PR for a Startup with Zero Budget: What Works and What Is a Waste of Time

A startup usually has a great product, an ambitious team and a marketing budget around zero. Yet PR can be the most effective channel of all for a startup – if you know where to put time and money and what is just a waste of both.

What (does not) work

Sending “we launched a website” press releases to a hundred newsrooms is a waste of time – no one cares. The opposite works: one strong story or data that media want to take up themselves. A startup often has access to unique data from its field – and that is the cheapest ticket into the media.

What the medium (and AI) wants

• Data and numbers from your market that are not available elsewhere.
• A story – why you do it and what problem you solve.
• An expert opinion of the founder on current events in the field.

Why PR matters from the start

Customers, investors and AI all check you out. A startup without a single media footprint looks risky; a startup the media write about gains trust for free. And because models tend to repeatedly mention brands they already know, an early media footprint compounds over time.

How to start with a small budget

You do not have to pay an expensive agency on a retainer. Through the Linketica marketplace you pick specific relevant media by budget, compare offers and publish deliberately – you spend only on what makes sense. For a startup counting every penny, it is a way to do PR without fixed costs.