When Vijay Chattha was constructing a startup, his competitor was what some would name a media darling. The competitors had a very good story, which created investor curiosity. In flip, that curiosity helped land key prospects. And so the cycle repeated. Chattha finally bought that firm in a lukewarm exit and took with him an necessary lesson: Earned media has the facility to be a kingmaker.
Chattha is now the founder and CEO of VSC, a public relations agency that has helped launch over 600 corporations. The agency works with startups throughout all phases and just lately launched a $21 million enterprise agency to again the businesses that it advises. (Or, as Chattha places it, to place some pores and skin within the recreation).
Now, 20 years in, Chattha has ideas concerning how tech’s cyclical nature has impacted its relationship with media, the facility of sharing actual numbers and whether or not founders ought to put together to fall on their sword within the identify of transparency.
“I believe it’s a harmful factor. It’s like water. When you don’t have publicity, you will be dehydrated. However when you have an excessive amount of you may drown.” Vijay Chattha
My whole dialog with the entrepreneur will be discovered wherever you hearken to podcasts, so take a hear should you choose audio over phrases (in that case, what are you doing right here‽).
Beneath, we extracted a number of key excerpts from the interview to your studying pleasure.
What’s your temperature studying on how susceptible founders are proper now relating to sharing hardships publicly?
Vijay Chattha: It depends upon the founder. Is it their first startup, their second or their third? Typically what I discover is the extra profitable and the extra knowledge you have got, the extra clear you might be over time, and presumably even cynical, proper? However the first-time founders, they’re beneath plenty of strain [to do] regardless of the VCs or employed individuals round them are telling them to do. They’ve bought to do it. They’re very involved that the rivals are studying these things.
