On this episode of The Press Playbook, Kendall Aldridge sat down with Max Thon, Account Manager at BAM, to break down how the team helped Fish Audio land an exclusive in TechCrunch around its $52 million seed round, followed by more than 50 additional pieces of coverage.
The big takeaway from this episode? A huge funding round and great technology can get attention, but the story behind the company can be what makes the pitch actually stand out.
Below are the key moments and takeaways from the episode, or listen where you please:
Episode Overview
Guest: Max Thon, Account Manager at BAM
Client Featured: Fish Audio
Key Placement: TechCrunch exclusive + 50 additional pieces of coverage
Episode Focus: Finding the founder story, building a differentiated pitch and amplifying a major launch
Key Moments & Takeaways
⏱️ 00:00–07:40 | Meet Max + Fish Audio
Max shares his background at BAM and breaks down Fish Audio, a voice AI company that started as an open-source project and grew into a platform serving creators, developers and enterprises.
⏱️ 07:40–13:40 | Finding the Story Behind the Funding
Fish Audio had a $52 million seed round, strong traction and impressive technology.
But the BAM team knew something was missing.
After digging deeper into the founders' backgrounds, Max uncovered how anime, VTubers and Vocaloids played a role in Fish Audio's beginnings.
That became the human story the pitch needed.
⏱️ 13:40–18:50 | Building the TechCrunch Pitch
Instead of simply repeating the press release, the team built the pitch around Fish Audio's founding story and paired it with the company's technical capabilities, commercial traction and funding.
They also targeted a TechCrunch reporter already covering voice AI, making the story especially relevant to his beat.
⏱️ 18:50–23:45 | How One Announcement Became 50+ Placements
The launch didn't rely on PR alone.
Fish Audio combined media outreach with social, influencer marketing and a launch video demonstrating its technology in action.
That larger amplification strategy helped create even more attention around the announcement.
⏱️ 23:45–26:30 | Max's Advice for Founders
Max's final piece of advice is simple: be patient.
You can't control exactly how a reporter tells your story. You can prepare, provide context and build the strongest narrative possible, but ultimately reporters decide what makes it onto the page.
The same patience applies to finding your story in the first place.
Sometimes you need to keep digging before you find the thing that makes people care.
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