In the fall of 2014, in the midst of controversy about Facebook’s real-name policy and selling of user data, a new social media platform called Ello caught fire. Ello vowed to forever be free of advertising, and its company manifesto boldly concluded with a promise to would-be users that “You are not a product.” The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The media dubbed Ello the “Anti-Facebook” and, at its peak, the social network was getting membership requests from more than 30,000 new users per hour.
Why Startups Shouldn’t Chase Media Buzz
They should focus on running their businesses.
June 05, 2017
Summary.
Research (and common sense) shows a connection between media coverage and startup success — more headlines correlate with more funding and revenue. That might send entrepreneurs scrambling to pour time and money into their communications strategy, the lesson is not that simple. Communication is a critical part of building a business, but media attention must be driven by real growth and traction in core areas. That sounds obvious, but it’s something too many founders overlook, both in their urgency to attract publicity too soon and in their anxiety for that coverage to be positive. Think of Theranos, which sought out media coverage before its core technology even worked (and then apparently lied about it to keep up the charade) or Ello, a social media company that couldn’t handle the volume of interest they received after initial, fawning media coverage. In fact, research shows that the most successful startups get more negative coverage than positive coverage, because they’re doing work that’s interesting and newsworthy — in other words, it’s worth more than a puff-piece.