Most founders do their first dozen media interviews with no communications person in the room. The interviews are usually low-stakes: a funding announcement, a product launch, a trend piece where you are one of four quotes. Then one is not low-stakes. A competitor makes an accusation, a customer goes public, you have to talk about a layoff, and the habits from the easy interviews are exactly wrong for the hard one. This is a routine for building the right habits before you need them.
The founder-specific risk: you are too candid
Founders spend their days speaking bluntly, to their team, their board, their investors. Directness is a virtue in those rooms. In an interview it is a liability, because a reporter is not your board. An offhand “honestly, that whole segment is going to consolidate and most of these companies won’t make it” is a normal thing to say to a colleague and a headline waiting to happen when said to a journalist.
The fix is not to become guarded or corporate. It is to know, before each interview, which few topics require care and to slow down on those specifically.
Decide your line on five topics, once
These come up repeatedly, and improvising an answer to any of them is where founders get burned. Write down your position on each and reuse it:
- Revenue and growth. What number will you share (ARR, growth rate, users, nothing)? What is the exact phrasing? “We don’t share revenue, but I can tell you we’ve grown [X] since [date]” is a decision, not something to work out live.
- Fundraising. Are you raising, not raising, or not discussing it? Pick one sentence and use it every time until the situation changes.
- Headcount and layoffs. If you have ever cut staff, a reporter may know. Have a straight, brief account ready: what happened, how people were treated, where the company is now.
- Competitors. Decide that you describe what you do, not what they do wrong. “I’d point you to them for their story” is a complete answer.
- Public complaints. If a former customer or employee has posted something, know it and have a calm, non-defensive line ready. Pretending you have not seen it reads as either dishonest or out of touch.
The 30-minute prep, done alone
You do not need a trainer for a routine interview. You need 30 focused minutes:
- Read the reporter’s last five stories. Note their angle and whether they have covered you or a competitor.
- Write your three messages, one sentence each, each with a proof point.
- List the three questions you hope they don’t ask and write the answers.
- Say those three answers out loud once. Fix whatever sounds evasive or shaky.
For a contentious interview, add a rehearsal with someone playing the reporter, and loop in your lawyer or lead investor if the questions touch litigation, financials that aren’t public, or personnel.
Two habits to build early
Assume everything is on the record. The chat before the recording starts, the walk to the elevator, the “this is just between us” aside: treat all of it as quotable, because with a reporter you don’t know well, it is.
Debrief after every interview, even the good ones. Two minutes: what were you actually asked, which answers landed, what would you change. The founders who improve fastest are the ones who write this down. The ones who repeat the same stumble are the ones who said “that went fine” and moved on.
Frequently asked questions
Do founders really need media training before they have a comms team?
The interviews that carry the most risk (fundraising, layoffs, a competitor's accusation, a product failure) tend to happen before there is a comms hire. A founder who has thought through the few high-stakes topics in advance handles them far better than one improvising.
What topics should a founder decide their answer on before any interview?
Revenue and growth numbers (what you will and will not share), fundraising status, headcount and any past layoffs, your relationship with your biggest competitor, and anything a past customer or employee has publicly complained about.
How do founders get into trouble with reporters?
Usually by being too candid. Founders are used to speaking bluntly to their team and investors and carry that habit into interviews, where an offhand line about the market, a competitor, or a customer becomes the story.
Should a founder ever go off the record with a reporter?
Rarely, and only with a reporter they have an established relationship with, and only after stating the ground rules in plain words and hearing the reporter agree. A new founder is better off treating everything as on the record.
What is the fastest way for a founder to prepare for an interview?
Read the reporter's last five stories, write down your three messages with a proof point each, and say your answers to the three questions you would rather not get out loud once. Thirty minutes, done alone, covers most of the risk.
No comms team yet? Press Prep is built for exactly this: forward the reporter’s email and get back a brief, your likely questions, and talking points from your own materials, then rehearse against an AI interviewer before the call. See preparing for a podcast interview or the full preparation checklist.