Communications Guide for Startups: How to Win Customers, Investors, and new Talent through Inspiring Messaging

By Lydia Prexl

Turning communication into your start-up's biggest asset
Nine out of ten startups fail. One cause of failre is bad communication - both externally and internally. Yet there is little systematic advice on how startups and scale-ups can overcome this challenge and inspire all stakeholders around the company's vision, values, and offering. This book closes this gap - with seventy experts sharing their learnings and experiences. It is a guide for all curious to learn more about how to win customers, investors and new talent through a convincing narrative, covering external, internal, social media and leadership communication.

• Language: English
• Publisher: UVK Verlag
• Release date: Nov 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9783739806143

Book preview

List of Abbreviations

AVE | Advertising Value Equivalent

B2B | Business to Business

B2C | Business to Consumer

CAC | Customer Acquisition Cost

CEO | Chief Executive Officer

D&I | Diversity & Inclusion

EB | Employer Branding

ESG | Environmental Social Governance

EVP | Employee Value Proposition

GR | Governmental Relations

H2H | Human to Human

HR | Human Resources

KPI | Key Performance Indicator

IC | Internal Communication

IPO | Initial Public Offering

IR | Investor Relations

NPS | Net Promotor Score

OKR | Objectives and Key Results

PA | Public Affairs

PR | Public Relations

ROI | Return on Investment

SEO | Search Engine Optimization

VC | Venture Capital

USP | Unique Selling Proposition

The Experts at a Glance

Maria Andersen | Internal Communications Manager | ex-​Sennder | → 10.4

Maria has a well-rounded background in corporate communications and marketing. After earning her Master's degree in corporate communication from Aarhus School of Business, she took on various jobs as a content writer before landing her first job abroad at an international travel tech company. It was at the same company that she got the chance to join a global internal communications team. Since then, she has been working in various roles within the field of employee engagement, culture, community management, as well as consulting with teams and leads on communication various matters.

Oliver Aust | CEO and Founder of Eo Ipso Communications | → 5.8

Oliver is one of Europe's leading communications advisors. He is the CEO of Eo Ipso Communications, hosts the category-​defining Speak like a CEO podcast and has written four books on CEO and startup communications. He has frequently been at the frontline of some of the most high-​profile reputational challenges in Europe and can draw on his personal experience of helping scale easyJet to a multi-​billion-​dollar company.

Katia Ballano Göring | PR & Communications Manager at ID Finance | → 4.4

Katia is an experienced multilingual strategic communications consultant and journalist with a strong focus on finance, reputational crisis management, and content marketing. Before joining ID Finance as a PR and communications manager, she worked as a consultant for one of Spain's most renowned communications consultancy firms. As a former journalist, Katia is well versed in researching and addressing complex subjects, writing news features that offer sector-​specific insights and providing relevant analysis.

Chiara Baroni | PR and Communications Manager for Germany, Austria and Swizerland at Revolut | → 5.2

Chiara has worked in the German PR industry for over ten years – mostly in the PR agency business and since the end of 2018 on the corporate side. She currently works for the British FinTech Revolut and is responsible for the company's entire communication in the German-​speaking region – from finance to product and brand PR.

Julia Barthel | Director at Brunswick Group | → 4.2

Julia Barthel is a Director at Brunswick Group based in Berlin. She advises digital industry clients on navigating their corporate and political communications challenges. Julia has a proven record in various strategic comms areas such as government affairs, crisis comms, PR and positioning with a strong focus on the digital economy. She is passionate about regulatory issues around digitisation, including competition, privacy, media policy and platform regulation.

Hemmo Bosscher | Head of Communications at Adyen | → 5.6

Hemmo is Adyen's communications chief. Following a degree in English literature, he grew up on the communications industry's corporate side – at an Amsterdam agency. Following a four-​year stint, Hemmo was referred to Adyen by a friend, and he quit his job the same day he was interviewed. At Adyen, Hemmo built the communications and investor relations functions and was responsible for the equity story and investor marketing during our six-​month IPO track.

Dr. Lucas Brost | Media Lawyer at Brost Claßen | → 4.7

Lucas is a media lawyer at the law firm Brost Claßen, Cologne, in Germany. He advises clients on all media law issues, especially startups and companies on crisis communication and litigation PR.

Callum Burroughs | Senior Tech Reporter at Insider | → 6.2

Callum is a senior reporter for Insider (formerly Business Insider), covering all things startup and VC related with a focus on fintech. He has been with the company for around 3.5 years.

Marina Burtyleva | Internal Communications and Employer Branding Lead at Vivid Money | ex-​N26 | → 2.3

Marina, born in one of the coldest places in the world (Siberia), works as an internal communications and employer branding lead at Vivid Money. Before, she was Senior Employer Branding Partner at N26. She looks back to over ten years of branding experience in various industries, from medicine to luxury weddings in Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

Dr. Katharina Buttenberg | Senior Vice President Global Brand at HelloFresh | → 2.2

Katharina is Senior Vice President Global Brand at HelloFresh, and, in this role, she is responsible for market research, brand strategy, marketing communications, and the creative, photo and video studio. Before HelloFresh, she built and rebuilt brands at several digital companies and wrote her doctorate on the emergence of brands in startups.

Maïwenn Charpentier | Internal Communications Manager at Omio | → 10.5

Maïwenn was born in France but grew up with her family in Spain, with both languages and cultures. Having lived in four countries and speaking many languages has helped her navigate the world through connections and communication – which is also a great benefit in her professional life as internal communications manager. She studied marketing and communications back in France and moved to Sweden for her first job in internal communications. In 2019, Maïwenn moved to Berlin and now works for Omio.

Jessie Claar | Global Internal Communications Manager | → 10.2

Jessie is currently working as internal communications manager at Kry in Stockholm, Sweden. She is a natural networker and strong communicator with experience in driving impactful and engaging internal communications agendas. Jessie has worked for international businesses and brands and for startups and large global corporations, where she gained both strategic and operational experience.

Henning Dorstewitz | Director PR & Communications at Unstoppable Finance | → 3.1

Henning is a dual citizen of Germany – his first home – and Australia – his second home. He has built and led several communications teams throughout his career and was responsible for a broad spectrum of topics – from PR to content, social media, sponsorships, community and stakeholder engagement and events. Having started in the travel industry, Henning moved into the tech space and worked at companies such as Google, Twitter and YouTube. His love for films and series brought Henning to Netflix, and his passion for everything web3 led him to where he is today: Director of PR and Communications at Unstoppable Finance.

Sigrid Dubois | Global PR and Communications Director at Ankorstore | → 2.2

Sigrid is passionate about brand marketing, communication and innovation. She is half German, half Austrian, and has been living in Paris for 17 years. Sigrid is part of the Global Brand and Marketing team at Ankorstore, where she helps to create brand awareness across Europe.

Bianca Dumschat | B2B Social Media Manager at Doctolib | → 7.5

Bianca has been doing social media marketing for about four years now. In 2021, she joined Doctolib, which allows her to combine her love for tech and social and health. Before she got into social media, she studied business administration majoring in marketing at the University of Cologne.

Lavinia Eastwood | Global Event Manager at Mollie | → 8.2

Lavinia is the global event manager at Mollie, a fintech company based in Amsterdam. She started her career in London, working as an intern on events for Audi and went on to lead brand and event teams at several startups and scale-​up organisations. She has also worked as a freelancer for Shell and various private clients.

Christoph Egels | Public Affairs Lead at Flink | → 9.1

After studying International Relations and European Politics at the University of Bamberg and at Aston University in Birmingham, Christoph started his career in the Corporate Affairs Team at Amazon in Munich. He then moved to MSL in Berlin to make his first steps in public affairs. After two and a half years, the startup world called and he joined Voi, where he built city and stakeholder relations from scratch and founded Plattform Shared Mobility. Since September 2022, he has led a small public affairs team at Flink.

Sam Evans | Partner at Eos Venture Partners | → 5.3

Sam is Partner at Eos Venture Partners (Eos) based in London and has been investing in InsurTech since 2016. Eos is a global independent Strategic Venture Capital Fund focused exclusively on InsurTech, investing in early and growth-​stage technology businesses that accelerate innovation and transformation across the insurance industry and value chain.

Emma-​Victoria Farr | European M&A Correspondent at Reuters | → 6.2

Emma-​Victoria is an experienced journalist with a decade of breaking news at international newswires and national newspapers, with specialist knowledge of business journalism and German-​speaking countries, and a command of several foreign languages. Since 2021, she works as a financial journalist at Thomson Reuters. Previously, Emma-​Victoria worked at trade publication Mergermarket for seven years.

Bettina Fries | Senior Communications Advisor, Founder of Fries Consulting | → 5.6

Bettina has been working as a consultant for strategic and financial communications for about 20 years, many of them at well-​known consultancies. But she also knows the corporate side from her time as Head of Communications and Marketing at a renewable energy company, for which she built up these two functions after the IPO. Since 2015, Bettina has built her own business – Fries Consulting – and now works in a broad network with many experienced and young colleagues.

Itziar García | Communications Director for Spain and Portugal at BlaBlaCar | → 3.3

Itziar is the Communications Director for BlaBlaCar in Spain and Portugal. She studied business sciences and specialised in actuarial and financial sciences to work in the insurance industry. However, she later realised this was not her world. She chose to pursue a second career in advertising and public relations. After finishing her second master's degree in communications management, she started to work in agencies, where BlaBlaCar was one of her clients. When Itziar was offered to join the BlaBlaCar team more than four years ago, she didn't hesitate for a second.

Youssef Gasmi | Communications Manager at Voodoo | → 3.2

Born in Casablanca, Morocco, Youssef did a BA in social anthropology followed by an MSc in entrepreneurship, management and innovation at Imperial College London before going back to live and work in Paris, where he had gone to school. During his first year at university, he and two good friends from high school came up with an app destined for tourists called BeSafe!, which he successfully sold seven years later. Today, Youssef manages communications for Voodoo.

Jessica Hashemi | Senior Social Media Manager at Checkout.com | → 7.5

Jessica is a B2B social media manager with eight years of experience in the tech and startup ecosystem. She bounced around various industries, from edtech to proptech, before settling on fintech. Jessica was social media manager at 11:FS in 2019 and led organic social at Checkout.com for the past two years. She lives in West London and spends most of her time trying new restaurants, travelling or mixing martinis (a skill she picked up in lockdown).

Bettina Hausmann | Founder and Director of bhconsult | → 10.6

Bettina's job is to help senior professionals to succeed as strategists, communicators, and leaders. She has worked with CEOs, chairs of the board, politicians, and other senior professionals from over 100 countries, helping them develop their signature presence, master their communications, manage their reputation, and build resilience. Her mission is always the same: to help leaders grow when it gets tough. Prior to setting up her own business ten years ago, Bettina worked for many years as a director in a communications agency.

Malena Heed | Global Communications Director at Einride | → 4.1

For more than a decade, Malena has been doing PR for leading tech companies and startups such as iZettle and Uber. She's currently the global Communications Director at Einride, a freight tech startup offering electric and autonomous shipping. During her time at Einride, the company grew from 50 to 500 people and expanded into the US and Europe.

Dr. Clara Herdeanu | Head of Communications at Xayn | → 4.6

As Head of Communications at the AI startup Xayn, Clara is responsible for all (inter)national PR and communications. In the past, she has communicated for high-​growth tech companies such as Mozilla, Alteryx, Open-​Xchange, and StackOverflow at an international PR agency as well as for a traditional German world market leader. With a PhD in linguistics on the relationship between language, media, politics and power, Clara is an avid analyser of how media shapes our world views and decision-​making.

Christian Hillemeyer | Director of Communications at Babbel | → 5.1

Christian has been in communications for almost 15 years. In his case, rather involuntarily via music, but the topic of PR never let him go. After working for MTV, nugg.ad/ Deutsche Post and Payleven/ Rocket Internet, he has now been responsible for communications at Babbel for eight years.

Svenja Hoya | Marketing Communications Lead at Trade Republic | → 2.1

Svenja has spent the past ten years working in PR and communications in the agency, startup, and corporate world. She knows both early-​stage and hyper-​growth startups and now works for Trade Republic. Svenja was born and raised in Berlin, has a little daughter and is also co-organiser of the Berliner PR Stammtisch, a Berlin-based network event for everyone working in the communications industry.

Kristen Jäggi | Event Planner (various startups) | → 8.2

Kristen is passionate about all things events. She has worked with a variety of startups, including her own failed startup, Venue Scout. Kristen looks back on over 18 years of industry experience managing events from concept to on-​site.

Mats Joosten | Senior PR Manager at Back Market | → 3.2

Mats is currently working as Senior PR Manager at Back Market, a leading marketplace for refurbished devices. Before joining Back Market, Mats worked for more than four years as a PR & Communications manager for the French mobility and sharing economy startups Drivy (acquired by Getaround) and BlaBlaCar, coordinating and leading the PR efforts for the German market.

Simon Kenyon | Head of Internal Communications at PayU | → 8.3

Simon started out as a headhunter, where he developed the art of forming new relationships and building trust before a customer hired him in 2003 to partner on human change and communication for internal global IT projects. Since then, he has developed his passion for all things communications. Simon stands for ownership, empathy and openness. His energy source is interacting with different cultures and has even be known to dabble in stand-up comedy.

Dr. Juliane Kiesenbauer | Director Marketing & Communications for Germany, Austria and Switzerland at Staffbase | → 4.5

With over 13 years of PR and marketing experience, Juliane is currently the director of marketing and communications for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at Staffbase, headquartered out of Chemnitz, Germany. In her current role, Juliane has built out a regional team of marketers and serves as a strategic leader in the organisation. Blending an analytical, data-​driven approach with creativity, a roll-​up-​your-​sleeves attitude, and a penchant for strategic planning, she has used her PR and marketing acumen to drive the business forward.

Ben Kilbey | Chief Communications Officer (CCO) at Britishvolt | → 5.7

Ben is Director of Communications and Media Relations at Britishvolt. He had a successful career in journalism spanning travel writing and financial writing – spending the last 13 years of that journey at S&P Global where he progressed to being more of a relationship manager and biz developer. Ben has always been in communications in some way, shape or form. Now he is a fully-​fledged communications professional and enjoys every second and experience.

Jovana Krcevinac | Global Internal Communications Project Manager at Glovo | → 10.1

Jovana is a Barcelona-​based global internal communications project manager at Glovo. She has worked in the startup world for the past few years and is passionate about creating and driving high-​impact communication initiatives that empower the business and engage with global and diverse workforces. Jovana's scope of interests includes strategic communication, crisis and change communication, cross-​cultural communication, organisational culture and employee engagement. In a nutshell, she loves navigating through innovation, creativity, and change!

Valentina Kristensen | Director Growth and Communications at OakNorth | → 2.1

Valentina is the Director of Growth and Communications at OakNorth. She has been working with OakNorth almost since the beginning of its journey in the Summer of 2015 when it was just 40 people – today, it is c.800 globally. Valentina is half Danish and half Greek with settled status in the UK.

Anna-​Lena Kümpel | Freelance Moderator and Coach | → 8.4

Anna-​Lena is a professional moderator and moderation trainer with a background in startup journalism and startup network building. Since July 2021, she has been working full-​time as a facilitator and facilitation trainer. Anna-​Lena's favourite topics include innovation, digital, entrepreneurship, personal development and new work.

Andrew Kyle | Senior Employer Branding Manager at Gorillas | → 2.3

Andrew has worked in Human Resources for ten years. The native Canadian has been living in Berlin for four years, where he built up the candidate experience function at N26, among others, and was responsible for the company's employer branding activities. In the summer of 2021, he joined Gorillas as senior talent brand manager and supported the company in its hyper-​growth phase.

Greg Latham | Freelance Filmmaker and Videographer | → 7.6

Greg is a Berlin-​based filmmaker and has been creating visual content for startups and other clients for almost ten years. He also works as a director and producer for a London-​based production company, helping produce and direct documentary content for clients in the arts sector. Before Greg moved into the world of video production, he worked in communications for a Berlin-​based startup and therefore knows what kind of messaging and content can be especially effective.

Tom Levine | Director at Brunswick Group | → 4.2

Tom is heading and building the Digital Team at Brunswick in Germany as part of the Global Digital Team of almost 40 colleagues spread around the globe. He advises Brunswick's clients and Brunswick's teams on digital strategy and positioning, content and platforms, distribution and search, influencer and stakeholder management, and awareness and measuring. Tom is a highly experienced communication consultant with a strong background in journalism, content marketing, digital and brand communication.

Mikko Mäntylä | President at Slush | → 8.1

Mikko, a 25-year-​old Finn, is President of Slush – the world's leading startup event. In his role, Mikko oversees the core audiences, programme, and entertainment planning and development teams – as well as the new products Soaked by Slush (media), Node by Slush (community), and Slush'D (global events). He is driven by impatience, an endless curiosity for great people and smart ideas, as well as a belief that building tech companies is the most efficient way to solve hard problems in the world.

Elisheva Marcus | VP Communications at Earlybird Venture Capital | → 5.3

Elisheva calls herself a bicoastal American now living in Berlin, Germany. She has had an international path by way of Israel, Argentina and Canada and maybe because of that circuitous route, she loves storytelling and networking – especially documenting founder and startup journeys. With a Master of Science in biomedical communications, she has worked in graphics departments of museums, newspapers, publishers and advertisers, in a startup, an accelerator, and a company builder. Since 2020, Elisheva has been working for Earlybird, aiming to convey complex processes clearly.

Sarah Maulhardt | Lead Internal Communications at GetYourGuide | ex-​Zalando | → 10.3

Sarah leads the internal communications team for GetYouGuide. Before that, she worked as internal communications manager within Zalando's corporate affairs team. During her master's degree in communications management, she discovered her passion for strategic – especially internal – corporate communications. Both at GetYourGuide and Zalando, Sarah immerses herself in her favourite daily topics: change communication, employee involvement and participation, social intranet and corporate strategy.

Sara Morić | Global Comms Lead at LimeWire | ex-​Bitpanda | → 5.5

Sara is an experienced PR, Comms and social media strategist, profoundly delving into all things digital. Not knowing much about blockchain and its technology, she never imagined working in the crypto world a few years ago. However, having supported the global communications team for Europe's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda and more recently leading communications for the NFT platform LimeWire, Sara has found her niche.

Heather Moses | Senior Vice President of Marketing at Nexthink | → 7.1

As Senior Vice President Marketing for Nexthink, Heather is responsible for brand awareness, communications, category creation and field marketing globally. She studied journalism at Northeastern University and was a writer for many years before discovering the world of software marketing. Since then Heather has led international marketing teams at numerous software companies looking to grow and scale globally. Heather is currently driving growth and brand at Nexthink, a global provider of digital employee experience management software.

Max Mundhenke | Associate Digital Strategy at Brunswick Group | → 7.3

Max studied sociology and media science in Bielefeld and landed – via some detours – in digital consulting. Since 2020, he has been part of the international digital team at Brunswick Group in Berlin and advises companies that want to communicate in the German social media landscape. His duties range from product advertising to targeted CEO positioning.

Arsenia Nikolaeva | Head of PR & Communications at SumUp | → 3.2

Arsenia was born in Russia and brought up in Ireland. For more than a decade, she has focused on communication and Public Relations for tech companies with a global footprint. Since 2018 she has headed the European PR & Communications team for SumUp. She is passionate about using technology for good and strongly believes that technology can create a level playing field for minorities and disadvantaged groups. As an advocate for female leadership, diversity, and inclusion, those are important topics to Arsenia, especially regarding the technology and financial sectors.

Meike Ostermeier | Associate Director at FGS Global | → 1.4

As associate director at FGS Global, Meike supports companies in situations that are critical to their reputation. Often, these are startups or tech companies that bring new ideas to the market, for which they must create acceptance. Meike likes to think from the end, develop solutions, and help companies think beyond the internal perspective.

Martin Perlin | Director of Marketing Communications at DriveNets | → 7.2

Martin serves as the Director of Marketing Communications at DriveNets, a leader in cloud-​native networking software and network disaggregation solutions. Bringing his talents as a storyteller, he develops and implements an integrated strategic communications approach that advances brand identity, broadens awareness, and increases visibility across key stakeholder audiences.

Florestan Peters | Field Marketing Manager at SoSafe | → 5.9

Florestan is a marketing manager at SoSafe, a cybersecurity SaaS scale-​up based in Cologne, Germany. After finishing his master's in political science at the University of Amsterdam in the summer of 2019, he joined SoSafe as their first communications manager in a hyper-​growth phase. In less than one and a half years, the team increased fivefold – with interesting challenges for communications.

Boris Radke | VP Corporate Affairs at Omio | → 1.3

Boris runs Corporate Affairs at Omio in Berlin and also advises startups on how to set up their communication functions. He loves building teams for startups with a purpose, and he supports other startups to have meaningful conversations with their customers (internal or external) and build great relationships with partners and stakeholders.

Dr. Andre Retterath | Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital – Investor Communications | → 5.3

Andre is Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital based in Munich, looking to partner with the most ambitious tech entrepreneurs. He is a mechatronics engineer with a focus on computer science and spent about five years at ThyssenKrupp before completing his master's degree and PhD on the topic of Machine Learning and the Value of Data in Venture Capital. Ever since he joined Earlybird in 2017, he has been focusing on enterprise software with a particular interest in developer, data and productivity tools, alongside AI-​centric products and robotics.

Giulia Ricci | Global Consumer and Product PR Lead | → 5.2

Giulia is responsible for global consumer and product communication at The Mobile Bank N26 with a focus on creative PR campaign across DACH, Spain, Italy and France. Previously, she was leading consumer PR DACH at Klarna, and worked at the Berlin-​based PR agencies fischerAppelt and Styleheads. What she loves most about her current role is the combination of working strategically and creatively, and that it allows her to collaborate with numerous colleagues from different functions of the business.

Luke Richardson | Senior Director of Brand and Communications at Pleo | → 2.2

Luke is Senior Director of Brand & Communications at the Danish-​born fintech unicorn Pleo with a 25-strong team. Before Pleo, Luke took on similar roles at Danish-​born scale-​ups like Airtame and Momondo. He has zero educational experience in brand or marketing, and instead landed where he is today through 1) luck and 2) years of journalism, working as a film critic and broadcaster.

Benjamin Romberg | Head of Communications at Spendesk | → 2.3

Benjamin is a native of Munich but has been living in Paris since 2018, where he leads communications at the French FinTech startup Spendesk. Previously, he worked for several years in agencies and as a journalist at the German Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Daniel Rottinger | Startup Communicator | → 1.1

Daniel is marketing manager for the Berlin based Handyhase. He studied public relations at the Stuttgart Media University and already worked for a tech startup during his studies. As a freelance PR consultant, he supported start-ups in telling stories about their development and their founders to the media in a targeted way.

Prof. Dr. Swaran Sandhu | Professor at Stuttgart Media University, Germany | → 1.1

Swaran completed his doctorate in Switzerland on the topic of legitimacy and public relations; since 2012, he has held the professorship for corporate communication with a focus on public relations at the Stuttgart Media University, where his research includes how communication processes can be analysed and modelled using digital tools.

Paul Sawers | Senior Writer at TechCrunch | ex-​VentureBeat | → 6.3

Paul has more than ten years of experience as a technology journalist, initially covering startups, breaking news, and the (then) emerging mobile app economy at The Next Web. In 2014, Paul became the European Correspondent for the U.S.-based tech outlet VentureBeat, where he wrote about everything from startups to Big Tech and beyond. Since summer 2022, he has worked for TechCrunch.

Joanna Schild | Senior Manager Global Internal Communications at Delivery Hero | → 10.1

Following her studies in classical piano and theatre, Joanna spent the first half of her career in her native London, working for leading artist management companies and venues. She then uprooted to Berlin and worked as a freelance artist and PR manager. Due to the challenges of freelancing, Joanna took a part-​time role at Delivery Hero in the evenings and later joined as a full-​time employee. Her role at Delivery Hero is to further the company strategy and employee experience through credible and genuine communication. She leads the internal communications and events team for 50+ brands and more than 50,000 employees worldwide.

Niels Schlesier | Managing Director at FGS Global | → 9.2

Niels has been advising companies on their critical issues with Brunswick for about ten years before joining FGS. Whether in Germany, Beijing, or Hong Kong, advising startups and scale-​ups in moments of crisis has been an important part of his job and one that, while occasionally challenging, he enjoys a lot. While crises are events that people instinctively try to avoid, Niels has also found that the pressure often brings out the best qualities in those dealing with them.

Norval Scott | Global Head of PR and Communications at Tractable | → 4.3

Norval is Global Head of PR and Communications for Tractable. He has worked in PR for other UK tech companies and also at Telefonica's startup accelerator, at London & Partners (the Mayor's promotional body on foreign investment) and at the University of Edinburgh. Before that, he was a journalist, reporting on oil and gas for international broadsheets and newswires, including Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal and the Globe and Mail.

John Shewell | Director of Global Communications & Public Affairs at wefox | → 3.2

John is Director of Global Communications and Public Affairs at wefox. In this role, he looks after reputation management, media relations, issues and crisis management, public affairs and communication across the entire business, including in-country business units.

Caspar Spinnen | Spokesperson and Pressoffice Lead of Fraktion Bündnis90/Die Grünen | ex-​Voi | → 9.3

Caspar heads the press office for the German parliamentary group Fraktion Bündnis 90/Die Grünen in the Berlin House of Representatives. Before, he worked for Voi Technology, a Swedish sharing and micro-​mobility operator, where he built the German PR team.

Anniina Sulku | Communications Lead at Aiven | → 5.4

Anniina's passion is to help businesses and people to be more influential communicators. She worked in communication consulting and venture capital before joining Aiven as a communications lead. At Aiven, Anniina focuses on creating brand awareness and thought leadership for the company, for example by scaling external comms and public relations globally in four different continents.

Dan Taylor | Writer, Photographer and Broadcaster | → 5.4

Dan is a renowned photographer responsible for capturing almost a decade's worth of tech-​related events, PR shots and portraits of some of the most memorable and important individuals in the sector. He is also the Managing Editor at Tech.eu.

John Thornhill | Innovation editor at Financial Times, Founder of Sifted | → 6.4

John is the FT's innovation editor and founder of Sifted. He has worked at the FT for more than 30 years in the UK, Russia, Asia and France and ended up as deputy editor from 2012–16. Later that year, John took on a new role as Innovation editor to deepen the FT's coverage of tech, write a weekly column, and do some innovation. In 2018 he launched Sifted, an FT-​backed but standalone media company, to cover Europe's fast-​growing startup universe.

Catherine Treyz | Head of Communications and Platform at Cherry Ventures | → 6.1

Catherine is Head of Communications and Platform at Cherry Ventures, one of Europe's most active dedicated seed funds known as the first backer behind companies like AUTO1, FlixBus, Flink, Infarm, SellerX, Forto, and many, many more. The DC-area native moved to Berlin for a professional journalism grant sponsored by the Fulbright Association after spending several years as an editor on international news desks at organizations like CNN, covering the White House and Capitol Hill. She now helps companies get their stories in front of the right audiences.

Alejandro Viquez | Communications Manager at Kahoot! | → 4.1

Alejandro started his career in public relations and corporate communications in 2010, shortly after finishing his bachelor's in media science and communication. His first job at JeffeyGroup allowed him to work as a senior communications consultant for consumer technology brands, including Nikon, Nokia, Xerox, Airbnb, Spotify, and Mozilla. Originally from Mexico City, Alejandro has been living in Oslo for seven years, where he now builds media relations with journalists, editors and a vast network of PR agencies across North America, Europe, Asia-​Pacific and Latin America for Kahoot!.

Chris Wehbe | Chief Executive Officer at Lendable | → 1.2

After starting his career at Lehman Brothers, Chris was a founding partner of Arrowgrass Capital Partners, where he served as Global Head of Relative Value overseeing some arbitrage strategies. More recently, Chris has focused on impact finance and is currently Chief Executive Officer of Lendable. He has completed the CFA programme and holds an MPhil Economics from the University of Oxford, and an M.Sc in Quantitative Finance and Risk Management from Bocconi University, Milan.

Hana Wilson | PR and Communications Manager for Germany at Tibber | → 7.4

Hana has a background in psychology and communications. First employed as a full-​time content creator at the age of 18, she then became the first person in the German marketing team of Tibber, an energy company leveraging tech innovation to reduce energy consumption. Today, she works remotely for Tibber from across Europe while following her private interest in local sports management.

David Zahn | Head of Communications at Gigs | ex-​Klarna | → 5.1

David Zahn is Head of Communications at Gigs. Previously, he worked as Global Product Communications Lead at Klarna, as a consultant for the consulting firm Deloitte Digital and as Head of Media Relations at Rocket Internet, where he was part of the IPO team.

1 On the Why and How of Startup Communication

Startups live – more than other companies – from their idea and vision. At least at the beginning, they do not yet have a viable business model, no customers, and sometimes not even a presentable product, and yet founders have to sell their idea to raise funds from investors. To do this, founders resort to an age-​old principle: they tell stories. Not fairy tales, but they take investors on a mental journey about how their company will develop and change the world.

Well-​thought-​out communication is, therefore, the be-​all and end-​all for founders, the salt in the soup, and one of their most important assets, especially in an early phase of the company's development. Some startups early recognise the intangible value a good external presentation brings. This is not just about media coverage. An article in a business or daily newspaper is not an end in itself – at least it shouldn't be. Instead, it is about building trust – with potential customers, partners, investors, and employees.

And yet, there are also many other startups. For example, those entrepreneurs who do the communication themselves, according to the motto, I can write a text, too. Some are so convinced of themselves that they are disappointed if they don't make the front page of Forbes and Fortune or Wall Street Journal, who don't think much of local newspapers and want to reach the top right away. Some doubters raise their eyebrows critically when public relations (PR) efforts do not immediately translate into euros and cents. The talk then quickly turns into a waste of money or mere vanity. And there are the quiet and modest ones who work diligently on their innovative business model and often wait in vain to be discovered by the media without their intervention.

But what is PR? And what is it not? What mistakes do companies make most often in their communication? Swaran Sandhu from the Stuttgart Media University and startup communicator Daniel Rottinger address these questions (chapter 1.1). That settles the what – what remains is the question of why. This question will keep us busy. The first answer is given by Chris Wehbe, Chief Executive Officer at Lendable. He explains why startups should invest in PR from his perspective (chapter 1.2). Boris Radke, startup communications evangelist, adds to this view in chapter 1.3. He believes that communication departments have not done a very good job creating a measurable business impact that supports their relevance inside the organisation. He argues that communicators must sit at the management table to get a holistic view of the organisation and build a strong and aligned narrative. Meike Ostermeier, Associate Director at FGS, looks at the strategic relevance of communications from an organisational point of view (chapter 1.4). Change is part of startups, just like salt in the soup. Startups are fast-​moving, constantly reinventing themselves and creating new processes and structures to keep pace with growth. The task of internal communication is to create coherence and make sense in an environment that has to continuously adapt to change. According to Meike, this is when communications becomes a strategic sparring partner for management – if they appear confident and recognise the value of communication in the growth phase.

1.1 Public Relations from a Scientific Perspective