Uncapped #25 | Lulu Cheng Meservey
Summary
Lulu Cheng Meservey, founder of Rostra, discusses the evolving landscape of communications, highlighting why it's becoming crucial for founders. She delves into mastering narrative arcs, understanding reputation's "homeostatic set point," and the strategic use of language, drawing parallels from history like Napoleon's recruiting tactics. Lulu emphasizes authenticity in personal branding and predicts that human persuasion will remain the ultimate irreplaceable skill, even as AI advances. The episode also touches on her unique advisory approach and the future relationship between tech and media.Episode description
Lulu Cheng Meservey is the leading voice in the new age of PR and comms and is the founder of Rostra, an advisory firm helping founders go direct.
Lulu has been a trusted voice for founders like Palmer Luckey at Anduril, Eric Glyman at Ramp, and Brian Armstrong at Coinbase. She previously ran corporate affairs and communications for Activision Blizzard and was the head of comms for Substack.
Lulu writes an acclaimed newsletter called Flack, where she proposes her new playbook for communications and shares tactical advice for how to help win over the people who matter, without wasting time or inducing cringe.
A few memorable moments:
- Aura is code for good communicator
- People like to have assumptions for the level of celebration you deserve
- The correct version of this company has him in it
- Words that mean the same thing aren’t perceived the same way
- Comms is the last thing to be uniquely human
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Timestamps:
(0:00) Intro
(0:50) Comms having a moment
(3:43) Breaking through the noise
(6:30) What makes a great story
(9:58) Creating story arcs
(17:29) Flow and stock
(20:29) All press is good press
(23:25) Leaning into authenticity
(28:10) Word choice
(35:09) Impact on recruiting
(42:48) The business of comms
(45:48) Comms predictions
(48:18) Tech & media relationship
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