When you think of PR for startups, buzzwords like "reach," "brand awareness," and "reputation" often come to mind. For an early-stage startup, though, this can feel like a luxury — expensive, hard to measure, and unpredictable, especially with a small budget.
Let’s talk numbers.
- PR for startups costs: Monthly retainers for PR services range from $1,500 to $10,000, with top agencies charging $150–$250 per hour.
- SEO Backlinks: The average cost per backlink is $361, with prices ranging from $100 to $1,000, depending on domain authority.
At first glance, it might seem more logical to invest in SEO — after all, a handful of backlinks can boost your domain rating (DR), helping you appear credible when someone Googles your brand. However, there’s a crucial difference between the two approaches:
- SEO is about discoverability: It helps you rank higher on search engines, driving organic traffic over time.
- PR is about credibility: It positions your startup as a serious player in the eyes of investors, partners, and even future hires.
If you're an early-stage startup aiming to secure funding or partnerships, credibility often trumps discoverability.
That said, for many founders, a $1,500–$10,000 PR budget might sound like something for Series A or later. If you're at pre-seed or seed, PR might seem like something to forget about, right?
Wrong.
The truth is, you don’t need an expensive agency to kickstart PR for your startup. You can lay the foundation for effective PR yourself or with the help of a single marketer. Done right, that foundation can be a game-changer for your fundraising strategy and building strategic partnerships.
How PR Influences Your Fundraising Strategy
At Burning Heroes Founders Association, where I am a co-founder, we’ve reviewed over 1,000 pitch decks, hosted pitch sessions worldwide — from San Francisco to Sydney — and connected startups with investors like Ultra VC, Fuel Ventures, 500 Global, and Techstars.
When evaluating startups, we use an official set of criteria for our 'Best Startup' category. These criteria, developed through extensive feedback and validation from investors, include:
- Product Vision: Does it solve a real problem uniquely and clearly?
- Traction: Are there measurable growth metrics, milestones, and proof of fundraising success?
- Team: Does the team have the skills, passion, and commitment to make this work?
While product vision is all about your solution, traction and team are where PR plays a key role.
PR for Startups Helps Investors Validate You
When we evaluate startups at Burning Heroes, we don’t just review pitch decks. We do some basic external validation:
- We Google your startup.
- We check your domain rating and website traffic (or app store metrics).
- We browse the LinkedIn profiles of founders.
- We Google the founders.
If external validation doesn’t match what’s in your deck, it impacts your traction score. Investors and accelerators do the same. If they’re intrigued by your pitch, the next step is to verify your credibility — and that’s where PR comes in.
What PR Does for You
PR for startups doesn’t have to mean a massive media blitz. A few key elements can make a big difference:
- Media Coverage: Two or three articles in niche or regional outlets show that your product has external visibility.
- Thought Leadership: A couple of expert columns by your founder in industry-relevant publications position your team as the right people to solve the problem.
- LinkedIn Profiles: Complete profiles with a solid network show you’re active in the industry and reinforce your credibility. A well-maintained LinkedIn profile doesn’t just help you connect — it signals to investors, partners, and media outlets that you’re a serious player.
PR Is a Targeted Tool, Not a General Effort
Let’s be real — PR isn’t a growth hack, a lead-gen machine, or something that will directly boost your unit economics. But it’s a powerful credibility builder, especially for long-cycle deals like fundraising and partnerships. It helps answer the unspoken question, "Why should we trust you?"
And these PR tactics are achievable without hiring a pricey agency.
How to Start Without Breaking the Bank
We’ve encountered these struggles so often across the Burning Heroes community that it became clear early-stage founders need a solution to kickstart their online visibility and build trust in global markets. That’s how The Top Voices was created — a hub dedicated to enhancing early-stage founders' visibility. It’s designed to empower founders with tools and guidance to grow, much like an accelerator, rather than simply providing services.
Here’re how our visibility ecosystem helps early-stage startups tackle PR on a budget:
- Announce Your Round: Send us your press release at press@thetopvoices.com.
- Share Your Story: Email us how you built your product in a "build in public" format at editorial@thetopvoices.com.
- Storytelling Help: If you need help crafting your narrative or getting niche media coverage, you can get support from top PR mentors:
Anna Lebedeva, ex Head of marketing at Semrush
Lana Glygalo, co-founder and Chief of PR at Burning Heroes Founders Association
Just drop us a line at hub@thetopvoices.com, and let’s schedule a 1-hour strategic session on PR for your startup. This is free.
4. LinkedIn Sprints: Join our sprints to optimize your profile without wasting hours, ensuring it works as a credibility tool for investors and partners.
The sooner you start, the sooner your credibility starts working for you. PR isn’t a luxury — it’s an investment in your startup’s future. Take the first step, even if it’s small, and let your track record grow with you.