical
and actionable steps to help you be ready for DEMO Day on
February 5, 2013, and beyond...

12. THE MEDIA IS
YOUR FIRST
MARKET
to share and tell your story

13. The Media is Your Customer....
bloggers
you analysts & the
the
consumer
enterprise
media

14. GOOD NEWS :)
• Very low cost / no cost to create a start-up
• Big Idea
• Core team
• Strong will
• Servers / hosting
• Coding

15. BAD NEWS :(
• Someone in New York, Madrid, San Francisco, Singapore, Tel Aviv,
Mumbai is thinking the same thing as you are :(
• Hard to have a defensible position
• Hard to protect your IP

16. QUALITIES THEN...
• Strong Intellectual Property
• Defensible technology
• Strategic investors like Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Motorola
• Traditionally, VC funded

17. QUALITIES NOW
• No Intellectual property
• Nothing really defensible
• Strategic
investors & partners - Friends, Family, Angels,
MexicanVC, 500 Startups, Google, Microsoft, etc.
• Up until recently....No funding, or angel, micro, friends & family funding
• Easy
to run a virtual company... no real address, presence from a co-
working space and an IP phone number

18. THE WORLD AS WE KNEW IT
• Hardware
• Software
Go to School
• Telecom
Go to College / University
• Security Summer Job
Go to Work
• Bio Sciences
• Medical Devices

19. THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
High School
• Hardware Start-Up
Gap Year
• Software Start-Up
College / University
• Telecom
Start-Up
Work
• Security
Startup
• Bio Sciences Quit Day Job
Startup
• Medical Devices

20. Outbound / Inbound Strategy
Outreach to media
pick me
Being found by the media
find
me

21. PR in the past.....
bloggers
company agency
media
startup
analysts

22. 3 KEY ELEMENTS
• Design
• Data
• Distribution

23. WHAT I BELIEVE
• 12 Fundamental Belief Sets
• Not everything I do always works
•I do this for me... I do this for clients.
• There’s always exceptions to the rules
• Discussion is based on a combination of experience and principles

24. From >
Code

25. To > Above
The
Code

26. Alan’s
12 Fundamental Belief Sets

27. #1 - STOP PITCHING
• Start story telling
• Yourpitch helps clarify / define
what you do, but really sucks as
a way to get coverage

28. #2 - YOU’RE REALLY A MEDIA
COMPANY THAT....
•Creates and makes media • Pinterest
so you’ll be discovered, • Instagram
found and shared
• SoundCloud
• YouTube
• Google Plus
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• UStream
• Blog

29. #3 UNDERSTAND THE
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BEING...
• Discovered - random being discovered and being
found increases your chances
• Found - search of sharing

30. #4 IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU
• How do you help others do
something in a compelling way
you could not do before

31. #5 BE HUMAN
• Get off your perch and write
like you would speak
• Conversewith your potential
market wherever they are

32. #6 LIKE MINDED PEOPLE TEND
TO FIND EACH OTHER
• Givethem a place to connect
and share their story
• Consider aligning with other
startups like yours to create a
multinational startup

33. #7 HAVE A MISSION
• We’re out to make __________ better
• We want to help _____ do _______
• We want to help others the opportunity to ________
• We’re connecting _______ with ______ so they can ________
• We make it easier to ____________
• Have your voice be heard about _________

34. #8 THINK LIKE A SOCIAL
DEMOGRAPHER
• The potential to collect “Big Data” means you have something of
incredible value to a potential partner, investor, or brand
• Gives you a better chance of a lift when an exit may present itself
• Bigdata lends itself to infographics, which contributes to your thought
leadership and a great way to get media coverage

35. spark -
what if?
“some
funding.”..
technology platform
story... narrative to
real value
engagement
BIG DATA
Lift towards an exit... (c) Alan Weinkrantz

36. #9 PUT IT OUT THERE
• You never know who is going to find your content and engage
• You don’t have to have high quality production values to do this
• Hardware is cheap. Tools are free. Tons of creatives to help you

37. #10 DRAW, PAINT,
PHOTOGRAPH, ROCK OUT
• Do something or learn to do
something creative other than
working on your startup
• Itwill re-wire your brain in an
unexpected way
my drums circa 1968

38. #11 IT’S NOT ALWAYS
REPLICABLE
• Justbecause one strategy or
tactic worked for one company
does not mean it will work for
another

39. #12 GET LUCKY
• Go wide
• Get lucky
• Runwith it when you strike a
chord

40. THE MIND OF A DEVELOPER
• Focus on...
• functionality
• application
• utilitarian value

41. HACK YOUR OWN PR!
• Youhave to “know” the
journalist
• Much of this you can do yourself
• “Paper trails” on the Internet
exist if you search correctly

42. PLAN....
• Postand write relevant content • Read and comment on relevant
so you can be a source to media articles without being self
on your field of expertise promotional.
• Develop & publish infographics • Askend user / beta customers if
you can share you can refer to them to media
• Follow a wish list of 20 • Follow editorial calendars
journalists you think should
cover you

43. On October 25, 2012, Paul Singh says.....

44. NOW....
• Reach out to media in Mexico • track
competitors or
DF companies in your periphery
on news.google.com to see
• Makea wish list of where you who covers and writes about
belong them
• business / tech / bloggers who
are your fans back home
• media appropriate to your
space

45. November 2012
Identify tech media / consumer
media /blogs / analysts specific to
your expertise.
Read. Listen. Read.

46. December 2012
Follow the writer
Leave a comment
Provide an insight on your expertise
Share a great story from the publication

47. January 2013
Propose coverage... with a simple email pitch.
What?
Why?
How you can help...

48. what to read?

49. Web / Startups /
Funding
www.gigaom.com
www.pandodaily.com
www.thenextweb.com
www.techcrunch.com

50. Shows To Watch Online
www.thisweekinstartups.com
www.techcrunch.com/search/gillmore+gang

51. Follow the money...
www.angel.co
www.businessinsider.com
www.launchticker.com
www.venturebeat.com

52. Follow The Angel /
VC Money
Brad Feld: www.feld.com
Paul Graham: www.paulgraham.com
Mark Suster: www.bothsidesofthetable.com
Fred Wilson: www.avc.com

53. Great Reads
www.whatworkswhere.com

54. Accelerator Blogs
www.500.co/blog
www.exeleratelabs.com/blog
www.techstars.com/blog
www.ycombinator.posterous.com/

55. Alan’s View...
U.S. media looking for interesting stories from around the world
More tech events in the U.S. are attracting foreign startups
You are the best Brand Ambassadors for Mexico
Angels & VCs are looking for deal flow outside of the U.S.

56. One-Half Billion Strong
If you are building a Spanish-centric site,
initially focus on Mexico, but think about
serving the 500 million Spanish speakers
around the world.

57. Content:
www.alanweinkrantz.com
scribd.com/alanweinkrantz
slideshare.com/alanweinkrnatz

58. Let’s Connect
@alanweinkrantz
linkedin.com/in/alanweinkrantz
facebook.com/alanweinkrantz
youtube.com/alanweinkrantz

59. Contact:
alan@weinkrantz.com
www.alanweinkrantz.com

60. PLAN FOR PR & STORY
TELLING
• Ifyou follow some of these basic • Get everyone on your team to
principles, you’ll be further make this part of their regimen
ahead. as it will make them aware of
the opportunities that await you
• This process takes at least six when you are ready.
months to one year to really get
on a journalist’s radar and be • Bring
up PR in your team
sticky - sometimes you can get meetings in a “what if...” scenario.
lucky
Be Ready For PR So You Can Succeed

61. Read. Re-Read.
http://tech.li/2012/03/integrating-pr-into-your-product/
http://gigaom.com/2012/03/03/how-startups-can-hack-the-pr-machine/
http://appsmarketing.mobi/app-marketing-sxsw-2012/

62. Free tools to get you into the groove....
http://www.alanweinkrantz.com/startup-pr-
Who did I pitch today? strategies-who-did-i-pitch-today
http://www.gartner.com/technology/about/
Gartner Briefings request form vendor_briefings.jsp
Editorial calendars http://www.alanweinkrantz.com/
technology-public-relations-2011-
editorial-ca

63. Methodically.
Reach.
Out.

64. ABOVE THE CODE™
please share:)

65. muchisimos gracias
Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. Instagram.
all photos by me
© Alan Weinkrantz And Company 2012 Above The Code ™