By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
Andy Warhol built his reputation as an artist, but his approach to creativity, collaboration and publicity offers lessons that still apply to entrepreneurs and business leaders today.
I originally explored these ideas in an article I wrote for Forbes, which you can read here. But here is a different take on what we can learn from Warhol in this new era of AI.
Warhol was a great publicist as much as he was a great artist. He knew how to attract attention to his work, and every publicist today can learn from him. He understood how to frame ideas in ways that made people want to talk about them. More importantly, he repeatedly converted that attention into greater value for his work and his brand.
The media landscape has changed dramatically since Warhol’s era but the principles behind his success haven’t disappeared. Here are four lessons entrepreneurs can take from his approach.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
There is a formula behind successful media coverage, and it isn’t as simple as writing a strong pitch and sending it to the right reporter.
A story can have a compelling headline and still fail because the timing is wrong. An executive can possess deep expertise but lack the evidence needed to establish authority. Proprietary data can be genuinely revealing, yet never generate coverage because no one identified the larger trend hiding inside the numbers.
Earned media is the intersection of multiple variables: story, timing, news value, credibility, audience, reporter, evidence and execution.
Understanding how those variables interact is where MACIAS PR has an advantage. Our approach wasn’t developed from a PR textbook. It was shaped inside newsrooms, refined through journalism, and tested over 17 years of securing media coverage.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
“Our sources are everywhere.” Yes, it’s playful, but there is a serious approach when it comes to newsrooms.
Successful PR requires access—to journalists, information, trends, industries and the conversations shaping the news. But access alone doesn’t get a company media coverage. You also need to know what to do with it.
I founded MACIAS PR in 2009 after spending years inside newsrooms, including as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS in New York. That experience shaped a different approach to PR and media relations. We don’t begin campaigns by asking, “What does the client want to announce?” We start by asking the question I heard every day inside the newsroom:
That distinction influences everything we do.
MACIAS PR Approaches Publicity From the Newsroom Perspective
Most companies understandably approach PR from their own perspective. They want to promote a product, announce a funding round, introduce a new executive or tell reporters about a partnership.
Journalists don’t approach stories that way. A reporter wants to know why the development matters to readers or viewers. An editor wants to know why the story deserves space. A television producer needs to understand why audiences won’t change the channel. I sat on that side of the editorial table.
As an Executive Producer, I reviewed and approved story ideas while reporters and producers competed for limited airtime. That experience taught me how quickly journalists evaluate stories—and how quickly they reject ideas that sound like marketing.
Today, MACIAS PR applies that newsroom perspective before we ever contact a reporter.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
Every company wants to be the one getting all the attention.
The CEO wants the interview. Investors want to see the company in respected business publications. Marketing wants the exposure. Competitors notice when another brand suddenly seems to be everywhere.
But there is an entire ecosystem between wanting media coverage and actually getting it.
The image accompanying this article is playful, but the hierarchy behind it is real. The client may be at the center of the story, but reporters decide whether to pursue it. Editors and producers determine whether it makes the cut. Audiences ultimately decide whether it matters. And competitors are always watching to see who is winning the conversation.
Before founding MACIAS PR, I worked inside this ecosystem as an Executive Producer with NBC and later at CBS. I reviewed and approved story ideas, worked with reporters and producers, and saw firsthand why some pitches moved forward while hundreds of others disappeared.
Understanding those different players—and what each of them needs—is one of the most important lessons in public relations.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
Startup founders spends months preparing for their investor meeting but before their presentation even begins, most investors have already made up their minds.
Long before investors meet with you – or write a check, they’ve already researched your company online. News stories, executive backgrounds, LinkedIn profiles will influence their decisions before you even say a word. And what’s the common denominator between that research? The Media.
As an Executive Producer with NBC before founding MACIAS PR, I’ve seen firsthand how earned media shapes public perception. Journalists decide which companies deserve attention based on newsworthiness. Investors take the same approach to validate whether a company is gaining traction.
Public Relations Begins Before any Fundraising Campaign
Many startups wait until they’re raising capital before investing in public relations. That’s often too late. Credibility develops over time – not three weeks before your important VC meeting.
The strongest fundraising campaigns are supported by months of thoughtful media outreach, executive positioning and strategic storytelling. By the time investors begin researching the company, they’ve already encountered interviews, industry commentary and third-party news coverage that reinforces the startup’s market position.
Public relations doesn’t replace fundraising. It strengthens the environment in which fundraising happens.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
“How do I get reporters interested in my company?”
It’s a popular question from all startups. Our conversation usually begins around a product launch, funding announcement or new partnership. These milestones are exciting for founders, but journalists rarely care about those topics.
Before founding MACIAS PR, I spent years approving story ideas as Executive Producer with NBC and CBS. Every day, we evaluated hundreds of pitches competing for a limited number of broadcast segments. The overwhelming majority never made it to air—not because the companies lacked innovation, but because they lacked a compelling story.
Understanding how journalists evaluate news is one of the biggest advantages a startup can have. Once founders begin thinking like reporters instead of marketers, media coverage becomes much more attainable.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
“How many media stories can you guarantee?”
That is one of the most popular questions I hear from potential clients during our initial conversations. It’s a telling question because it helps me better understand how much they know about PR.
No matter what any publicist or PR agency tells you, no one can guarantee earned media coverage. You can’t buy a story with any major news organization. Yes, you can buy an advertisement or a commercial on TV but that is not the same as a news segment or article that relinquishes control to the editorial leaders.
Why does PR sometimes feel so hard? Perhaps it’s because your team is looking at it from the wrong lens. A closer look at the MACIAS PR strategy that consistently leads to media coverage.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
When I was an Executive Producer with NBC, a publicist told me, “PR is hard.”
At the time, I couldn’t understand how her work could be more stressful than my job approving story ideas and scripts from some of the strongest media personalities.
Now I get what she was saying. Yes, PR and earned media is difficult. If you’re floating in the wind without a strategy, I’m sure it feels like a waste of time. But it’s not hard when you know what you’re doing.
The Misconception That Breaks Most PR Strategies
Over the years of running this PR agency for tech and healthcare startups, I’ve observed how most brands approach PR like marketing. They think:
If the message is strong → it should get coverage
If the company is interesting → reporters will care
If they push harder → results will come
But the media doesn’t work like that. Journalists aren’t waiting for your story, and no matter how many times you reach out to them, it’s unlikely they will think of you when another timely story hits their calendars.
Media Strategy Is About Alignment — Not Effort
A real PR strategy isn’t about sending more emails or spamming voicemails; It’s about alignment between – the news cycle, the reporter’s beat, the editorial window and your story.
PR and media relations is not just “getting coverage.” It’s about understanding what the media needs — and finding a way to position your brand into that window.
From the outside, the media might look chaotic but from the inside, it’s very structured. Newsrooms operate on efficient calendars and editorial timelines that keep the news train running on time. You can’t miss your story by even a minute with TV, or you will disrupt the entire news program.
The best publicists and PR agencies understand your story doesn’t compete with other PR pitches. It’s main competition is global events, breaking news and internal editorial programming calendars.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
The biggest mistake most startups make is believing PR is measured by primarily one number. PR involves a combination of metrics that include visibility, credibility, leadership and action.
You need to take a closer look at multiple signals to understand whether a media strategy is delivering. But don’t base that measurement on: “Did we get coverage?” Instead, focus on how that coverage moved the business forward.
By Mark Macias Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
At some point, every public figure, executive, or athlete will say something they wish they could take back.
So why do some off-the-cuff remarks disappear quickly, while others continue to linger – in some cases years after the remark was made?
It boils down to how you manage it.
NFL Player Makes Fun of Kids with Asthma
Cam Skattebo is an up-and-coming running back for the New York Giants with so much potential for future endorsements. Last week, he made fun of kids with asthma and said a common football head injury, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE, was made up. The story is quickly gaining steam, getting picked up by all kinds of media outlets.
This week, physicians started speaking out about it, criticizing the football player for his comments about asthma. They said his lackadaisical approach to asthma will encourage bullying with kids. Doctors also raised a legitimate concern that kids with asthma might not want to use their inhalers for fear of being viewed as weak – like Cam Skatttebo suggested.
What was Skatttebo’s response? He apologized, calling it a “tasteless joke.”
Apology is not a Strategy
This story isn’t going away anytime soon. I’m predicting it will resurface in August when preseason starts. Reporters will ask him about it during minicamp in July. He might even lose millions of dollars in endorsements if the comments continue to follow him like other athletes.
You don’t make fun of kids with asthma or say your football peers with head injuries are faking it.
