Alex D’Agostino

@mealpal lunch from less than $6 👉

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@Beylin @breadedgar

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@benjaminprinter SOVEREIGN

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@AlfieJCarter Gtm

[Jesse Pujji @jspujji]

My team closed over $20 million in revenue after watching me sell.

Want a recording of one of my sales meetings?

Comment "video" & RT and I'll DM it to you.

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@jspujji Video

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

And why has noone increased the bottle deposit amount??

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@breadedgar Yep

[edgar @breadedgar]

how to make sales stupid easy:

most of us don't have a sales problem, we have a trust problem. people don't buy unless the reviews vouch for it or the group chat gives a 👍. start cranking out case studies, logos, testimonials and sales will feel less like pulling teeth and more like enrollment 🫡

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@breadedgar 🙌

[edgar @breadedgar]

How storytelling changed my game

If you’d told me 5 years ago that I’d end up helping people tell their stories for a living, I would have laughed.

For most of my adult life, it was a mess of coding gigs, a sleepless stint trying to build an event ticketing platform for nightlife, and a million half-finished experiments in consumer apps. But here I am, the founder of a PR platform called Presscart, with a team of 20+ that has published over 1500 articles in 2024 for over 300 clients.

I realized that every coding gig, failed nightlife ticketing idea, and half-finished app was leading me to one core truth — that digital storytelling is the single most powerful skill in a world overflowing with signals. As it turns out, even when I couldn’t see this future for myself, I was always driven by the power of sharing ideas that matter.

Like any half-decent story, this one starts with a bit of chaos, a lot of curiosity, and a realization that people crave human connection more than polished corporate bullet points.

From international relations to tech…and nightclubs?

I started college as a clueless international relations student. Interned at Merrill Lynch, then State Farm. Learned a lot about how entire populations are influenced simply by the stories they’re told. But ultimately, I realized those worlds weren’t my calling. In my gut, I just wanted to create.

So, I taught myself how to code. Dropped out of school. Landed contract work building web and mobile apps. For a while, that scratched my itch to invent something from nothing. But I was young, brash, and convinced I could do literally anything — so I launched a company called Hype to “revolutionize” nightlife.

The idea was to help users and their friends easily discover and access the best events in their city. I went at it for 2 years but couldn’t gain any traction even though we consistently got positive feedback on our product.

A bigger question began to nag: “We spent so much time building this thing… why isn’t it taking off?” I later realized the answer was right in the question itself. I had spent a lot of time building and pretty much no time sharing.

Beats, tokens, and endless side projects

After the nightlife business, I became a sort of “dream enabler,” helping clients build their own software ideas — everything from iOS and web apps to random Web3 one-offs. I even collaborated on a music-tech project with incredible artists to create beat pads you could tokenize and sell.

On top of that, I tinkered with my own side projects, quietly hoping each one might blow up. There was a crypto tracker, an Instagram story creator, and even an iOS iMessage game called Memes Against Friends. I’d pour my heart into these ideas, create a narrative around them, pop them on the App Store, spin up a fancy website…and still, crickets.

And I wasn’t alone. My dev shop clients often faced the same struggle. The painful truth: just because you build it doesn’t mean they’ll come. And just because you have a story, it doesn’t mean they’ll come either. You need a story that people actually care about.

I finally started to see firsthand that the “telling” in storytelling was just as important as the “story” itself.

Realizing story trumped product

Around the same time, I teamed up again with a former colleague, David Jiang, who’d spent years forging connections with influencers and publications in Los Angeles. We were both obsessed with solving the attention dilemma that’d plagued our friends and our own businesses for years. How do we help businesses and individuals share their story so people actually notice?

That curiosity became Presscart — a PR platform designed to make storytelling as easy as “add to cart.” Founders, marketers, and even agencies can simply pick the story they want and choose where they want to tell it as well.

It was finally with Presscart that we realized the missing piece: People trust humans more than faceless organizations. They want a brand with an actual soul, not a batch of corporate blurbs. By honing in on the power of real stories (and telling them at scale), we’ve built a self-service platform that anyone can log into, answer a few questions, and collaborate on getting their unique story out in the open.

Brands and even nations both rely on story

It’s funny how my background in international relations circled back. I often talk about how countries can seem like companies — crafting stories to build reputations or villainize rivals. The U.S. is either a beacon of freedom or an endless meddler, depending on whose narrative you believe.

But here’s the catch — if a country’s curated narrative strays too far from reality, distrust follows. Consider how the Soviet Union once portrayed itself as a worker’s paradise. Over time, the gap between official propaganda and everyday hardships fueled cynicism and dissent, both at home and abroad. Authentic narratives, on the other hand, are more believable, and keep countries accountable. Realness prevents a story from cracking under scrutiny and breaking trust.

The same dynamic holds true for brands. You can push an image of unstoppable success, but if there’s no real substance, people won’t fully connect with it. We’ve all seen people with polished highlight reels but zero vulnerability. They get attention, but for the wrong reasons. Eventually, the gap between public image and reality erodes trust.

Whether you’re a country, a company, or an individual, getting real is the only narrative that stands the test of time. It may feel riskier in the short term — owning up to flaws or past mistakes — but in the long run, it’s that honesty that keeps your story credible and compelling.

Authenticity in a LOUD world

This brings us to a big question: “What does being authentic even mean in an era of spin?” If you share raw stories, you risk embarrassing yourself. If you don’t, you risk seeming fake. The sweet spot, I’ve found, is in honest, empathetic storytelling. Talk about that meltdown you had pre-launch or the cringe moment when no one downloaded your new app. These are the details that let people in.

Overly polished PR might hide your flaws, but it also hides your humanity. In a world drowning in social feeds, realness can stop someone’s scroll. As I often say: Don’t write just to get likes. Write what you truly want to put out there. It may take a while, but that honesty resonates.

Changing your mind is fine. Just explain why.

Our culture sometimes pounces on people for contradicting themselves over time, but we’re all allowed to grow. If you said something in 2022 and changed your mind in 2023, that isn’t hypocrisy; it’s progress — provided you explain why. Did you learn something new? Meet people who changed your perspective?

Your audience will likely forgive you if you show the journey. Instead of burying old views, say, “Hey, I used to think X, but here’s what shifted.” It might feel awkward to admit you were wrong, but ironically it builds more trust than pretending you never changed your stance.

Competition and conflict as good fuel

I’ve also noticed how competition can be healthy. If everyone peddles the same “safe” narratives, nothing changes. The market craves fresh voices — even contrarian ones — that challenge the status quo. Sure, you might upset a few folks, but you might also captivate an audience hungry for a different take. Being real is the new standard.

So if you’ve got a strong opinion, share it. Maybe you’re convinced a common industry practice is outdated — do tell. You never know who you’ll inspire or how many silent supporters you’ll awaken by tossing an unconventional perspective into the mix.

No more faceless “best light” PR

Old-school PR always felt rehearsed — polish the good stuff and bury the flops. Meanwhile, today’s paid media can be so transactional it’s practically soulless. We built Presscart to carve out a middle ground. It's a self-service PR platform that’s rooted in genuine human stories but also respects your time and budget.

Because once the Internet runs with a narrative — any narrative — it won’t cease to exist. What you can do is shape it. Own it authentically. Announce your pivots and call out the days when nobody shows up to your product launch (I’ve been there). People don't trust people who look perfect. People trust the folks who don’t hide their bad side.

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of value in celebrating your success. But if you never admit the moments you stumbled, you sound like yet another puff piece. The magic in storytelling is showing that real, in-progress stories draw an audience faster than a stiff press release ever could. It’s not about oversharing; it’s about staying true to the journey you’re actually on. Once people see you’re telling the whole story, they’ll want to be part of it.

Make your dent in the universe

Everything — nations, companies, personal brands — hinges on the stories we tell. Especially in the age of AI, we remain emotional beings who want belonging, empathy, and the feeling that another person “gets us.”

That’s why I’m convinced digital storytelling is the #1 skill for anyone trying to make a dent in the universe.

Not because it’s a trendy buzzword but because it’s how we cut through the noise and help people see the actual soul behind a project or brand. Keep it genuine, keep it evolving, and never forget that human stories will always be stories worth telling.

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@1owroller Do you have an ebook ?

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

Agent Peter Sadusky

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

The greatest movie character is the FBI agent from national treasure

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

#nyc #LIRR

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

Haven’t tweeted in years - but what the hell happened to penn station?? Have to walk 10 minutes away from the train to find the stupid sauce pizza place upstairs is closed at 9:30. All that’s open is this fucking acai bowl place with the $15 yogurts.

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

How is it no longer possible to get a slice at penn? What went wrong? Who is responsible?

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@Rickshane111 Insane. Didn’t nyc allow 3%? Why did this happen

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@minney_cat @RobertaBalzari1

[Alex D’Agostino @dagostal]

@RobertaBalzari1

[Roberta Balzarini @RobertaBalzari1]

Nyc real estate is killing me