On this episode of The Press Playbook, Kendall Aldridge sat down with Erica Guevara, Senior Account Executive at BAM, to break down how she helped Haast land an exclusive in Axios.
This one is a really good look at how to approach a funding announcement the right way, especially for a newer company going through PR for the first time.
Interested in joining us for an upcoming dinner? See our event lineup here!
Below are the key moments and takeaways from the episode, or listen where you please:
Guest: Erica Guevara, Senior Account Executive at BAM
Client Featured: Haast
Key Placement: Axios
Episode Focus: Structuring a funding announcement + what makes an exclusive land
Erica walks through her role at BAM and introduces Haast.
They’re building an enterprise compliance platform that helps automate workflows and free up internal teams’ time.
Haast was preparing to announce a $12M Series A, and since this was one of their first major PR moments, the focus was on getting it right.
The goal from the start was to land a top-tier exclusive.
The team targeted Axios, specifically a reporter who covers startups, venture, and enterprise tech.
This wasn’t random. It was based on:
The pitch followed a very clear structure:
Everything was built to be easy to scan and quick to understand.
The biggest differentiator here was the data.
Haast had:
That’s the kind of stat that immediately grabs attention.
Erica’s biggest takeaway is simple: data is everything.
If you have strong, proprietary numbers, that’s what’s going to make your story stand out and actually land.
This episode is a great reminder that landing an exclusive isn’t just about the news.
It’s about how clearly you present it and whether you have the data to back it up.