PR Readiness for Founders: 7 Takeaways From Our HealthX Bootcamp
By Kayla Liederbach, Head of Marketing at HealthX
Recently, we hosted a PR readiness bootcamp for HealthX founders alongside BAM, one of the PR firms I trust most in health tech. The goal was simple: help founders get clearer on what actually counts as news, what makes a company ready for PR, and what it looks like to tackle communications in-house versus with outside support.
One thing I’ve seen over and over is that founders often think the question is, “Should we do PR?” But the better question is, “Are we ready to do PR in a way that will actually work?”
That’s an important distinction.
PR can absolutely create momentum. It can strengthen credibility, attract talent, spark investor interest, and open new conversations. But not every announcement is media-worthy, and not every company is set up to get the most from a PR push yet. In many cases, the smartest move is to get your foundation in place first. That was a major theme of our session.
Here are the biggest takeaways:
1. PR works best when someone else is telling your story
One of the points I made in the session is one I stand by: nothing moves the needle like good PR. Why? Because earned coverage shifts the narrative from “we’re saying we matter” to “someone credible is saying we matter.” That distinction carries real weight with investors, prospective customers, partners, and future hires. In the bootcamp, I talked about PR as a credibility accelerator precisely because the validation comes from outside your company, not from paid promotion or your own channels.
That said, coverage alone is not the goal. The goal is momentum. The strongest PR efforts help create the right conversations at the right time.
2. Not every founder needs an agency, but every founder needs a plan
We spent time talking about the spectrum: doing PR in-house, working with a freelancer or consultant, or engaging a full agency. Each can make sense depending on your stage, budget, timeline, and how much internal support you have.
If you are handling PR internally, someone has to own it. Someone has to project manage the moving parts, keep timing tight, gather approvals, prep social posts, line up stakeholder emails, and make sure the story is packaged clearly before it goes out. PR tends to fall apart not because the news is bad, but because no one is truly steering it.
That’s where outside support can help. A freelancer can often bring focus, writing, and project management. An agency can bring deeper media relationships, broader strategic counsel, and a team that is constantly in the market talking with reporters. BAM spoke to that clearly: part of the value of an agency is not just pitching, but knowing what will land, where it will land, and how to position a company over time.
3. Before you pitch the press, get your messaging nailed down
This was one of BAM’s clearest points, and I strongly agree with it: if your messaging is still fuzzy, PR is probably premature. Their readiness framework starts with messaging for a reason. Founders need to be able to clearly articulate what the company does, why it matters, what makes it different, and how they want to be understood in the market. That should show up consistently across the website, LinkedIn, company materials, and spokesperson talking points.
I also emphasized this in practical terms: before a big announcement, make sure the basics are in shape. Is the website current? Are LinkedIn profiles updated? Is your one-liner consistent? Do you have a high-resolution logo and the right visuals ready? Who is listed as the press contact, and are they actually prepared to respond?
If those things are still in motion, that does not mean you are failing. It just means your next best move may be brand and message work, not media outreach.
4. Third-party proof matters more than most founders think
Another strong takeaway from BAM: reporters want more than your own perspective. They want evidence. They want customer proof points. They want outcomes. They want someone besides the vendor to validate that the company is delivering real value. In healthcare especially, that can be hard to secure, but it matters enormously.
That may mean lining up a customer willing to speak publicly. It may mean getting permission in contracts to reference partnerships. It may mean gathering data, testimonials, or a stronger bench of proof before making PR a top priority.
This is one of the most useful mindset shifts for founders: PR readiness is not just about having news. It is about having receipts.
5. PR is not magic lead generation, and it should not be judged like paid marketing
This was another important point from BAM’s presentation. Founders sometimes enter PR hoping it will immediately drive pipeline, customers, and conversions. PR can support those outcomes, but that is not the same thing as saying it functions like paid acquisition. BAM encouraged founders to get honest about expectations: are you trying to build credibility, raise awareness, elevate thought leadership, or close specific leads right now? The answer matters because PR is better suited to some goals than others.
I would put it this way: PR is often an amplifier, not a shortcut. It helps more people take you seriously. It gives your company legitimacy in the market. It can absolutely open doors. But it works best when it is part of a broader communications strategy, not when it is expected to do the whole job on its own.
6. A press release is only one part of the job; distribution is where a lot of the value gets created
This is the part I always want founders to understand. Publishing a press release is not the finish line. It is the starting point.
In the bootcamp, I walked through the distribution side: preparing social posts in advance, identifying who needs to approve what, getting a strong horizontal photo ready, pre-writing outreach blurbs for newsletters, and planning the day-of announcement flow so nothing gets lost in the shuffle. The more you can hand the story to people on a platter, the better.
That includes journalists, but it also includes stakeholders, investors, newsletter editors, and your own team. Great PR is rarely just about one article. It is about orchestrating a moment.
One of the examples I shared was a recent HealthX portfolio funding announcement where the resulting Axios coverage created immediate visibility and momentum. The lesson was not “every story will do this.” The lesson was that when timing, story, and distribution all line up, PR can compound fast.
7. If you are not ready for earned media yet, build owned media instead
This was one of the places where BAM’s perspective and mine fit together really well.
If the news is not strong enough yet, or the company is not quite PR-ready, that does not mean you should stay quiet. It may mean this is the right time to invest in owned content instead: thoughtful LinkedIn posts, founder perspective, blog content, customer education, case studies, short videos, or commentary on the trends shaping your category. During the session, I talked about the difference between owned and earned content, and how owned channels can help the market understand who you are before you ask the media to tell your story.
That work is not second-best. It is often what prepares a founder to succeed when the truly newsworthy moment arrives.
Final thought
The best PR does not begin with a pitch list. It begins with clarity. Clarity on what is newsworthy. Clarity on what you want the market to understand. Clarity on whether you need earned media right now, or whether your next best step is tightening your narrative, building proof points, and showing up more consistently on your own channels.
That was the spirit of this bootcamp, and I hope it was useful not just for HealthX founders, but for any founder trying to be thoughtful about when and how to step more visibly into the market.
