When Vijay Chattha was constructing a startup, his competitor was what some would name a media darling. The competitors had an excellent story, which created investor curiosity. In flip, that curiosity helped land key clients. And so the cycle repeated. Chattha ultimately bought that firm in a lukewarm exit and took with him an essential lesson: Earned media has the facility to be a kingmaker.
Chattha is now the founder and CEO of VSC, a public relations agency that has helped launch over 600 corporations. The agency works with startups throughout all levels and not too long ago launched a $21 million enterprise agency to again the businesses that it advises. (Or, as Chattha places it, to place some pores and skin within the sport).
Now, 20 years in, Chattha has ideas relating to how tech’s cyclical nature has impacted its relationship with media, the facility of sharing actual numbers and whether or not founders ought to put together to fall on their sword within the identify of transparency.
“I think it’s a dangerous thing. It’s like water. If you don’t have publicity, you can be dehydrated. But if you have too much you can drown.” Vijay Chattha
My total dialog with the entrepreneur may be discovered wherever you take heed to podcasts, so take a pay attention in the event you want audio over phrases (in that case, what are you doing right here‽).
Below, we extracted a number of key excerpts from the interview to your studying pleasure.
What’s your temperature studying on how weak founders are proper now relating to sharing hardships publicly?
Vijay Chattha: It depends upon the founder. Is it their first startup, their second or their third? Generally what I discover is the extra profitable and the extra knowledge you may have, the extra clear you might be over time, and presumably even cynical, proper? But the first-time founders, they’re underneath a variety of stress [to do] regardless of the VCs or employed folks round them are telling them to do. They’ve received to do it. They’re very involved that the rivals are studying these things.