Hi everyone, welcome to the A6 and Z podcast. I'm Sonal. We talk about everything from tech trends to

company building on this podcast, but one of the company building topics that's surprisingly mystifying

is PR, since so much of the strategy and tactics behind public relations are actually hidden from public

view. So today we cover the frequently asked question of how to manage a PR

agency, from when to bring one in and the mechanics of onboarding and engaging with them,

to key acronyms to know in the process of doing so, to what are the ideal configurations

for the who, what, and where of in-house versus agency PR. Joining us to have this conversation,

we have Margett Wenmockers, operating partner at

Andreessen Horwitz, who oversees A6 and Z's marketing function, which includes brand and

communications among many other things.

Before that, she co-founded and sold the Outcast Agency, which worked with some of the now

biggest internet companies, then startups, and continues to work with leading tech companies

today. And then we have Shannon Brayton, who is the chief marketing officer at LinkedIn.

She has worked in-house in corporate communications at several prominent internet companies,

including OpenTable, which later IPOed, and formally served as vice president of corporate

communications at eBay. Together, Shannon and Margaret provide perspectives from both sides of the table,

in-house versus agency, big company versus startup, for what it takes to manage PR.

By the way, you can find more background on other topics touched on in this episode,

including PR 101, Crisis Communications, and Building a Personal Brand.

In our podcast series,

you can look under public relations tag. But this conversation begins by quickly recapping the

why of PR. The first voice you'll hear after mine is Shannon's, followed by markets.

...