When the Silicon Valley Bank crisis erupted in early 2023, one founder stood out for how calmly—and publicly—he navigated the chaos. Jason Lemkin, founder of SaaStr, took to LinkedIn and Twitter in real time, breaking down what was happening, what founders should do, and, perhaps most importantly, what not to panic about. His posts were widely shared, picked up by business media, and cited by founders who said his commentary helped them make rational decisions during a moment of collective anxiety.
It was a masterclass in modern public relations. No press release. No corporate spin. Just a trusted voice showing up in the right places with clarity and credibility.
That’s a far cry from traditional PR, which for decades meant hiring an agency, pitching journalists, and hoping for a feature in a glossy magazine. Today, founders operate in a media environment that’s faster, noisier, and brutally fragmented. Social platforms blur into news outlets. Journalists compete with influencers. And algorithms decide who gets seen long before editors do.
So what actually separates founders who build lasting authority from those who get a brief moment of attention and fade into the feed? It’s not volume. It’s not virality. And it’s definitely not vanity metrics.
It’s the ability to build authority through credible media exposure, earn trust in an era of skepticism, and understand that PR—done right—isn’t a campaign. It’s a compounding asset.
The Authority Equation in a Noisy World
Authority used to be borrowed. You appeared in The Wall Street Journal, and suddenly, you mattered. Today, authority is built—and constantly re-earned—across dozens of platforms at once.
According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, 68% of respondents globally said they trust business leaders more when they are visible and active in credible media channels, compared to just 41% who trust leaders who communicate primarily through brand-owned platforms. In other words, third-party validation still matters. A lot.
Take Elon Musk, for all his controversies. Long before Tesla became a household name, Musk used long-form interviews, conference appearances, and opinion pieces to position himself not just as a CEO, but as a technologist with a worldview. The result? He wasn’t selling cars. He was selling a narrative about the future of energy and space.
But here’s the thing: authority today isn’t just about being visible—it’s about being useful. Founders who break through aren’t talking about themselves all the time. They’re interpreting trends, offering frameworks, and explaining complexity.
“Journalists and audiences alike are tired of promotional noise,” says Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman. “What cuts through now is expertise—people who can make sense of uncertainty and contribute meaningfully to public conversations.”
The challenge, of course, is that the media ecosystem itself is unstable. Algorithms change. Platforms rise and fall. Misinformation travels faster than corrections. A founder’s authority can be built in months and undermined in a single poorly worded post.
In this environment, PR becomes less about placement and more about positioning. It’s not “How do I get featured?” but “What do I consistently stand for, and where do credible audiences already gather?”
Authority today is less like a spotlight and more like a reputation score—updated in real time.
Trust as the Ultimate Currency
If authority gets attention, trust determines whether anyone stays.
And trust is in short supply. The Pew Research Center’s 2024 survey on public trust in media found that only 32% of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of trust in news organizations. Social media platforms fare even worse.
In this climate, founders don’t just inherit skepticism—they’re born into it.
I’ve covered enough startups to see the pattern repeat: charismatic founder, rapid growth, glowing press… followed by a crisis. A product failure. A funding scandal. A poorly handled layoff. The difference between founders who recover and those who disappear isn’t legal strategy. Its credibility.
Consider Brian Chesky at Airbnb. In 2020, when the pandemic wiped out global travel overnight, Airbnb had to lay off 25% of its workforce. Chesky didn’t hide behind a statement drafted by lawyers. He published a deeply personal letter explaining the decision, shared it publicly, and outlined how departing employees would be supported. That letter was widely praised by both employees and media outlets—and is still cited in leadership case studies.
Trust isn’t built through perfection. It’s built through transparency.
“In modern PR, authenticity isn’t a buzzword—it’s a risk strategy,” says Sarah Evans, a digital PR strategist and founder of Sevans Strategy. “Founders who communicate openly during difficult moments reduce long-term reputational damage because audiences feel they’re being treated like stakeholders, not targets.”
And audiences can tell when something feels engineered. Overly polished messaging. Excessive thought leadership with no real substance. Founders who outsource their entire voice to agencies often end up sounding like everyone else.
The paradox? The more controlled your PR feels, the less people trust it.
The Compounding Power of PR Investments
Most founders treat PR like marketing: something you turn on when you need attention and off when budgets tighten. That’s a mistake.
PR, when approached strategically, behaves more like a long-term investment portfolio. Each credible article, podcast appearance, or expert quote doesn’t just deliver immediate visibility—it creates digital assets that keep working.
According to a 2024 PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) industry report, companies that invested consistently in PR over three years saw an average 28% higher brand recall and 19% faster revenue growth compared to companies that relied primarily on paid media.
The classic example is Airbnb again. In its early days, the company struggled to gain traction. Instead of pouring money into ads, the founders focused on storytelling—pitching human-interest stories about hosts, travelers, and the “belong anywhere” philosophy. Those early features in tech and lifestyle media created a narrative halo that money couldn’t buy.
Years later, that narrative still pays dividends. Airbnb doesn’t just sell accommodations. It sells identity.
The compounding effect shows up in unexpected places: investor confidence, recruitment, partnerships, and even crisis resilience. Journalists are more likely to call founders they already know. Investors are more comfortable backing leaders they’ve seen articulate ideas publicly. Customers trust brands that feel familiar before they ever transact.
The real ROI of PR isn’t clicks. It’s optionality.
As one venture capitalist once told me, off the record: “Founders with strong media presence get more second chances. Not because they’re better operators—but because people already believe in them.”
That’s a powerful, and slightly uncomfortable, truth.
Navigating PR in the Founder Era
The modern founder doesn’t just run a company—they operate as a media brand. Whether they like it or not.
The tools are more sophisticated than ever. AI-driven media monitoring. Personalized pitch automation. Predictive sentiment analysis. A 2025–2026 Global Communications Report by Gartner predicts that over 60% of PR teams now use AI to tailor messaging to specific journalist profiles and audience segments.
But technology doesn’t solve the core problem: relevance.
Founders today face a delicate balance. Be visible, but not performative. Share insights, but don’t overshare. Build a personal brand without becoming the story at the expense of the company.
Overexposure is real. So is founder fatigue. Not every thought needs to be posted. Not every trend requires commentary. Strategic silence can be just as powerful as constant output.
The best founders I’ve observed treat PR like reputation management, not self-promotion. They pick a few core themes. They show up consistently. They invest in relationships with journalists and editors, not just transactional pitches.
And they understand something fundamental: PR is still human.
No algorithm can replace credibility. No automation tool can manufacture trust. At its core, public relations is about belief—who people listen to, who they trust, and who they remember when decisions matter.
That hasn’t changed. Only the stage has.
Conclusion
In a world where attention is abundant and trust is scarce, PR has quietly become one of the most valuable assets a founder can build. Not because it guarantees headlines—but because it shapes perception over time.
Authority attracts opportunity. Trust sustains it. And consistency compounds both.
Or, as communications scholar James Grunig once put it, “Public relations is not about controlling messages. It’s about building relationships that make messages believable.”
Founders who understand this don’t chase coverage. They cultivate credibility. And in an economy increasingly driven by reputation, that might be the most defensible advantage of all.
For more insights on modern link-building and digital PR strategies, see the related analysis on Visible Links Pro’s blog: https://visiblelinkspro.com/our-blog/
