Masterclass: PR That Compounds
PR That Compounds
How scaling tech companies build brand that earns attention - and keeps it
ABOUT THIS CLASS
Most earlier-stage tech companies treat PR as a moment - a launch, a funding announcement, a media hit. The ones that build lasting brand authority treat it as a system. The difference compounds over time, and it shows up in share of voice, in recruitment, in investor confidence, and eventually in revenue.
Kate Dinon has spent her career at the intersection of PR strategy and brand building for fast-growing tech companies - co-founding Character + Distinction, leading brand and communications at Culture Amp as VP of Brand + Comms, and advising early-stage founders through Protagonist Capital. In this two-hour session she brings a practitioner's rigour to the question most founders get wrong: not how to get press, but how to build something the press wants to cover.
Brand isn't built in straight lines - it's built in feedback loops. What people believe shapes how they behave. And how they behave shapes what others believe.
The session draws on her Slow Brands framework - a deliberate, strategic approach to building distinctiveness over time - applied specifically to the pressures and pace of a scaling technology company.
WHAT THE SESSION COVERS
FIRST HOUR
Strategy and narrative
How to build a PR strategy that compounds - narrative development, positioning for media, and the decisions that shape brand distinctiveness at scale.
SECOND HOUR
Execution and tactics
Media relations in practice, what journalists actually want, how to build and manage a press relationship, and when to hire versus when to DIY.
TAKEAWAYS
Develop a clear narrative for your company - one that works in a pitch, a press release, and a 30-second conversation - and understand how to sharpen it as you scale without losing what makes you distinct.
Understand how PR strategy differs at each stage of growth - what works at seed, what changes at Series A, and how to avoid the trap of chasing coverage that doesn't convert to anything that matters.
Learn what journalists and editors at Australian and US tech publications actually want - and how to pitch stories that get picked up rather than ignored, using the same approach Kate used to grow Culture Amp's US brand awareness by over 20%.
Build a practical media relations foundation - your media list, your spokesperson prep, your story calendar - so PR becomes a repeatable motion rather than a scramble every time something newsworthy happens.
Apply the Slow Brands principle to your own company - identify the deliberate moves that build long-term brand authority, and stop trading character for short-term conversion.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Founders
Seed to Series A, thinking about PR for the first time or trying to make it work harder - without hiring an agency yet.
Marketing and Comms Leads
Running brand and PR at a scaling tech company and wanting a sharper strategic framework to work from.
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Kate Dinon
Partner, Character + Distinction - founding partner, Protagonist Capital
Kate co-founded Character + Distinction in 2017 and has since worked with some of Australia's most recognised tech brands including Culture Amp, Rokt, MYOB, and Heaps Normal.
As VP of Brand + Comms at Culture Amp, she led the team that made Culture Amp the category leader in employee experience, growing US brand awareness by over 20% and achieving the highest share of voice across all markets. She is also a founding partner at Protagonist Capital, advising early-stage founders on narrative, go-to-market, and building with distinction from day one.