Rockit Digital Communication Summit - 2016 February 5-6th.

1. Mike Butcher
Editor-at-large, TechCrunch
Twitter.com/mikebutcher
LinkedIn.com/MikeButcher
Facebook.com/MikeButcher
mbites.com/contact
mike@techcrunch.com

2. Going global
from HERE

3. Or… How
create global
companies
from
anywhere

4. Silicon Valley looks like this

5. And operates in this

6. And we look like this

7. First, think SMART.

8. WHERE WAS SEESMIC
BUILT ?
NOBODY CARES

9. REMOVE ALL LOCATION
INFO

10. EMPHASISE THE
PRODUCT ABOVE ALL
ELSE

11. GET TRACTION IN A
MARKET YOU
UNDERSTAND FIRST
(THIS MAY BE HOME!)

12. • International market
•Bigger pool

13. AIM FOR A NICHE

14. 50% OF STARTUPS IS
ABOUT COMMUNICATION

15. News is a Purple Cow

16. News is “Man Bites Dog”

17. Just BEING a startup
does not make you
“News”

18. The fact that you exist is
NOT news!

19. The fact that you exist is
NOT news!

20. Conversations usually beat
press releases

21. Why? Conversations are
about getting to know the
news media.

22. A day in the life of a
stressed tech writer.

23. INCOMING!!
Email
SMS
Voice calls
Skype / IM
Facebook IM / Messages
Twitter @replies
Twitter DMs
Face-to-Face

24. Then I get this:

25. “
@mikebutcher Hey Mike,
we just launched our
startup! Want to write
about it?
”

26. So, for me to drop
everything and write
about you, your story
needs to be BETTER
than everything else.

28. Answer: Unlikely.
So: pre-brief!
“Mike, we’re doing X next
week. Are you
Interested?”

29. Ideal pitch over email:
Mike!
We are launching X.
It will compete with Y.
It’s better than Y because.
We have raised Z money.
From XYZ investors.
It’s all yours/ Embargoed
Here’s more links (no
PDFs)

30. But put substance into
the first pitch
And don’t ask permission.
JUST DO IT
“Hey Mike, Would
you mind if I sent you a
press release?”
#FAIL

31. And: Get to the damn point!
Mike, given your background, I thought you could be interested in talking to the
founder of BLAH BLAH BLAH. With on-going debates on whether we are entering a
second Internet bubble and predictions that this year would yield the most IPOs of
technology stock since 2000, BLAHs trongly believes that the new wave of tech start-
ups would only be successful if they can add value by creating new markets, rather than
focus only on streamlining efficiencies. A case in point is his business – 80% of the
properties Flat-Club offers have not been previously available in the market. BLAHcan
also talk to you about what it means and what it takes to be a successful Internet start-
up today. If you are interested in talking to him please let me know and I can arrange an
interview. Below I’ve provided further information on BLAH.
OR
Interview with the founder of this startup?
He’s experienced because…
He can talk about… the tech bubble… donkeys… whatever
Here’s some more info below. Here’s a link
Thanks

32. Even better:
Great products
make news.
A product that goes viral
is much better ‘news’ than
a PR release.
So build a GREAT
product.

33. Understand who you are
talking to

34. Should you hire a PR
firm? No.

35. PR firms = Relationships
Introductions do the same

36. Please pitch like a human

37. So What IS a Story?
• Competition/Drama: “X will Kill Z”

38. So What IS a Story?
• Competition/Drama: “X will Kill Z”
• Gossip: “CEO/Company rumour…”

39. So What IS a Story?
• Competition/Drama: “X will Kill Z”
• Gossip: “CEO/Company rumour…”
• Insight: “Trend X will change the world”

40. So What IS a Story?
• Competition/Drama: “X will Kill Z”
• Gossip: “CEO/Company rumour…”
• Insight: “Trend X will change the world”
• Evolution: “Startup Y is like the X for Z”

41. So What IS a Story?
• Competition/Drama: “X will Kill Z”
• Gossip: “CEO/Company rumour…”
• Insight: “Trend X will change the world”
• Evolution: “Startup Y is like the X for Z”
• Success: “Awesome Y created!”

42. So What IS a Story?
• Competition/Drama: “X will Kill Z”
• Gossip: “CEO/Company rumour…”
• Insight: “Trend X will change the world”
• Evolution: “Startup Y is like the X for Z”
• Success: “Awesome Y created!”
• Failure: “Company X dying/screwed up”

43. So What IS a Story?
• Competition/Drama: “X will Kill Z”
• Gossip: “CEO/Company rumour…”
• Insight: “Trend X will change the world”
• Evolution: “Startup Y is like the X for Z”
• Success: “Awesome Y created!”
• Failure: “Company X dying/screwed up”
• You are The Story: “Kid creates FB”
• Celebrity: Ashton Kutcher invests!
• Moldova company hacks Facebook!

44. What should you send
the media?
It’s all about saving the media time
• LIST OF KEY BULLET POINTS FIRST
• Crunchbase entry
• Direct hyperlink to web-ready logo
(NOT a hi-res image. This is not a fucking print title)
• Press Release IN PLAIN TEXT IN THE EMAIL
(Do NOT send press releases as attachments)

45. TELL A STORY

46. NOW GET ON A PLANE

47. Get on a plane to:
BUILD CONTACTS
RAISE MONEY

49. http://fundersandfounders.com/how-funding-works-splitting-equity/

50. USE THE TOOLS:
Angelist
CrunchBase
Crowd-Equity (Seedrs)
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter

51. Don’t rely on re-creating
Silicon Valley
Create SILION BRIDGES

52. CREATE THE LINKS:
• Your country
• Europe
• Big cities: London/Berlin
• New York, SF or Asia

53. Now investors have gone
hunting European startups

54. HOW DO THEY FIND YOU?
CLUSTERS
make it EASIER
and MORE EFFICIENT
for INVESTORS
to find STARTUPS

55. When you cluster you create
NOISE

56. Noise creates
hype
Hype creates
attention
Attention
attracts
investors

57. You’re part of a movement!

58. London’s Tech Startup
Cluster in 2009

59. Silicon Roundabout /Tech
City
2 years later
See http://www.duedil.com/site/london-real-tech-startups

61. Big tech firms like clusters =
Talent!

62. ‘Silicon Allee’ in Berlin

63. ‘Silicon Sentier’ in Paris

64. In fact, we can graph this:

65. What helped?
DRINKING! Silicon
Drinkabout

66. Startups & Clusters are sexy!

67. Geeks in feature articles?!

68. Geeks in
Fashion
Magazines?!

71. The Media
LOVES
Startups
WSJ, FT,
VentureVillage,
TheNextWeb,
TechCrunch etc

72. Learn the skills of pitching and
networking
• Learn how to pitch media
Tinyurl.com/How2DealMedia
• Learn how to network!
Tinyurl.com/NetworkRight

73. Yes Mike, but how do I
get on TechCrunch?

74. Yes, but how do I get on
TechCrunch

75. Thanks.
Questions?
@mikebutcher