INSIGHTS

Product teams test product-market fit before they scale distribution. But when it comes to PR, most startups skip the equivalent step. They start telling their story publicly before they've confirmed the story works.

The pitch deck is usually the first time a founder structures the company story in writing. In the absence of anything else, it becomes the controlling document for every audience. That's how you end up with a company whose entire self-description is optimized for a Series A partner meeting and sounds wrong everywhere else.

The companies that walk into high-stakes moments with leverage didn't start building their communications record when they needed it. They started a year before. Here's the timeline that actually works.