Lulu Cheng Meservey
Head of Communications at Substack
Lulu Cheng Meservey is the former Head of Communications at Substack, known for taking bold, risk-forward approaches to PR that generated outsized attention and brand awareness.
Dimension Profile
Key Themes
Episode Summary
Lulu Cheng Meservey shares her unconventional approach to startup communications, arguing that the biggest risk is doing nothing and that comms teams should make mistakes of commission rather than omission. She provides tactical frameworks for making ideas spread, including finding audience 'cultural erogenous zones' and minimizing cognitive burden in messaging.
Leadership Principles
- → Your enemy as a startup is the status quo — doing nothing is the biggest risk
- → Make mistakes of commission rather than omission so you can learn and adapt
- → Find your audience's cultural erogenous zones and bridge your message to their passions
Notable Quotes
"Find your audience's cultural erogenous zones. It's a huge lift to try to change someone's worldview. It's a light lift to shape what you want to say to fit into their worldview."
— Her framework for crafting messages that spread
"If you're a startup your enemy is the status quo. When you minimize risk by doing nothing, you're letting your greatest enemy win by default."
— On why comms teams should take more risks
"Put the pill in some cheese — take the message you need to deliver and wrap it in something people actually want to consume."
— Her memorable metaphor for crafting sticky stories
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