Agency vs. freelancer vs. fractional vs. in-house hire
For most companies from seed through Series B, an agency wins on arithmetic: a focused agency runs ~7,000+ targeted pitches a year to 2,500+ reporters, and no freelancer, fractional lead, or first in-house hire sustains that volume alone. Before seed, skip all four and do it yourself; founder-led outreach is free and the most authentic voice you will ever have. From Series B up, when news is constant, hire an in-house lead and layer agency or fractional execution underneath.
The four models, with the trade-offs stated plainly:
| Model | Best stage | What you get | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | Seed, one scoped launch | One experienced operator, lowest paid price | One rolodex, no bench; work stops when they take vacation or a bigger client |
| Fractional lead | Seed / Series A | Senior strategy a few days a week | Still one person and one network, part of the time |
| Agency | Seed through Series B | A senior team plus an active reporter network | At big shops, juniors do the work after the partner sells you |
| In-house hire | Series B+ | Full-time depth on your brand and exec comms | $150,000+ loaded, plus months of ramp while they rebuild a network |
Two facts decide it. Reach is structural: relationships with 2,500+ reporters live in a team and its software, not in any one person's inbox. Cost is hidden: the in-house number on the offer letter omits payroll tax, media databases, and the ramp period. Recent salary data puts a senior communications lead's base pay around $130,000 to $180,000, before payroll tax, benefits, and tools push the loaded cost higher. A year of a $5,000/month starter retainer costs less than one loaded senior comms salary and buys a whole team. The page on what PR costs covers full budget ranges by stage, and current tiers are at pricing.
The failure mode of every solo model is interruption. The founder gets pulled into a fundraise, the freelancer books a larger client, and outreach goes dark for three weeks while the pipeline cools. Coverage compounds only under sustained outreach, and that consistency is what has produced 452 placements to date.
Whichever model you pick, demand four things from whoever runs it:
- Senior outreach - the people named in the sales meeting do the pitching.
- Visibility - you can see every pitch and its status in real time.
- Placement counting - results measured in published stories, not impressions.
- An existing network - reporters already covering your beat, before day one.