How to Actually Land Tier-1, Business Press in 2025

The Wall Street Journal might be every company’s dream feature, but most pitches never make it past a reporter's inbox.

Securing business press has always been competitive. Even with an amazing story, it’s just a different ball game in 2025. Newsrooms are half the size they used to be. Reporters are stretched thin covering more beats with fewer resources. And the big tech companies are still hogging the headlines.

Getting in front of mainstream media is harder than ever — but not impossible.

What Used to Work, But Doesn’t Anymore

There was a time when the “basics” could get you there. This could be a flashy investor, an impressive founder pedigree, a genuinely new category of technology, or even a notable customer win.

That era is over.

These days, tier-1 business press reporters aren’t wowed by the fact that your lead investor is Andreessen Horowitz. . They don’t care what company your founder came from unless it has everything to do with the story. And hiring a well-known exec won’t land you in print unless there’s a bigger shift happening in the industry.

Even something like raising money — which used to be a surefire way to garner that tier-1 article — only matters if the round is either beyond $100M+ or it signals a broader shift in the market that you can prove. Is it shifting the way people work or live? Is it tied to meaningful customer impact? Are there proof points of undeniable momentum? If not, it’s likely not business press-worthy.

Relationships help, sure. They’ll get your email opened. But PR people are no longer able to land a story on a slow day just using our relationships. The story is the most important part in this climate — and that means only bringing a reporter something when it’s actually worth their time.

So, what does work now?

What Works in 2025

You can think about this in three categories: news, customer proof, and proactive storytelling. If you want business press, you need to lead with one — or sometimes two — of these.

1. News That Changes the World

If you’re going out with a funding announcement, make it count. The number is just the headline — the real story is what the money means. Is this round driven by a larger trend in the market? Did the round come together unusually fast or was it oversubscribed? Are you solving a problem that’s suddenly top-of-mind in the industry?

The more you can connect your news to something bigger — how people work, how industries are shifting, what existing processes are being disrupted — the more likely it is to resonate.

2. Customer Impact That’s Provable

“We signed a major brand” doesn’t cut it anymore. Business reporters want to know what changed as a result of your technology.

Did your tech fundamentally alter how that customer operates? Are they seeing results within weeks vs. years? Think headcount reduction, dramatic cost savings, or a measurable shift in strategy tied directly to your product.

That’s what makes reporters take notice.

Without that kind of impact, the story is likely better suited for industry trades — or simply waiting until you have the right proof points.

3. Proactive Stories with Personality and Perspective

If you don’t have news or customer proof, you need to get very creative.

We’ve placed stories where the CEO was structuring the org in a way that completely changed how teams communicated, and revenue improved significantly as a result. Or where a leader had a unique take on a new wave of jobs thanks to a technology trend.These kinds of profiles focus more on leadership styles, operational philosophies, and real business results.

Another option is looking at owned data. Do you have a product that collects really unique data? Could it offer any sort of insight into any societal trends? The biggest thing here is taking a step back and looking at the “so what” behind the data point. What does it really mean for the world?

And if you’re still not landing features, contributed content is a strong path in. This requires a founder with a real opinion that’s tied to broader market movement, or based on what they’re hearing in the room with customers. But the voice has to be sharp. It has to go beyond your own company. Editors are looking for perspective, not promotion, and they have a very high bar.

What It Really Takes

Getting business press in 2025 is less about splash and more about substance.

If your story reflects a real shift — in how people work, how companies operate, or how markets move — and you can back it up with results, there’s still opportunity. But the days of getting by on polish alone are long gone. Reporters want impact and proof. And they want to understand, quickly, why this matters right now.