Hosted by NextNY, the event took place at Rubenstein’s offices in Midtown and my fellow panelists included: Rose Gordon, News Editor, PR Week; Gillian Reagan, Reporter, The New York Observer; Adam Isserlis, Director of Digital Media, Rubenstein Communications; Peter Himler, Founder/Principal at Flatiron Communications LLC; Chantelle Karl, PR Manager, East Coast, Yelp; Mary Kathleen Flynn, Senior Editor, The Deal; and, Jay Kolbe, Vice President, Weber Shandwick.

More than anything, I think what the audience learned is that the most important decision startups should make is to decide what their business strategy is and what they want out of PR. A full-time firm might be overkill for small companies with a market-specific product. Startups need to decide who they want to reach and why they want to reach them. What are your business objectives? What influencers do you want to reach? Do you need a comprehensive communications or will hiring a freelancer for a few hours a week suffice? At Horn Group, we often advise potential clients to wait longer before hiring a firm because they might not need it and all the services and costs associated with hiring an agency may simply just be overkill at the earliest stages.

Another vital point I’d like to stress to any company regardless of stage is that PR is more than just publicity. PR is market strategy, positioning, competitive differentiation, a social media campaign, crisis communications, customer reference programs, analyst relations, financial relations and so much more: not just getting a hit in The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. While it’s true that any CEO could probably contact the tech editor at a major daily newspaper and secure an interview, firms like ours offer much more than just a big hit. We work with our clients to develop a strategic communications program that will make a big splash in the areas of importance to your company and then keep the momentum going well beyond that. If you’re starting a company, you have to decide if you’re prepared for that level of communication. Some start ups have the go to market strategy and board-level directive that requires that kind of effort, others just need to create a little buzz in the market to get things going. Either is ok – it just depends on what kind of business you have and what your goals are.

I’d like to thank my fellow panelists for a fantastic discussion, NextNY for organizing the event, and the entrepreneurs who attended for their interest. Thanks, Sabrina

As someone who does startup/tech PR and you being on the receiving end of so much of it, can’t wait to hear your thoughts in your followup.