--- title: How to Get a Profile of Your Startup, According to Polina Marinova description: Want a profile of your startup? Don't be afraid to let the reporter see your flaws. image: https://blog.propllr.com/hubfs/IMG_6550.jpg --- [![](https://blog.propllr.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Propllr_2025/images/2024/logo.svg)](https://propllr.com/) - What We Do - [Public Relations](https://propllr.com/pr-for-startups/) - [Content Marketing](https://propllr.com/content-marketing/) - What We’ve Done - [Case Studies](https://propllr.com/case-studies/) - [Client News](https://propllr.com/client-news/) - What We Think - [Blog](https://blog.propllr.com/) - About - [About](https://propllr.com/about/) - [Life at Propllr](https://propllr.com/life-at-propllr/) - [Contact](https://propllr.com/contact/) - What We Do - [Public Relations](https://propllr.com/pr-for-startups/) - [Content Marketing](https://propllr.com/content-marketing/) - What We’ve Done - [Case Studies](https://propllr.com/case-studies/) - [Client News](https://propllr.com/client-news/) - What We Think - [Blog](https://blog.propllr.com/) - About - [About](https://propllr.com/about/) - [Life at Propllr](https://propllr.com/life-at-propllr/) - [Contact](https://propllr.com/contact/) # How to Get a Profile of Your Startup, According to Polina Marinova By [Hunter Stuart](https://blog.propllr.com/author/hunter-stuart) | February 1, 2019 ![](https://blog.propllr.com/hs-fs/hubfs/IMG_6550.jpg?width=730&height=500&name=IMG_6550.jpg) *Photo credit: Austin Smith* If there’s anyone who knows what makes a great profile, it’s [Polina Marinova](http://fortune.com/author/polina-marinova/). Polina is a 27-year-old [Bulgarian-American reporter](https://medium.com/@polina_marinova/7-captivating-stories-to-read-this-fathers-day-47da3263b793) for *Fortune* in New York. Though she’s perhaps best known for [*Term Sheet*](http://fortune.com/tag/term-sheet/), the popular Fortune newsletter on deals and dealmakers in the tech and business worlds, which she pens every morning, long before the sun has warmed the Earth, Polina’s lesser-known side hustle is producing a [weekends-only newsletter](https://theprofile.substack.com/) that aggregates the very best [profiles](https://blog.propllr.com/anatomy-startup-profile) the digital news media has to offer. The Profile, as it’s called, serves up a sampling of character-driven long reads on people like [The First (Legal) Weed Billionaire](http://fortune.com/longform/marijuana-weed-cannabis-tilray-stock/), [The Business Anchor Drowning in Politics](https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1cq2nzw56k40k/Maria-Bartiromo-Was-a-Generational-Icon-for-Financial-Television-What-Happened)or [The Scientist Developing a Loneliness Pill](https://medium.com/s/2069/scientists-are-working-on-a-pill-for-loneliness-79ee7e80373c).  We figured there’s a lot that startups could learn about what it takes for a [reporter](https://blog.propllr.com/how-to-get-a-reporters-attention) like Polina to see them (or their company) as a story with meat, worthy of coverage. So we asked Polina what she looks for in a good profile. Number one, she said, is the personal details about the subject – no matter how awkward. “Even though I read dozens of features every week, it’s pretty clear which ones will make the cut. It’s always the ones that make you intimately understand the subject by breaking him/her down to their habits, mannerisms, and insecurities,” she told me. As an example, Polina sent over [this *GQ* profile of Justin Bieber](https://www.gq.com/story/justin-bieber-gq-interview), which focuses on the singer’s public apologies over [a series of stupid things he did](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2015/11/13/a-justin-bieber-timeline-all-his-worst-moments-and-even-some-good-ones/) and later atoned for (kind of). Most startup founders may (understandably) not want to reveal their mistakes and vulnerabilities to the public. But Polina says that’s exactly what the public finds so intriguing. “In this [2017 podcast](https://longform.org/posts/longform-podcast-235-caity-weaver), my favorite profile writer, [Caity Weaver](https://www.caity.info/), explains her process when working on an in-depth profile,” Polina said. “In the podcast, she \[Caity\] says: ‘I read a while ago that the reason we, as humans, enjoy slow motion so much is because it gives your brain enough time to take in all the detail of what’s happening. And that’s soothing & rewarding to us. I think profiles do the same thing — you can dive deep into a person, look at them from a bunch of different angles, and form an opinion about them.” So startup founders – or anyone else trying to get the media interested in them or their story – shouldn’t be stiff and guarded in the presence of a journalist. Because that’s the opposite that journalists, and their readers, crave: allowing them to see your idiosyncrasies, your weaknesses, even your failures. ![Caity-Weaver](https://blog.propllr.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Caity.jpg?width=300&name=Caity.jpg) “As readers, we *want* Tim Cook / Elon Musk / Sheryl Sandberg to be insecure. We want them to be vulnerable,” said Polina, who sometimes writes over an evening glass of wine. “It's because we want to believe they're humans who make mistakes, learn from them, and then re-build.” A good journalistic startup portrayal plunges the reader so deeply in the story, you believe whatever you're reading is possible for you, too, she said: “That's why I include stories of failure, redemption, and success.” What Polina says rings too true. Entrepreneurs and startup founders can be suspicious of reporters’ intentions. They want to tell one story, usually one about how *their* company is solving some societal problem. And too often, they try to conceal themselves, often with a pretense of selflessness.  But people are the most fascinating thing. They are what make us happy, keep us going. And so stories about *people* are typically more appealing than stories about a company. **Key takeaway from Polina**: Give the writer [more intimate access](https://blog.propllr.com/8-tips-for-a-great-interview) and see the opportunity blossom. ### POSTS BY TAG - [PR (111)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/pr) - [Content Marketing (86)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/content-marketing) - [Video (71)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/video) - [Here's How (68)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/heres-how) - [Case Studies (63)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/case-studies) - [Startups (34)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/startups) - [Ideas (16)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/ideas) - [Onward / Upward (15)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/onward-upward) - [Measurement (8)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/measurement) - [Media Training (8)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/media-training) - [Chicago (7)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/chicago) - [Awards (4)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/awards) - [Podcasts (4)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/podcasts) - [Social Media (4)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/social-media) - [Press Releases (3)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/press-releases) - [Research and Surveys (3)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/research-and-surveys) - [SEO (3)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/seo) - [Conference Marketing (2)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/conference-marketing) - [Surveys (1)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/surveys) - [Website (1)](https://blog.propllr.com/tag/website) see all ### Join Tech’s Top Marketers Get dispatches from the front lines of comms, search, PR, social, AI – and what it all means for B2B tech companies. #### Follow Us ### Recently Published ### [![](https://blog.propllr.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PR%20NL%20-%20JUNE%20blog.jpg?width=110&height=64&name=PR%20NL%20-%20JUNE%20blog.jpg) Every Blog Post Needs a Job June's Momentum ...](https://blog.propllr.com/every-blog-post-needs-a-job) ### [![](https://blog.propllr.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PR%20NL%20-%20MAY%202026%20Blog.jpg?width=110&height=64&name=PR%20NL%20-%20MAY%202026%20Blog.jpg) Do Your Own Research (But Not in an Anti-Vax Way) Propllr's May 2026 ...](https://blog.propllr.com/may-2026-newsletter) ### [![](https://blog.propllr.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PR%20Blog%20-%20AI%20and%20Writing-41.jpg?width=110&height=64&name=PR%20Blog%20-%20AI%20and%20Writing-41.jpg) AI and Writing: How to Embrace Innovation Without Sacrificing Your Creative Soul AI won’t replace your ...](https://blog.propllr.com/ai-and-writing-how-to-embrace-innovation-without-sacrificing-your-creative-soul) ## Related Posts ### [![](https://blog.propllr.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PR%20NL%20-%20JUNE%20blog.jpg?width=370&height=210&name=PR%20NL%20-%20JUNE%20blog.jpg) June 23, 2026 Every Blog Post Needs a Job June's Momentum newsletter from Propllr, featuring tips on making sure every blog post has a job that isn't passively driving traffic. 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