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Help me land a TechCrunch feature

Your AI CEO runs the PR campaign while you keep building.

Growth & executionMarketingOne-shot campaign with 2-week active follow-up window.

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Free to startNo credit card requiredUpdated Apr 2026

You'd think this needs a $5K/month PR firm — Astra books the same coverage with a 6-touch sequence and one piece of exclusive data.

The short answer

Astra lands TechCrunch coverage by pitching the right reporter with the right angle at the right moment — not by spamming press@ with a press release. She pulls your last 90 days of growth data from Stripe and PostHog to find one share-worthy stat, scrapes TechCrunch's last 30 days of stories to identify 3-5 reporters covering your category, drafts a personalized pitch for each that opens with the data hook and references their recent work, then sends via your Gmail and queues 2 follow-ups spaced 4 days apart. She tracks opens via the Gmail API and re-pings any reporter who opened twice but didn't reply. The deliverable is a Lark thread with the pitch list, send confirmations, open rates, and any replies. Most founders book a call within 2-3 weeks. You stay focused on shipping; Astra runs the entire outbound sequence.

How Astra actually does it

1
Mine your data for a story angle
Pull Stripe MRR growth, PostHog activation lifts, and any milestone numbers from the last 90 days. Find one stat reporters can't get elsewhere.
StripePostHog
2
Identify the right reporters
Scrape TechCrunch bylines from the last 30 days in your category (AI, fintech, devtools). Rank by recency, fit, and engagement on similar stories.
WebSearchApollo
3
Draft personalized pitches
One pitch per reporter, ≤120 words, opens with the data hook, references their last relevant article, ends with one specific ask (15-min call or exclusive embargo).
4
Send and track via Gmail
Send from your address, BCC a tracking alias, log opens and replies. Queue follow-ups at day 4 and day 8 — only fire if no reply.
GmailComposio
5
Report and re-rank weekly
Lark digest: who opened, who replied, who needs a different angle. If a reporter opened twice without replying, Astra drafts a fresh angle and re-pitches.

What it looks like in chat

Help me land a TechCrunch feature about our launch.

Astra

Pulled your numbers: $47K MRR, +83% QoQ, 2,100 paying devs. The hook reporters will bite on: "developer tool hit $47K MRR in 4 months with zero paid acquisition." Shortlisted 5 TechCrunch reporters covering devtools/AI based on bylines from the last 30 days. Top 3: 1. **Reporter A** — covered 4 similar launches in March, average 90s response time. 2. **Reporter B** — wrote the OpenRouter funding piece, replies to ~30% of cold pitches. 3. **Reporter C** — covers indie hackers, lower DA but high signal. Drafted 5 pitches, each ≤110 words, referencing their last relevant article. Sending from your Gmail at 9:15am ET tomorrow (peak open window). Follow-ups queued for day 4 + day 8 if no reply. Reporting back Friday with opens + any responses. Approve to send?

What you get back

A Lark thread containing 5 personalized reporter pitches, send confirmations, daily open/reply tracking, and a re-pitch plan for any reporter who opened but didn't reply.

Cadence

One-shot campaign with 2-week active follow-up window.

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Frequently asked questions

What if I don't have a juicy growth stat?

Astra looks for other angles: customer story, technical breakthrough, market insight from your usage data, or a contrarian opinion you've voiced. If genuinely nothing newsworthy exists yet, she'll tell you and suggest 2-3 things to ship first that would create a hook.

Will Astra spam reporters?

No. Hard cap of 5 reporters per campaign, max 3 touches each (initial + 2 follow-ups), 4 days apart. Any reporter who replies "no" or "unsubscribe" gets permanently excluded from future Astra outreach across all campaigns.

Can I review pitches before they go out?

Yes — default behavior. Astra drafts everything in Lark and waits for your approval before sending. If you want full autonomy, say "send without review" and she'll fire after a 30-min cooldown so you can interrupt.

What if no one replies?

After 2 weeks with zero replies, Astra retros: was the angle weak, the timing off, the reporter list wrong? She proposes 3 different angles or expands to other publications (The Information, Axios, Business Insider). Most campaigns book at least one call by week 3.

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