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Ask YC: Is it never too early to invite press coverage for a startup?

7 points by shafqat ↗ HN
We're launching our private alpha next week, and I've been in touch with journalists and bloggers for a while now. Of course, everyone wants 'an early look', but is it ever too early for press? We believe in releasing early and releasing often, but am worried about showing a site that's too raw to a prominent blogger/journalist. First impressions count for a lot. What were your experiences like?

4 comments

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dkokelley
Press releases are best used when you have something ready for the masses to use. If what you have is ready for its beta then I would go ahead and get journalists involved, but if it's not ready for the average user, then I would hold off.

Of course if you can use the press to build public anticipation then it would be worth it. Just be careful not to let anything break.

staunch
If you can deliver a demo and pitch that gets people excited you're probably in good enough shape for the press. Try it out on some non-press people first. Make sure you get honest feedback and have good answers to the tough questions.
mechanical_fish
Again with the Wil Shipley:

"Don’t announce until it can be downloaded. Don’t let it be downloaded until it can be bought."

His argument is actually a bit more subtle than that, and since you're in a similar position I'd recommend listening to his actual C[4] presentation instead of just this isolated quote.

But it boils down to: Yes, you can get the PR out of sync with the product. Yes, it can cost you sales. Yes, it can even tank your company. Go google "Joel Spolsky Marimba Phenomenon": http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2005/11/02.html