PR readiness checklist: are you ready to hire?

You are ready to hire a PR agency when you can answer yes to eight of the ten checks below. They cover three gates: a news hook a reporter would cover, proof a reporter can verify, and the founder time to feed an agency. Scoring takes five minutes. Eight or more yeses: hire now. Five to seven: close one gap first. Under five: sharpen before you spend.

Most founders ask "are we big enough?" That is the wrong gate. Size matters less than whether you have something a reporter can check and the time to hand it over fast. Count only the boxes you can answer yes to today, not "soon."

Gate 1: news (is a story landing this quarter?)

A one-sentence value prop - you can say what you do, and why it matters, in a sentence a reporter would repeat.
A real hook this quarter - a launch, a raise, verifiable traction, a market expansion, or a notable hire. Reporters cover events, not companies.
A "so what" number - revenue, usage, growth, or an outcome that just moved. Dr. Squatch rode a Kickstarter all the way to a Super Bowl spot; the numbers carried the story at every stage.
You'd say it on the record - the hook is public, or you want it public.

Gate 2: proof (can a reporter verify you in 60 seconds?)

Named customers or hard data - "20% lift in 90 days" beats "game-changing." Specific claims survive a fact check.
A founder with a real stake - the actual reason you built this. Reporters print authentic motivation backed by fact, not positioning language.
A working site and a boilerplate - the basics that survive a reporter's first click: who you are, what you do, who runs it.

Gate 3: you (time and a goal)

A defined goal - you can name what coverage should do: support a raise, build buyer trust, recruit, or anchor category authority. "Get press" is not a goal.
Fast approvals - you, or one named decider, can turn a draft around in a day. When a reporter shows interest, client-side speed is what converts that interest into a placement.
Interview availability - someone credible takes the call when a reporter bites. The agency drafts and pitches; only you can confirm a fact or go on the record.

How to read your score

Score	What it means	The move
8-10	Ready to hire	Match scope to stage: Starter at $5,000/month for Seed and Series A, Full Service at $9,500/month for Series B.
5-7	One gap is holding you back	Close the missing box (usually the hook or the goal), then start. Don't wait for the next round.
Under 5	Not the spend yet	Take three weeks to sharpen positioning and line up one near-term story, then score again.

A low score is rarely "you're too early." It is almost always one fixable gap, usually no hook this quarter or a value prop that takes a paragraph to explain. The top reason journalists pass on outreach is lack of relevance, cited in about 86% of rejections, so a story a reporter cannot grasp in one read rarely gets covered. Most of these gaps close in weeks. Once you score eight or better, use the agency vetting scorecard in this section to pick the firm, and match the scope to your stage.