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How To Pitch: VentureBeat

Cover startups and the people who fund them for this online syndicate

Background: Does a start-up publication focusing on other small start-up businesses sound a bit too insular to you? If so, you've never read VentureBeat, the six-year-old site that marries Silicon Valley venture capital coverage with start-up innovation and founder profiles. Founder and editor-in-chief Matt Marshall launched the site in 2006 after starting his career as a Wall Street Journal correspondent and San Jose Mercury News venture capital beat reporter. While initially focusing on start-ups and the VC community with occasional tech and larger company news thrown in, the site has shifted to emphasize innovation in all areas of the biz, especially mobile and cloud computing. VentureBeat even hosts the annual MobileBeat conference, now in its fifth year.

National editor Devindra Hardawar says the site is currently focusing its efforts to build a broader audience and offer more general news coverage on par with its competitors. But he was also quick to distinguish the VB brand from other tech and business publications. "We're aiming to talk about more early-stage companies and the people behind them," he said, noting that pubs like Wired simply don't have the bandwidth to offer the same in-depth coverage. This allows VB to connect with its core readership. "People within the tech industry read the site, as do the people with the money."

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The How to Pitch series is worth its weight in gold. In just the first month I'd already benefited enough to consider the cost of joining well worth it. -- Gaen Murphree