Rachel Colson

Communications at @BainCapVC. Previously @coda_hq and @thisisoutcast. Queso-less Texan in SF. 🤘

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@CristinCulver We either love it or we hate it! No in between

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@SebasAHerrera @FortuneMagazine Congrats! 🤘

[Isabel Steckel @IsabelSteckel]

every marriage has a personality hire and then someone who knows how insurance works

[Alex Konrad @alexrkonrad]

The first AI chatbot was actually just Kramer with a phone and a newspaper

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@CristinCulver I love this holistic approach that is informed by the top. Only way to be successful IMO.

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@CristinCulver Stay strong

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@okta Thanks for having my back

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

I’m just a girl, standing in front of Okta, asking again and again to be verified.

[Bain Capital Ventures @BainCapVC]

Partner @merritthummer spoke with @nmasc_ on @theinformation's TITV at #WTFSummit and covered what great investments look like today + how that differs from yesterday. Highlights:

📈 AI market pull has raised the bar for growth, making old playbooks obsolete. Two years ago: growing 2M-6M ARR was good. Today: top decile is $0M-$10M ARR and on track for $40M-$50M.

💕 Look beyond NRR. Average co today is growing faster with lower gross margins and lower-quality revenue than a few years ago. Need two layers: 1) Cos that have exec sponsorship and can win large contracts and 2) End users who love the product. Second piece is missing from some of the fast-growing cos today.

🧩 996 culture is here, but fundamental truths apply. The best recruiting strategy is to get the best people in the door and adapt to what they need vs mandating specifics.

🧱 Critical to build something that won’t get eaten by big tech or labs. Avoid likely paths (e.g. coding automation). Instead, ask: What are the vertical applications that are sizable and could produce big outcomes but narrow enough that big tech/labs won’t pursue it independently (ex: MaintainX has clear moat in manufacturing software)

🚦 Signals to ensure a major player likely won’t copy the startup: Distribution advantage? Access to proprietary data? Specific founder expertise to build a uniquely insightful product that a generalist couldn’t?

https://t.co/W4W6vX6ILm

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@jenny_chao Stoked I get to work with you! Cheers 🥂

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@allisonbraley I gotta take the layup every time

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

For the outsiders, repetition doesn't spoil the prayer!

[Allison Braley 🦊 @allisonbraley]

Your brand has many audiences, but they also roll up into two key groups: Insiders + Outsiders.

Insiders are believers. They're customers, employees, investors. They're your "base," to borrow a politician's lens. They know you and follow you closely. They want to see you constantly pushing out new material, be that product launches, content, or something else.

Outsiders are *barely* paying attention to you. They need to hear you say the same thing over and over and over until you are almost hoarse. Then they need you to say it again, a different way. Only then can they decide if they want to join.

Too many startup brands are using outsider material on insiders and insider material on outsiders.

What do I mean?

When you're talking to a new audience, you need a simple message and the willingness to repeat it. This is why "drain the swamp" and "yes we can" worked so well (regardless of your politics). This is why for YEARS Facebook's execs said "making the world a more open and connected place."

You also need to retain your base and keep them engaged in your movement. The pace of your new product and feature launches keeps those existing customers from churning, and keeps your team from leaving. They want to feel progress, momentum. They want to know about your new ideas since they've already bought into the existing premise.

But outsiders don't care about this yet. They don't know, or aren't bought in on the original premise. If all of your marketing is launch, launch, launch and no "why should I care?" it isn't effective. And the same is true in the reverse.

Email marketing? Insiders.
SEO / GEO? Outsiders.
Social media? Mostly outsiders, but gotta do both.
Niche podcast? Maybe mostly insiders, but gotta do both.
Mainstream media? Outsiders.

The broader the channel, the more outsiders you have to cater to.

So don't skimp on the core messaging. Say it loud and proud and repeatedly. Just like your mom said growing up when you were embarrassed: "no one is paying as much attention to you as you think they are."

[Rak Garg @rak_garg]

You're in his DMs
He's in my decagon

We are not the same

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@Matt_Schulman1 Bless them!

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

I hope these social teams are beaming right now! 😁

[Rachel Karten @milkkarten]

These are the best brands on social, according to Link in Bio readers. I created a document with over 340 responses to the question “What is one brand account you think exemplifies great social?”, organized by amount of mentions and industry.

[resham ☻ @Reshusaur]

heard someone yell ‘kubernetes’ at the beach.
thought i was having a stroke but it was just their dog’s name. only in sf.

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@agarfinks @WillHurd Let’s goooooo! Congrats, Allie!

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@CristinCulver Agreed! I’m here to help and guide but never block a relationship.

[Carly Martinetti @PRcarly]

BREAKING: @muckrack analyzed the citations for a MILLION realistic user prompts into LLMs and if you’re a PR pro, you NEED to know the results and implications:

BACKGROUND:
Per @PatrickCoffee's WSJ article from yesterday, although only around 5.6% of U.S. [desktop] search traffic went to LLMs last month, that’s more than QUADRUPLE what it was in Jan 2024.

And this trend will only accelerate.

BACK TO MUCK RACK’S FINDINGS:
• 37% of results cited content NOT owned by the company/product in the search
• 27% cited news sites/journalistic publications
• 2% cited social media/marketing content and only 1% citing press releases

And get this:
A key difference between AI-generated search results and traditional SEO is that paid marketing and sponsored links rarely populate (per @emayhawk reporting at @axios)
Let me repeat that: AI is completely ignoring all that sponsored content masquerading as real journalism.

WHAT THIS MEANS:
Brands have spent the last decade buying their way into "earned-looking" content. Native advertising. Sponsored posts. Advertorials pretending to be editorial.
And then AI came along and said: "Yeah, we're not citing any of that."

Meanwhile, outlets that have never “sold out their editorial souls” such as Reuters, AP., FT, etc., are the ones AI trusts.

One more wild stat, per the report: 96% of what AI cites falls squarely in PR territory. Not marketing. Not advertising.

PR.

THE NEW REALITY:
The brands winning in AI search will be the ones who earn their citations through genuine third-party validation… NOT those who buy them through increasingly “sophisticated” paid placements.

We're not just seeing a new type of SEO; we're seeing the revenge of EARNED PR and REAL journalism.

And if you ask me, it's about damn time.

[Rachel Colson @Rachel_Colson]

@CristinCulver 💯