Emilie Gerber

Founder and CEO at Six Eastern

Founder and CEO of Six Eastern, a PR agency that has worked with over 100 tech companies from stealth startups to publicly traded companies, previously led PR at Uber and worked on product communications at Box.

The Growth Architect The Growth Scientist

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 35%

Execution & Craft 60%

Data & Experimentation 20%

Growth & Distribution 80%

Team & Leadership 30%

User Empathy & Research 50%

Key Themes

PR strategy for startups crafting effective media pitches second-order effects of press coverage reporter relationship building B2B versus B2C press strategies founder storytelling for media

Episode Summary

Emilie Gerber provides an exceptionally tactical guide to getting press coverage for startups, covering which publications to target, how to craft pitches that reporters actually respond to, and how to reach journalists effectively. She makes the case that for B2B companies, press is most valuable for second-order effects like sales enablement, recruiting, and third-party validation rather than direct growth, while for B2C companies with low barriers to trial, press can directly drive significant user acquisition.

Leadership Principles

→ Press for B2B companies is primarily valuable for second-order effects like validation, recruiting, and sales enablement — not direct signups
→ Be straightforward and pattern match in your pitch — don't over-engineer massive problem statements or trend stories
→ You don't need warm introductions to reporters — cold outreach with a compelling pitch works well

Notable Quotes

"No one ever gets this tactical in PR. There's just so much theoretical conversation and examining the big blunders, but at the end of the day, if you're a startup that wants to get coverage, you need to know actually the steps to take."
— On why she focuses on practical, actionable PR advice

"You can get so in the weeds with your own messaging that you want to set up this massive problem statement, but if you're very straightforward and pattern matching, it's generally actually going to work."
— On crafting effective media pitches that actually get responses

"The more that you can validate the business through things that's not just you doing personally that other people are doing, the better. That third-party validation and credibility goes a really long way."
— On the second-order value of press for B2B companies

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