Fractional PR FAQ: 30 Questions Founders Ask Before Hiring

Fractional PR means hiring a senior PR operator part-time on a retainer or sprint instead of an agency account team or a full-time hire. With me, it costs $5K to $12K a month on a 3 to 12 month retainer, or $15K to $40K for a 4 to 8 week launch sprint, for Web3, AI and cybersecurity companies. Below are the 30 questions founders ask me most before signing, with short direct answers. The main FAQ covers general site questions.

Pricing

How much does fractional PR cost?

For Web3, AI startup and cybersecurity PR, a fractional retainer is $5K to $12K a month for 3 to 12 months. A launch sprint is $15K to $40K total over 4 to 8 weeks. Where you land depends on scope, number of markets and how many news moments we're running.

What are the other packages?

How does that compare to an agency?

Traditional AI-PR agencies typically charge $20K to $50K a month. Crypto CMOs often pay agencies $15K to $30K a month. The median Series B cybersecurity agency retainer sits near $23,500.

What's not included in the fee?

Third-party costs such as paid distribution, KOL creator fees, translation beyond standard press copy, event sponsorships, travel and whitepaper design are billed separately and only with your approval. You'll see each one before it's spent, never as a surprise line on an invoice.

Do you charge per placement?

No. Pay-per-placement models reward volume over quality and push agencies toward low-value outlets. I explain the trade-offs in retainer vs project vs pay-per-placement.

Contracts and commitment

What's the minimum commitment?

Three months for a retainer. Sprints are fixed-scope and fixed-length, so the commitment is the sprint itself.

Why three months?

Earned coverage takes time. The first month is narrative, assets and relationship groundwork. Months two and three are where pitches turn into placements. A one-month PR engagement mostly pays for setup that someone else then benefits from.

What's the notice period?

Notice terms are agreed and written into the contract before we start, so there are no surprises. Thirty days after the initial term is the norm for fractional retainers, and it gives enough room for a clean handover of anything in flight.

Who owns the work?

You do. Media lists, press kits, messaging documents, drafts and coverage archives belong to you and get handed over in full if we stop working together.

Results and guarantees

Do you guarantee tier-1 coverage?

No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Editors decide what runs. I'll give you an honest view of what's realistic for your story before you sign.

What kind of coverage have you landed?

Over six years I've placed Web3 and AI founders in Forbes, CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, Decrypt, The Block, Blockworks, Bitcoin Magazine and AI Magazine, across 50+ protocols. Case studies are on the work page.

Can you share specific examples?

RARI Chain's mainnet launch landed 11 simultaneous tier-1 placements including CoinDesk, The Block, The Defiant, Cointelegraph and CryptoNews. MANTRA Chain's $11M raise ran as a CoinDesk exclusive on March 19, 2024. Gaia was positioned as "the Stripe for AI agents" through a Forbes feature and a Decrypt deep-dive.

What happens if a story doesn't land?

We change the angle, the target or the timing, and the report tells you exactly why it was declined. A declined pitch with a clear reason is useful information. Often it points to a gap in the story itself, like a missing data point or a customer we can't name yet, and fixing that gap helps every pitch after it.

How do you measure success?

Quality of placements against your target list, share of voice in your category, founder visibility, how AI assistants describe your company, and downstream signals like inbound and investor conversations. Not raw mention counts.

Timelines

How fast can you start?

It depends on current client load, and I'll tell you the honest start date on the first call. I run a small number of clients at a time on purpose, so occasionally the answer is a short wait rather than a rushed start.

How long until the first coverage?

On a retainer, the first month goes into narrative, assets and groundwork, so placements usually start arriving in the second or third month. On a launch sprint, coverage is timed to the launch date and the embargo plan works backward from it.

How far ahead should we plan a launch?

Six to eight weeks for a funding or product launch. For a token launch, start the pre-TGE work three to six months out.

Can you help with something happening next week?

Sometimes. A crisis or a fast-moving announcement can be scoped quickly, but reporters need lead time, so expectations get set honestly on day one.

Reporting and working together

Who actually does the work?

I do. You're hiring a senior operator, not an account team. I write the narrative, brief the founder and pitch reporters directly. That's the main structural difference from an agency, where the senior person who pitched you often hands the day-to-day to someone junior after kickoff.

How do you report?

A weekly status update and a monthly report covering placements, active pitches, declines with reasons, and what's coming next.

How much founder time does it take?

Plan on 2 to 4 hours a month for interviews, prep and reviews, more during launch weeks.

What do you need from us?

One decision-maker who can approve messaging within 48 hours, access to the founder, and advance notice of news moments.

Exclusivity and conflicts

Do you work with our competitors?

I don't take on direct competitors in the same category at the same time. If there's any potential overlap, I raise it before we sign.

Do you need to be our only PR provider?

No. Some clients keep a regional agency or an in-house comms person. I'll coordinate, but one person should own the narrative.

Can you work alongside our marketing agency?

Yes. PR, content and growth teams should share a calendar. I'm used to slotting into existing setups.

What about your role at Myosin?

I lead APAC PR and partnerships at Myosin, a growth-marketing DAO. Any overlap between a fractional client and that work is disclosed upfront.

Regions and specialties

Which regions do you cover?

Global English-language tech and crypto press, plus APAC across Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, India and the UAE. Regional work is scoped one market at a time; the Dubai and MENA page shows how a single-market program is built. Korea and Japan have their own press and KOL dynamics, so they're planned separately rather than bundled into a generic APAC push.

Which industries?

Web3 and crypto, AI startups and cybersecurity. Within those, launches, funding rounds, token launches, founder profiling and KOL programs.

Do you run KOL campaigns?

Yes, for Web3. I work with 200+ vetted creators across X, YouTube, Telegram, Farcaster and Lens, sequenced in three waves, with an independent fraud audit, FTC and SEC-aware briefs and on-chain attribution.

Do you write content as well?

Yes. Founder essays, monthly op-eds and whitepapers are available as standalone packages or alongside a retainer. Every service is listed on the services page.

Before you sign: a quick checklist

• We have at least one news moment in the next six months
• We know which outlets our buyers and investors actually read
• Our founder can commit 2 to 4 hours a month
• We accept that earned coverage isn't guaranteed
• Our budget fits a 3-month retainer or a fixed sprint
• We have one person who can approve messaging fast

If you tick all six, the next step is a conversation about your specific story. If you don't, my post on who fractional PR is not for will tell you what to fix first.

Have a question that isn't on this list? Book a 30-minute call and ask it directly.