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Actionable
Takeaways

Credibility over charisma:

Kelly's work with Snapchat focused entirely on making Evan Spiegel appear serious and thoughtful rather than trying to manufacture charm. "His job on those stages wasn't to sell Snapchat—it was to show this is a serious business run by a serious person who takes these things seriously."

Niche beats broad every time:

Rather than chasing TechCrunch coverage, focus obsessively on where your actual audience lives. "For Alloy, it's far more important to be in American Banker than TechCrunch unless we're hiring."

Journalists want conversation, not pitches:

The most effective founder outreach starts with genuine engagement on the journalist's existing work. "If you come at them with something different and interesting and add value, they're far more likely to engage."

Project-based beats retainer thinking:

For early-stage companies, Kelly advocates for focused three-month sprints rather than ongoing monthly retainers. "Bring someone in for a project—get your funding announcement right, make key journalist introductions, teach you how to maintain those relationships—then use those as building blocks."

The authentication imperative:

In an era of skeptical media, manufactured authenticity fails immediately. "Most journalists are bound by ethical guidelines and they've been burned by vaporware. They want authentic stories and examples of real pain points you're solving."

Conversation
Highlights

 

Kelly Mayes has spent two decades navigating the evolution of tech communications—from coaching Evan Spiegel through Snapchat’s early “sexting app” crisis to building sophisticated B2B narratives at fraud prevention platform Alloy. Her journey through PR agencies, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and eight years of consulting has given her a front-row seat to how the comms landscape has fundamentally shifted, and why the old playbook no longer works.

In this episode of The Narrative, Kelly breaks down the tactical realities of modern tech communications: why funding announcements have lost their power, how the fragmentation of media creates new opportunities for savvy founders, and why authenticity has become the only sustainable strategy in an era where journalists are more skeptical than ever.

 

Topics Discussed

  • Crisis communications in hypergrowth: How Kelly guided Evan Spiegel through Snapchat’s early media storms and built credibility for a young founder in hostile interviews
  • The death of traditional tech journalism: Why beat reporters covering individual companies have disappeared and what that means for startup communications strategy
  • Authentic founder positioning: Tactical approaches for helping technical founders communicate without manufactured charisma or corporate speak
  • Media relationship building in 2024: Why the “I have relationships” agency pitch is mostly worthless and how founders should actually connect with journalists
  • Niche audience targeting: How sophisticated B2B companies are abandoning broad media plays for hyper-focused channels that reach actual decision-makers
  • Early-stage comms strategy: When to bring in external help, how to structure projects for maximum ROI, and why most seed-stage companies waste money on ongoing retainers
  • The press release question: Whether traditional PR tactics still matter and how to think about SEO-optimized communications