‘Adapt or die’: Meet the PR pros building the next generation of startups

Publicists and entrepreneurs are kindred spirits.

There are only a handful of occupations in which networking is considered an art form, pitching complete strangers is a regular occurrence, and it’s acceptable to make last-minute alterations to a slide deck while friends roll their eyes at the dinner table.

Amanda MacNaughton, co-founder of social marketing platform Promojam, sees many overlaps between the agency life and the startup life.

“I would not have been able to start a company had I not worked in the PR industry,” said the Los Angeles native. “I learned in PR—an industry that was, and still is, rapidly changing—that if you don’t adapt, you die.”

Click for full article published by PRDaily 

Five of the Best: Silicon Valley Startups with a Conscience

Silicon Valley emerges from recession and it seems many are determined to uncover the next Twitter or Facebook. No group of individuals is fuelling the firestorm more than the bright young graduate students at Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley.

A lucky few have found success within the first months of launch and have received support from summer incubators and venture capital firms. Today’s entrepreneurs are younger and more idealistic than ever. Competition is strong; it has not been easy to select only five fresh young companies.

The criteria? These visionary founders are under-30s and their socially conscious ventures have attracted increasing attention in their first months of operation.

…click here to find out which startups made the list.