As a serial entrepreneur who started and sold three startups, David Niu knows what it’s like to be a CEO seeking media coverage. And he thinks there’s a better way for companies to land PR that can help drive overall success.
Niu is the CEO and founder of Delight Labs, a new startup that aims to apply lessons from Niu’s experience.
At his first two Seattle startups — NetConversions (sold to aQuantive) and BuddyTV (sold to Vizio) — Niu hired traditional PR firms. It mostly never paid off and Niu had no idea what was or wasn’t working.
“Despite hiring and firing numerous PR agencies, both large and boutique, I never quite cracked the code,” Niu said. “That was until TINYpulse.”
Founded by Niu in 2012, TINYpulse specialized in software that helped companies conduct quick employee surveys and gather feedback.
Niu took PR in-house and treated it more like a high-performing sales team that needed to drive revenue and growth. The company analyzed data and various metrics to boost its chance for media coverage.
TINYpulse also started publishing studies and other marketing content about employee engagement.
“I still remember when we landed a hit with BBC, and our leads funnel exploded overnight,” Niu said. “Leads were buying without a trial, and that spike added millions to our valuation.”
TINYpulse sold to Limeade in 2021 for $8.8 million in cash.
Delight Labs is working with two clients in the health and wellness sector, and plans to expand. The 4-person company is bootstrapped by Niu.
“Everyone has their approach that can work well for their clients,” he said. “But our clients, like my own experience, oftentimes have unsuccessfully tried PR in the past and want a more transparent, accountable, predictable PR motion that drives acquisition, SEO, and branding success.”
The company generates revenue on a retainer-basis. Niu said he’s thinking about also rolling out a software offering that could compliment the company’s PR services.
Delight Labs released a study Wednesday with survey results related to why companies invest in PR and the metrics they use to measure success. The study found that smaller companies value more revenue-based goals while larger ones value communication-based goals.
