On this page9
- What founder profiling actually is
- What's included in the founder profiling service
- Pricing: three ways to buy founder profiling
- How the 90-Day Founder Sprint runs
- What a sprint is anchored to
- Proof: what founder profiling looks like when it works
- Who founder profiling fits, and who it doesn't
- Objections founders raise
- How to start
Founder Profiling Service: Op-Eds, Podcasts and Speaking
A founder profiling service turns a founder into the named, quotable voice of their category through a planned mix of bylined op-eds, podcast appearances, profile interviews and speaking slots. Mine runs three ways: a Founder Voice retainer at $4K to $10K a month for 6 to 12 months, a 90-Day Founder Sprint at $18K to $35K, or Op-Ed of the Month at $2,500 a month for founders who only need the bylines. You work directly with me, not an account team.
That's the short version. The rest of this page is what you actually get, what it costs, how the 90 days run, and who should not buy it.
What founder profiling actually is
Company PR gets your product into the news. Founder profiling gets you into the conversation, so that when a reporter needs a source on your category, your name is the one they already have.
Those are different jobs. A funding round is a one-day story. A founder who has published three sharp op-eds, sat on six relevant podcasts and been profiled once in a tier-1 outlet becomes a standing asset. Reporters call back. Conference programmers reach out. Investors have something to forward. And AI assistants, which increasingly answer "who are the experts on X" questions, have a body of citable work to pull from.
I've spent six years placing Web3 and AI founders in Forbes, CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, Decrypt, The Block, Blockworks, Bitcoin Magazine and AI Magazine. The pattern I see on almost every engagement: the company story gets coverage, but the founder story is what compounds.
What's included in the founder profiling service
Every engagement is built from the same six components. The tier you pick decides how many of each you get and how fast.
| Component | What it means in practice | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Narrative and POV memo | Two voice interviews, then a written memo of the 3 to 5 opinions you'll own publicly | Stops you sounding like every other founder in your category |
| Bylined op-eds | Ghostwritten in your voice, pitched and placed in tier-1 or contributor outlets | The most citable asset you can own |
| Podcast tour | Targeted shows in your category, sequenced around a moment | Long-form trust with buyers and investors |
| Profile interviews | Pitching you as the subject of a feature or Q&A | Third-party validation nobody can buy |
| Speaking slots | Conference applications, panel pitches, talk abstracts | Puts you in rooms where reporters and buyers already are |
| Expert-source positioning | Getting you onto reporters' lists for reactive comment | Recurring mentions without a news hook of your own |
Media prep for each interview is included. I'd rather you walk into a podcast with three tight stories than burn a good slot rambling.
Pricing: three ways to buy founder profiling
| Option | Price | Length | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founder Voice retainer | $4K to $10K per month | 6 to 12 months | Founders building long-term category authority |
| 90-Day Founder Sprint | $18K to $35K total | 90 days | A moment: a raise, a launch, a conference season |
| AI startup founder profiling sprint | $12K to $25K total | 90 days | AI founders who need a focused first push |
| Op-Ed of the Month | $2,500 per month | 3-month minimum | Founders who want bylines only, one placement a month |
Where you land inside each range depends on volume (how many op-eds and podcasts), market count (one market or several, including APAC), and how much media prep you need.
For context, traditional AI-PR agencies typically charge $20K to $50K a month, and crypto CMOs often pay agencies $15K to $30K a month. A large share of that goes to account management layers. My model is narrower on purpose: one senior operator, a defined set of founder assets, no junior team in the middle.
How the 90-Day Founder Sprint runs
This is the format most founders start with, because it has a clear end date and a clear output.
| Weeks | What happens | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Two voice interviews, POV memo, target list of outlets, podcasts and events | About 3 hours of your time |
| 3 to 4 | First op-ed drafted and pitched; podcast outreach opens; speaking applications filed | Review one draft, approve the pitch list |
| 5 to 8 | Op-eds two and three; podcast recordings start; profile pitch goes to a shortlist of reporters | Record shows, one prep call before each |
| 9 to 10 | Tour peaks around your anchor moment; reactive comment opportunities | Be available for fast quotes |
| 11 to 12 | Repurposing: clips, LinkedIn and X posts, a coverage page for your site | Approve posts, plan the next quarter |
The founder time commitment is real but bounded. Expect 2 to 4 hours a week in the busiest stretch, less elsewhere.
What a sprint is anchored to
A sprint works best when it's timed to something. A raise, a mainnet, a major conference, a research release. Without an anchor, the work still lands, but it doesn't stack. With one, every op-ed and podcast points at the same moment and reinforces it.
Proof: what founder profiling looks like when it works
I only cite work I can point to. Three examples from my case studies.
Fluence Network. The goal was to make DePIN a beat tier-1 reporters actually covered, and to make Tom Trowbridge the voice of it. That meant placements across CoinDesk opinion, Cointelegraph's "Hashing It Out", and Bitcoin Magazine NL, plus coverage in Decrypt, Benzinga and e27. The founder became the reference point for the category, not just the spokesperson for one network. Full write-up at the Fluence case study.
MANTRA Chain. The $11M raise was reframed as a Middle East RWA story and won as a CoinDesk exclusive. The founder layer ran alongside it: a standalone Cointelegraph profile of CEO John Mullin titled "Everything Tokenized". The raise was the news. The profile is what gave the CEO a durable public identity. See MANTRA Chain.
Gaia. Positioned as "the Stripe for AI agents" through a Forbes feature and a Decrypt deep-dive, with a 6-podcast founder tour timed to Consensus Hong Kong. The podcasts carried the founder's voice into rooms the press coverage couldn't reach. See Gaia.
The common thread: each founder had a point of view sharp enough to disagree with. That's what gets you invited back.
Who founder profiling fits, and who it doesn't
It fits if:
- You're the CEO or a technical co-founder with real opinions about where your category is going
- You can give 2 to 4 hours a week for at least 90 days
- Your company has a moment in the next 3 to 6 months to build toward
- You're in Web3, AI or cybersecurity, where my outlet relationships are deepest
- You want to be quoted for your thinking, not just your funding
It doesn't fit if:
- You want vanity placements in pay-to-play listicles
- You won't do interviews and want everything written without your input
- Your only goal is a single funding announcement (a launch sprint is the better tool)
- You need a guarantee of a specific Forbes feature by a specific date
I'd rather tell you that in a first call than take a retainer that won't work.
Objections founders raise
"I don't have time to write." You won't. I write. You talk for two voice interviews at the start and review drafts. The voice in the piece comes from the interviews, which is why they matter.
"Op-eds don't drive pipeline." Directly, rarely. Indirectly, constantly. A strong byline is what your sales team forwards, what your investors share, and what AI search tools cite when someone asks who knows your space. I go deeper on that in thought leadership for AI founders.
"Why not just hire a ghostwriter?" A ghostwriter writes. Placement is the hard part. The value is writing and knowing which editor at which outlet wants which angle this month.
"Can you do just the op-eds?" Yes. That's Op-Ed of the Month: $2,500 a month, 3-month minimum, one tier-1 placement a month.
How to start
The first step is a 30-minute call where I ask about your opinions, your calendar for the next two quarters, and what you want people to say about you a year from now. From that I'll tell you which format fits, the realistic outlet list, and a price inside the ranges above. Details on scope are on the founder profiling service page.
A founder without a public point of view is a logo with a LinkedIn account.
Want to see what your founder story could look like in 90 days? Book a 30-minute teardown.