The StartWell Podcast20 Nov 2025

PR vs Marketing: How Founders Really Build Trust in 2026 – with Katie Zeppieri

In this episode, Qasim sits down with Katie Zeppieri, founder and CEO of The Mic Drop Agency, a PR and marketing firm working with venture-backed tech startups, reality TV talent and authors across North America. From her new base in Austin, Katie helps founders and executive teams tell their stories, earn trust, and grow faster. The conversation starts by untangling a common misconception: PR is not a guaranteed lead machine. Katie positions PR clearly in the brand awareness and reputation bucket. One launch or one media hit won’t move the needle on its own. Instead, PR is about showing up consistently in the right places so your market becomes familiar with you—and that familiarity compounds into trust. AI has changed the game too. Drafting a press release or basic content can now be done with tools like ChatGPT, but that only gets you part of the way. The real value of an agency lies in strategy and execution: crafting the right angle, timing the announcement, pre-pitching journalists, and tying earned coverage into broader marketing and paid efforts. Katie also talks about the rise of founders as media channels. People often discover a company through its leaders first, so she walks through how to choose your thought-leadership pillars and pick formats that suit you—whether that’s video, newsletters, op-eds, or podcasts. Through a case study with insurtech entrepreneur James Benham, Katie shows how long-term PR, speaking, and owned content can help a founder successfully enter a new vertical and become a recognized authority. The episode closes on a powerful theme: treat content as a sales and relationship engine, not just a broadcast. Repurpose every shoot, test formats using data, and think like an investor about where your time and marketing dollars go.

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