The Direct Funding Pitch
Pitch funding news by pattern-matching a beat reporter and stating the deal in three sentences.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 95%
Founders over-engineer funding pitches into sweeping trend stories that hide the ask. Gerber's counterintuitive claim is that any funding round can be placed if pitched plainly: name the exclusive, the amount, the space, and the investors, matched to the reporter who covers that beat. Concision plus disciplined follow-up does the work.
Origin
Emilie Gerber, founder of Six Eastern; she scopes funding-only projects and says they've never had one they couldn't complete, contra the common PR view that most rounds are unplaceable.
Core principles
- 01Give the reporter the whole story so they can run with it: exclusive + amount + space + investors
- 02Pattern-match the specific beat reporter to your vertical instead of building a giant problem statement
- 03Offer it as an exclusive and stagger outreach so two reporters don't both say yes
- 04Concision wins — the best pitches are three sentences; longer usually means weaker
How to run it
- 1
Lead with the exclusive and the frame
Open by stating you're offering the launch/funding story as an exclusive (you won't pitch it elsewhere while they consider it). One line: 'reaching out with a martech company that's raised $8M from X investors, interesting approach on Y incumbent — do you want the exclusive?'
Pro tip Giving both the amount and the investor names hands the reporter a story they can run with immediately.
Watch out Everything you say to a reporter in an email is on the record — don't over-share the full narrative before they've agreed to cover.
- 2
Pattern-match, don't trend-build
Pick the reporter who covers your exact vertical and say why this specific round matters to that beat. Resist inflating it into a huge market-trend narrative.
Pro tip 'This TechCrunch reporter covers fintech, I have a fintech round, here's why it matters' beats any grand problem statement.
Watch out Getting into the weeds of your own messaging buries the ask and reads like a customer email, not a pitch.
- 3
Follow up with new information, then rotate
Wait three to four days, follow up by adding something new (a recent tweet of theirs, a new article), keep it respectful. If it stalls, move to the next most relevant reporter — repeat three or four times.
Pro tip Coming back with genuinely new info signals you're paying attention, not just nagging.
Watch out Stagger the exclusives — if two reporters both bite you have to retract one, which is awkward though usually forgivable after a week of silence.
In the wild
For hard funding news Gerber pitches 1-6 reporters, staggered, each offered an exclusive, following up every 3-4 days with fresh context.
→ Reliable placement without blasting; she's never failed to complete a scoped funding project.
Common mistakes
Convoluting the message
Founders set up a massive problem statement and huge trend story instead of stating what they raised and why it matters, so the reporter can't see the story.
One-and-done outreach
Funding placement takes respectful follow-up 3-4 times across the most relevant reporters; a single email rarely lands it.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders or comms leads announcing a seed-to-Series-C funding round who want earned coverage without an agency
Not ideal for
Product-only launches with no funding hook, or announcements where you can't share the amount or investors
From the transcript
“we make it very clear hey we're reaching out with a startup launch or funding we're offering this to as an exclusive”
“I think you can get so in the weeds with your own messaging that you want to set up this massive problem statement”
“this Tech crunch reporter is the one that covers fintech I have a fintech funding round here's the reason my fintech funding round matters it's…”
“my most successful pitches are three sentences”
“the worst thing that can happen is two reporters reply and are both interested and you have to go back to one and say never…”
From the episode
The ultimate guide to PR
Emilie Gerber (founder of Six Eastern)