Insurtech Round Table Explores Startup PR, Success Factors

Episode 13 of PR, Done & Doner

We invited a round table of experts on the latest PR, Done & Doner podcast to explore the state of buzz, funding and innovation in insurtech:

  • David Gritz, co-founder of InsurTech NY, the largest such community in North America that connects carriers, investors and startups. 
  • Mark Hollmer, a veteran journalist who has covered the property/casualty insurance industry for more than a decade.
  • Layla Atya, serial insurtech entrepreneur; serves as CEO of Quantumerge, the first and only transactional liability MGA for small transactions; and founder and CEO of Zala Technology, an insurance developer for tech companies and tech developer for insurance companies.

It was an informative and wide ranging conversation around these questions and others.

  • The state of Insurtech – what it is, why it matters, where is it today?
  • How have insurtechs been coping in light of reduced funding, and other economic stresses?
  • What are VCs looking for?
  • How is the playing field different today vs. a few years ago?
  • Which technologies are hot, what’s next?
  • What are the best PR tactics for insurtech startups?

We discussed some of the top and emerging companies that work in the space, including SiriusPoint, Lemonade, Hippo, Branch, Broker Buddha, Cysurnance and Kore.ai.

Mark Hollmer shared best practices for pitching insurance journalists. The panelists agreed on the number one secret for startup success. Call it the “Ty Sagalow” effect. Why not listen to the podcast or check out the video to learn more?

Thanks, panelists, for joining and sharing your insight!

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Boo! Now will you cover my PR?

Tapping emotions is a time-honored tactic in PR and marketing.  This can involve fear-mongering.  Scaring folks can be a great attention-getter, particularly if you are promoting solutions in areas like cyebrsecurity, public safety and infrastructure protection.

The reasons relate to psychology and business.  We are wired to respond to emotions vs. logic, blame our reptilian brains.  Further, people are more concerned about avoiding losses than gaining benefits.  The news business understands these factors and their role in attracting audiences.

However, over the years we’ve had quite a few clients who did not want us to lead with negativity or fear in our PR pitches.  We’ve sometines had to push back, as we know these are the angles that can draw attention.

It can be a controversial area, and opinions vary in the PR industry as to how and when to use fear or newsjack tragedy, or even if to do so at all.

Since it is Halloween, I thought it would be good to ask our teams:

  • Why does fear work in PR?
  • When (and when not) to use it?
  • Any examples?

Here are some answers that I got:

Mark

Watch the TV news any night of the week.  Is it full of happy news?  Of course not.  It’s all shootings, riots and political arguments (and sports and weather). The cliché “If it bleeds, it leads” is even more relevant now as media outlets struggle to retain their readerships in a never-ending news cycle with dozens or hundreds of online competitors.

WHY ‘if it bleeds, it leads?’  It’s all of our fault. At some point, news stations realized that “action” “eyewitness” news with lots of tragedy and mayhem attracts more eyeballs than other kinds of news reports.

Clients may want to ‘go positive,’ but no reporter is going to care.  You need to present a problem for them to care about your solution. But keep in mind that there are different levels of FUD (fear, unceretainty, doubt); you don’t need to go all-out all the time.  Also, do NOT use fear immediately after a tragedy.  That is extremely bad form. 

When the Russia/Ukraine conflict began, we got one of our cybersecurity clients on several podcasts to discuss the threat of Russia attacking the critical infrastructure of Ukraine’s allies.  The threat was just emerging, but we got ahead of the competition in discussing it and secured plenty of coverage.

Ross

We used the fear and uncertainty of extended theme park closures due to COVID (and what this unprecedented scenario meant for other businesses) to get our client into most top tier broadcast multiple times (CNBC Squawk Box, Fox business, NPR, etc.)

Diana

When something terrible happens (usually a tragedy) and your client does have a solution, it is SO important to capitalize on the opportunity but do so very carefully. For example, in the wake of a mass shooting, you can gently explain to media/ relevant personnel that the fear is valid, but there must be an actionable response or it will never go away. Specifically with our client — we never say we are the answer to the problem, only one small part of a potential solution, which I feel somewhat mitigates the promotional aspect of the pitch.

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Analyzing Analyst Relations – New Research Schools on How to Get it Right

At Fusion PR, we are big believers in the power of industry analyst relations. Most of our programs include an A/R track. In the world of enterprise tech, they are extremely important influencers.

But how can you reap the potential benefits of engaging and working with analysts? If the world of PR is poorly understood, getting the most from A/R programs can be even more cryptic.

Most startups recognize the key role of industry analysts, and the value of getting into their reports.  But they may not understand exactly how (and when) to engage analysts for best results. Now,  the Universtiy of Edinburgh, with analyst relations experts Robin Schaffer and Chris Holscher, have released the results of a groundbreaking study that sheds light on the topic.

We had Robin and Chris on the show to discuss the research, which is based on a survey of 500 startups, VCs, accelerators and industry analysts.

They explained how the study refuted common myths, and shared actionable insights to help startups understand how and when to engage analysts, what to expect and how to improve collaboration and results, including:

  • How to get on analysts’ radars
  • Jumpstarting success
  • Working with analysts to ensure the best product-market fit
  • The disconnect in perceptions that prevents many from deriving the most value
  • Why analysts value startup relationships, and the right time to get started with A/R

Thank you, Robin and Chris, for coming on the podcast and discussing the research.

You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, and other popular channels. Visit our YouTube channel to watch the interview.

To obtain the report, you can visit either of the following links:

https://www.holscher.one/ssia

www.schafferar.com/ssia

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Acting the Part (of Thought Leader and Spokesperson)

I had the great pleasure of meeting Brette Goldstein when my old friend Jeffrey Koeppel introduced us a while back. He’s a Maryland-based corporate, securities, and M&A lawyer who knows Brette from his work in the film business.

Brette is a dynamo, someone who uniquely focuses on helping actors and corporate executives deliver their best performances. Since I work in PR, and also help execs hone their performances (well, media interview skills) we had a lot to talk about when we met.

Flash forward a year-and-a-half and I thought it would be great to have Brette on the podcast, to discuss her special brand of performance coaching.

It’s based on the premise that you can fundamentally improve interview and presentation skills. While the media training we provide at Fusion PR often focuses on story telling, the art of bridging to key messages, and navigating tricky questions, Brette teases out the more personality and stylistic-driven factors that can demonstrate confidence and authority.

She helps execs learn how to channel role models and archetypes, sometimes using famous actors as muses. As Brette says, she can identify anyone’s start qualities, that “comfort food” that get people out of their own way so their charisma emerges.

You can get a high level view in our latest podcast, Episode 11 of PR, Done & Doner. Brette Goldstein shared her advice and insight and explained:

  • The importance of identifying your “special sauce”
  • The importance of archetypes and role models
  • Six questions that can prepare you and help you bring your own voice:
    • What is your objective? (about key takeaways, the call to action)
    • What is your relationship (with your interviewer, and their audience – the “scene partners”)?
    • Setting (where are you in space and time)?
    • How do you want the audience to feel? (It is not just about facts, figures, and informing them)
    • What is the genre (the medium)?
    • Why you (gets to your special sauce)?

Brette Goldstein

Brette Goldstein has cast over 50 films, five TV series, over 300 commercials, countless plays, seven pilot presentations, and various new media projects.  Brette also works with executives at large, well known enterprises, non profits, and tech startups, bringing their authentic voice to the “role” for presentations, interiews, etc.

You can read her full bio and find Brette’s contact details at https://www.brettegoldstein.com/

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Diego Pineda on Why you Need Thought Leadership vs. Content Marketing

I saw a piece of content that drew me in recently.  It was a story on Medium by Solo Thought Leader author Diego Pineda called Content Marketing is Dying; Here’s why you need to Develop Thought Leadership Instead.

My first reaction was, “give me a break! Another XXX is dead (or dying) story! More clickbait fodder.”

So I clicked.  While wondering:

“OK you got me. I am taking a look.  But why is content marketing dying, Diego? And why just focus on thought leadership, you can do both, right?”

I read through the piece and found that it was actually well researched and compelling, about the value of investing in thought leadership vs. content marketing (if you are not already a big player or established brand).  

The article explained a lot, but I still had questions; so I tracked down Diego Pineda and asked if he’d like to come on our podcast, PR, Done & Doner for an interview.  He graciously agreed.

We discussed the topic in detail, and Diego expounded on these areas:

  • How to develop a unique framework and PoV
  • Why it is important to take a stand
  • The need to publish or perish
  • How and where to cutlivate communities
  • Influencers vs. creators vs. thought leaders

See below for Diego’s bio, and listen to the podcast on Spotify and other channels; or watch a video of the interview, above.

Diego Pineda is the author of two novels, 9 non-fiction books, and hundreds of articles and blogs as a science writer, a business writer, and a sales and marketing writer. He started his career as a medical writer while writing fiction on the side.  Diego is also a book coach helping solopreneurs and business leaders write their first book fast so they can become thought leaders in their industries, gain authority and visibility, and make more money.test

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He fired me and Launched my Career in Tech PR

People sometimes wonder how I started out in engineering and wound up in PR.  Something that happened recently really made an impression and brought my career journey full circle, 35 years later.  Read on to learn more, and I hope you enjoy the story!

Geeking out with Audio

I was walking the NAB show aisles at the Javits Center in NYC a few weeks ago, taking in the exhibits and scouting new business when I decided to check out the neighboring AES (audio engineering society) show.

Audio has always been a passion and was one of the reasons I wound up in the tech field.  I play keyboard, and liked to consider myself an audiophile back in the day; I attended BAS (Boston Audio Society) meetings while in college in Boston, where luminaries like the Amar Bose of Bose Speakers and the “K” from KLH speakers also hung out.

I had briefly toyed with becoming a sound engineer before my parents convinced me that “real” engineering was a better career choice.  So, I switched majors, transferred schools and pursued an EE degree at B.U. – a move that cost an extra year in my studies, since I got a late start.

That was 35 years ago.  Now I was in NYC at an audio trade show and basking in all the gear.  I had recently decided to buy Avid Pro Tools, set up a home studio and finally figure out this sound engineering stuff – maybe get to compose and record the right way.

Anyone watching would have noted a shit-eating grin on my face.  And then, I saw a large booth for a company whose name I had been trying to recall recently.  I was amazed to see that it was Eventide – a manufacturer of effects processors for professional musicians.

Yes, that was the one! The company that gave me my first job.  They looked like they were doing great – it was an impressive booth, humming with activity.  And standing nearby, holding court among several admirers, was the man who had said: “You’re hired!”

It’s Agnello!!

His name is Tony Agnello.  

After flailing around after college, going on a European tour with my bros, and striking out on the job front for the better part of a year, I had lined up an interview with this man at an audio company in nearby New Jersey. If I wasn’t going to be a sound engineer, I was excited about the chance to work as a design engineer for a cool audio company like Eventide.  

It’s been a long time and I forget all the details.  At one point I made the mistake of calling him “Mr. Angelo.”  He snapped “It’s on-YELL-oh” (it seems the mispronunciation was a sore point).  That slip-up didn’t blow my chances and I was amazed to land what I thought would be my dream job.

So, I went to work at Eventide, which was in a cool office in a place called Little Ferry.  There was a funky vibe there, with much talk of gigs and name dropping of famous musicians who used the gear.

In addition to Tony, Richard Factor was a key exec (and is still there, Tony confirmed).  He was a long-haired, cool, fast-talking dude who was funny.  I once overheard Richard describing Little Ferry as “the most carefully pronounced town in NJ.” I remember there was a great hot dog place nearby, a local institution called Callahan’s.

I was given my first assignments, a station at a drafting board, circuit designs, chips, and testing equipment, and I set to work figuring out this design engineering stuff. But it was not the thrill ride I’d hoped for.  My eyelids would grow heavy as I did my best to figure out the circuits and assignments. No amount of coffee seemed to help.

And now, son of a gun, there he was, big as life, looking good, no worse for the 35-year wear.  OK, a bit grayer but fit and a little like Jerry Garcia in his later years, or Tommy Chong.

Remember Me?

The name on his show badge clearly identified the man; there was no chance I had the wrong guy. I waited for an opportune time and then tapped him on the shoulder.

“You’re never going to remember me?” Tony turned around with a broad smile, looking worried and eager at the same time. He said something like: “Try me!”

Tony Agnello, the Man, the Legend at AES

I told him my name and explained who I was.  He had given me my first job.  It lasted just two weeks. In the second week, I accidentally fried an expensive chip. Tony fired me soon after, telling me (not the exact words) that I had no idea what the fuck I was doing (and he had said that Richard agreed; seemed surprised about my fumbling around with the testing equipment).

Hearing all this 35 years later, Agnello was crestfallen and apologetic. He asked if he’d been mean about it.

“No,” I reassured.  “You were actually very nice and told me what I needed to hear.”  I explained that it really was OK, he had been right.  I was not an engineer.  But I’d gone on to a successful and fulfilling career in PR.

From EE to PR

These days when new business prospects ask how an EE geek wound up in PR. I sometimes talk about my ill-fated experience at Eventide.

From there I moved on to roles with GE, IBM, several startups, to where I am today – at Fusion PR, a tech PR agency that I helped grow from its earliest days. My roles were progressively less hands-on tech, more involving communications and people skills.  The common thread throughout has been working in the tech industry.

I am grateful for my engineering background; it has served me well in technology communications.  I might not be great at designing circuits, but I know what CPUs are, how a computer works and can explain digital signal processing.

So, I thank Tony and Eventide for giving me my first job and firing me, setting me on this path.

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Top Crypto Reporter offers Tips for PR and Startups

If you work for a crypto or blockchain company and want to improve visibility and marketing results, check out our latest podcast. Fusion PR CEO Jordan Chanofsky interviewed CoinDesk Deputy Business Editor Danny Nelson about the state of the space and implications for media and PR. They discussed:

  • Where is crypto today? Is the market maturing?
  • Terra crash and implications for startups entering the space
  • How to bring more people in the crypto world
  • Pet PR peeves; how to pitch Danny
  • Can early-stage companies get good press?

I include a quote from Danny, below, and some of his tips. To hear more, check out the podcast; you can listen on Spotify and other channles, and watch the interview on YouTube.

The industry right now is at an inflection point… the crypto markets have been bleeding… because of a very important ecosystem player [Terra] failing, there are going to be a lot of hard questions that need to be answered, and that is going to dominate the narrative for a while….
We have left the moment of exuberance

Danny Nelson, CoinDesk

Here are some tips he shared for PR and crypto startups:

  • I enjoy when there’s the message of what a story is, and then facts and figures that flesh out why it matters
  • I get a thousand of these a day, brevity is important
  • [Those seeking coverage should be] truthful in their story and having a good reason why something is new and different and impactful

Thanks for coming on the podcast, Danny, and sharing your insights.

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What’s so Funny about Peace, Hype and Understanding?

Hype has been getting a bad name recently. Trump was under legal scrutiny in NY for variously overhyping or underhyping his assets (depending on the situation). Burger King got sued for inflating their burgers in ads.

And many in the Silicon Valley and tech startup worlds no doubt winced about the guilty verdicts in the Elizabeth Holmes trial a few months ago. It seems that hyping it up to investors and the media is not so funny any more.

The last example hits closest to home, as I work for Fusion PR, an agency that focuses on the tech sector and works with startups. So we arguably are part of the “hype-industrial complex.”

We are not lawyers and our contracts indemnify Fusion from legal jeopardy. Yet it is scary to think that we can be party to spreading harmful hype. I am allergic to such accusations and we work hard at Fusion to intentionally not drink the Kool Aid. We compel our account teams to fact check client claims, avoid getting swept into their FUD wars or veer from spinning to outright lying.

The last is what got Elizabeth Holmes in hot water (well, wire fraud, technically). I am amazed that some were willing to give her a pass, because “everyone does it,” or because she’s a woman, as tech investor Ellen Pao wrote in a NY Times Op Ed. (Times Columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a scathing response: “Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned art of owning it… sexism this ain’t, sisters.”)

In our latest podcast, I had the chance to explore this topic in greater detail with noted legal analyst and commentator Aron Solomon. We also discussed the Sunny Balwani trial, Musk’s play for Twitter, and burgers.

You can see the video, above; and listen on Spotify and other pdocasting channels.

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Frank Strong on the State of PR Tech

I enjoyed speaking with PR blogger Frank Strong (of Sword & the Script fame) about the state of PR tech, for the PR, Done & Doner podcast (here’s a video of the interview).

The PR job of has never been more challenging.  Tech can help, but it is not always easy to know where to invest. Agencies need to decide how much to spend and how to earn ROI from their tech investments. Ideally, it helps them up their game without excessive fee impact. Internal PR teams also rely on PR tech.

So check out the podcast as Frank does a great job of covering a complex and diverse arena in less than 45 minutes. He is an authority, and is often doing reviews, roundups and vendor briefings (see below for some examples).

He speaks in detail on the topics and others:

  • The latest and greatest, from the incumbents and challengers
  • Where to invest for best results
  • How to DIY with free tools
  • The impact of AI and NLP
  • Areas for improvement

Thanks again Frank, for coming on the podcast and sharing your expertise.

Additional Resources from Sword & the Script

Examples of Frank’s Briefings and Reviews

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Hail the Superforecasters: Towards Better Predictions in Tech and PR   

I  recently listened to a podcast that radically changed my thinking about forecasts.  In this post I explain the relevance of predictions in technology and PR, and about armchair superforecasters who can do a radically better job than experts.  The cool thing is, apparently the skill can be learned by just about anyone (are you listening, Gartner?)

Predictions in PR, Technology and Society

Tracking the direction of tech is important for our work in PR.  I recently ran an educational session for our team about this.  Some of you may have seen my post about surfing tech trends.

Looking beyond just PR, technology prognostication is big business.  The high priests of IT (e.g., Gartner, Forrester and IDC) get nice fees for their reports and forecasts. 

Yet predictions are often wrong – even those made by the experts.  See this story in The Register which pokes fun at Gartners’ Hype Cycles.  And sometimes we see other articles that point out prediction fails, like this NY Times piece on pundit accountability.

So who cares if predictions in all those articles don’t pan out? Why is it so important to make accurate predictions in tech, and for PR to try to guess correctly too?

Just think about it.  If we all had better crystal balls:

  • PR firms could choose sectors that have growth potential; we could craft better pitches and plans
  • Lawmakers and regulators could use the insight to prevent bad stuff and leverage the good for society
  • Investors and VCs could make better bets
  • Enterprises could invest in the right IT roadmap
  • Vendors could make smarter R&D choices 
  • Gartner and other analysts could avoid snarky articles

The list goes on and on.

But how many times have we heard “this will be the year of_____ (fill in the blank: IoT, AI everywhere, VR)”?  How many times does that ball get punted?  And what about the blowback from poor tech design, policies, data  and security vulnerabilities?

So I was intrigued when I heard the podcast, on the Ezra Klein Show (he is a NY Times writer, and often has superb guests and topics on the podcast).

The Rise of the Superforecasters

The episode description said: “Can we predict the future more accurately? It’s a question we humans have grappled with since the dawn of civilization… It’s also the question that Philip Tetlock, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania and a co-author of ‘Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction,’ has dedicated his career to answering.

Guest host Julia Galef interviewed Tetlock as Ezra was on paternity leave.  She has her own podcast, Rationally Speaking, and wrote the book “The Scout Mindset: Why Some People see Things Clearly and Others Don’t.”

The podcast explained that Tetlock pitted his group of amateur prognosticators against academics and career intelligence analysts in a forecasting tournament in 2011.  Tetlock’s team won by such a large margin that the government agency behind the competition decided to study the superforecasters and their methods, to see what they could learn.

He shared with Julia and the podcast audience insight into the mindset and approach of superforecasting.  It doesn’t necessarily take genius or years of experience (remember, it is the so-called experts who can have spotty records at predictions). 

Philip claimed that the skill can be taught to college students in a matter of hours. How is this even possible?  I’ll try to summarize here, but suggest you check out the podcast and read Tetlock’s book to learn more.

In a few words, it gets to being a “flexible fox” vs. an “inflexible hedgehog.”  The latter tend to be constrained by ideology. It also is about trying to be less bombastic, and more accurate – the former works better if you want to be a firebrand or a talking head on TV, vs. someone who calls shots in a less dramatic way.

As Tetlock says, it is important to be “integratively complex and qualify your arguments, howevers and buts and all those, a sign that you recognize the legitimacy of competing perspectives.”

The less successful forecasters dig themselves into a position that they want to defend, perhaps because it is their trademark issue.  The more successful ones are more open and set conditions that might support a counter POV.  Superforecasters use “comparison classes” and adopt “outside views;” they examine benchmarks to see how other similar situations played out.

Most of the podcast focused on big picture global economic and geopolitical topics vs. the world of technology.  But Julia and Philip finished off with an example, about how a superforecaster might approach a question about technology advancement.  Of course, that grabbed me.

The resulting back and forth is fascinating and shines a light on how a superforecaster might approach the question. I copied an excerpt from the episode transcript:

JULIA GALEF: Are we going to get to full self-driving cars by the year 2025? The kind of car where you can really just take a nap and let the car drive you to work through busy city streets… So do you have any thoughts on how a superforecaster might start thinking about that question?

PHIL TETLOCK: The first thing they would do is they would pick holes in it.

JULIA GALEF: In the question?

PHIL TETLOCK: Yeah, they’d pick holes in your question.

JULIA GALEF: OK.

PHIL TETLOCK: It would be like you’re talking to a contract lawyer. And they’d say, oh, Julia, my God, this is so underspecified. OK, you mean anywhere in the world?

JULIA GALEF: Yes, yes, I do. Yes.

PHIL TETLOCK: OK, so you have more of a shot of that happening in Singapore because they are pretty far advanced with the infrastructure, and they have a different legal system… technology is never going to be perfect. Given the way the U.S. tort law is set up and given the dynamics of U.S. politics, it would be very difficult to imagine it happening by 2025 in the U.S.

Could it happen in certain authoritarian or semi-authoritarian systems that are technocratic, maybe in Dubai or in Singapore or places like that? If that’s the question, now I’m saying, hmm, OK, maybe 25%. But now take a nap — hmm, not so sure. I think even there, the laws would be you have to be conscious, and you probably shouldn’t be drunk. There would still be laws and a sentient observer observing, at least in principle, in charge. But yeah, that’s how they think. They think in very detailed terms. And they think about boundary conditions. And it’s not just the technology, it’s the politics and the law, right?

JULIA GALEF: I guess this is how a lot of forecasters go awry, is they’re thinking of one specific kind of scenario. I was thinking about the U.S., and I was only focused on the technology itself and not on the legal framework surrounding that deployment of the technology, et cetera. And so, I can, a little bit, empathize with the experts in your tournament who, when the question is resolved and they were wrong, they kind of protest, oh, but that’s not what I was thinking of when I said 75% chance yes. The thing I was thinking of was blah, blah, blah. But that is part of the game, is you have to be thinking about all the factors. And I guess that’s what the superforecasters are good at.

The Ezra Klein Show
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