People I want to hear a pitch from, in descending order: CEO, CTO, VP Product Development, Janitor, Brand Marketing Manager.
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People I want to hear a pitch from, in descending order: CEO, CTO, VP Product Development, Janitor, Brand Marketing Manager.
Filed under Meetings, Relationships
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Rafe
Pro PR Tips 
Entities that are conspicuously missing from your list:
– Product Evangelist (who are usually more tech than mktg)
– Developer Community Manager (who are typically in their roles because they are able to keep real about a platform/offering’s real shortcomings)
– Technical Product Manager (whose job it is to know the real product road map)
– Developer lead, or architect (who are often way more knowledgeable than any VP of Dev)
– Current user/customer (who, no matter how much pre-briefing prep from a vendor, remains resolutely realistic about the product)
Would any of these entities rank before “janitor”? :)
wow, janitor before brand marketing manager?
ouch.
Ted, I’m happy to meet with anyone who can genuinely speak about a product or company because they *believe* in it and know it at a level beyond the sales pitch. Evangelists generally get it, although some are too slick by half. Dev and Tech leads are almost always great, although many are not good in front of a crowd and some lack high-level perspective.
Customers? No, not for this job. They’re good for different kinds of stories.
There are exceptions. But when someone tries to set me up with a marketing manager, I am instantly suspicious.
How about a pitch from a PR agency? Or do you mean after you’ve agreed to a meeting that they might have arranged?
Have you ever heard from a customer that is thrilled with a product? That might be interesting perspective.
doubley ouch.
Another typical bash. Yawn. If a pitch angle is on target, truthful and unique, it doesn’t matter who clicks the send button.
I think this is a corollary to #29:
“OMG
A-list bloggers are like angry, spoiled schoolgirls. Calibrate your pitches accordingly.”
Since you [and I] are the center of the universe, shouldn’t the CEO be calling us?
thanks rafe, @malouie is going to tweet this: CEO, CTO, VP Product Development, Janitor, Brand Marketing Manager. hilarious!
Curious how you’d feel about having someone else answer the CEOs emails. Time is the main reason.
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