Why will startup founders risk millions launching a company, but hesitate when it’s time to tell their story to a journalist?
By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer
Startup founders are some of the boldest people I’ve met. They’ll quit secure jobs, invest their savings, challenge established industries but put a reporter in front of some of these same entrepreneurs, and suddenly they become cautious.
They want to review every possible question. They worry about how a quote might be misinterpreted. They postpone interviews until the product is more developed, the next funding round closes or the company reaches another milestone. Meanwhile, a competitor steps forward and becomes the face of the industry.
I’ve seen it happen many times over the last 17 years of running this agency. You hesitate. Your competitor gets the spotlight.
P.T. Barnum understood this dynamic long before modern public relations existed. A famous quote from his says, “If you hesitate in business, a bolder man will act first and win the prize.”
That principle applies to earned media, although the prize isn’t simply publicity. It’s the opportunity to influence how an emerging industry is understood and the role your brand plays in it.
Why Are Startup Founders Afraid of Media Interviews?
In my experience, many founders are afraid of losing control. Inside their companies, founders can revise a product, change a strategy or delay an announcement. A journalist operates independently. The founder doesn’t approve the final article, control the headline or decide which competitors are interviewed.
That uncertainty makes some entrepreneurs uncomfortable.
I saw the other side of this process during my years as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS in New York. Journalists weren’t looking for the executive with the most carefully approved talking points. We wanted credible people who could explain what was happening, why it mattered and what might happen next.
An entrepreneur who could speak intelligently and candidly about an emerging trend was often more useful than someone who could only repeat a company’s marketing message. That’s still an important distinction for founders to understand.
What Happens When Your Competitor Gets Media Coverage First?
Imagine two AI startups developing technology for the same industry.
One founder agrees to discuss the larger market problem, shares useful observations and makes time for a journalist’s questions. The other company delays the interview while its executives debate messaging and potential risks.
The first founder may become a source for that article. More importantly, the journalist now knows someone who can help explain the industry. That relationship could lead to future conversations, additional interviews and opportunities to comment as the market evolves.
The second founder may have an equally strong product. But the reporter has already found a credible voice. And in an emerging industry, that visibility can help establish who journalists associate with the subject.
Being Bold in PR Doesn’t Mean Being Reckless
There’s a difference between taking a calculated media risk and speaking without preparation. An experienced PR strategist will recognize which opportunities are worth pursuing, which questions require careful consideration and when a company genuinely isn’t ready for an interview.
This is where newsroom experience matters. A strategist who understands how reporters evaluate stories can help founders distinguish legitimate risks from unnecessary hesitation. The goal isn’t to eliminate uncertainty. That’s impossible with earned media.
The goal is to make informed decisions without allowing fear to become the strategy.
The Media Won’t Wait for Your Startup
One of the most important lessons I learned in television news is that editorial opportunities have a shelf life. When a story is developing, reporters are gathering information, finding sources and deciding how to frame it. They aren’t waiting for a company’s internal approval process to finish.
A founder who waits until everything feels perfect may discover that the conversation has already moved elsewhere.
At MACIAS PR, we help companies identify the stories they’re qualified to tell and prepare their executives to participate with confidence. My newsroom background helps us evaluate the opportunity from the journalist’s perspective, not simply the company’s.
That doesn’t mean every media opportunity deserves a yes. It means founders should understand the difference between a calculated risk and a missed opportunity. The entrepreneurs who built their companies by challenging convention shouldn’t suddenly abandon that confidence when the media calls.
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If you’re preparing for a product launch, funding round or growth phase, contact MACIAS PR to learn how strategic public relations can help accelerate your business goals. You can get a customized PR quote for your business or product launch from MACIAS PR by clicking here.
About Mark Macias
Mark Macias is the founder of MACIAS PR, an earned-media public relations agency specializing in media coverage, media relations and thought-leadership campaigns for healthcare, technology, AI and financial companies. Before founding MACIAS PR in 2009, Mark was an Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York, where he evaluated and approved story ideas. His newsroom experience now shapes the media strategies MACIAS PR uses to identify newsworthy angles and secure earned media coverage for clients.