Pitch Your Story to the Press

**Aaron Gregg** is a defense industry and government contracting reporter at **The Washington Post**, covering Pentagon procurement, defense budgets, and the defense-industrial base. Based in Washington, DC, he has spent over a decade covering the intersection of government spending and corporate strategy, previously reporting on business and economics at the Post and other outlets. His beat puts him at the center of every major defense contract award, protest, and budget fight.

**Adam Cancryn** is a health policy reporter at **Politico**, where he covers the intersection of health care, government, and the pharmaceutical industry. He was one of the standout reporters during the COVID-19 pandemic, breaking stories about the Trump and Biden administrations' internal deliberations on vaccines, lockdowns, and public health infrastructure.

**Amir Efrati** is the co-founder and managing editor of **The Information**, a subscription-based technology publication known for deeply sourced, investigative reporting on Big Tech and AI companies. Previously a reporter at The Wall Street Journal covering Google and Silicon Valley, he co-founded The Information in 2013 with the thesis that the most valuable tech journalism requires a paywall — readers who pay $400/year expect and receive reporting that's weeks or months ahead of free outlets.

**Andrew Huberman, PhD** is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at **Stanford University School of Medicine** and host of the **Huberman Lab Podcast**, which has become one of the most popular science podcasts globally. His academic research focuses on neural regeneration, brain development, and the neural circuits controlling vision, stress, and performance. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in journals including Nature, Science, and Cell.

> **Template:** Operator > **Source reliability:** Authoritative (NYT/CNBC/Cornell bios), Reliable (Acquired.fm interview, TED podcast, published books), Suggestive (social media, personality profiles)

> **Template:** Operator (Media/Journalist) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (TechCrunch bylines, public author page, published articles through April 2026)

**Ben Smith** is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of **Semafor**, the global news startup he launched in 2022 with former Bloomberg Media CEO **Justin B. Smith** (no relation). Before founding Semafor, he was the media columnist for **The New York Times** and, before that, the founding editor-in-chief of **BuzzFeed News**, where he transformed a quiz-and-listicle site into a Pulitzer Prize-winning news organization.

**Brad Stone** is the senior executive editor for global technology at Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek. He is the author of two definitive books on Amazon: *The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon* (2013) and *Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire* (2021). These books established him as perhaps the most important chronicler of one of the most consequential companies of the 21st century.

**Brent D. Wistrom** is the technology reporter and editor at the **Austin Business Journal** (ABJ), where he covers the Austin startup and innovation ecosystem. He also oversees **Austin Inno** (part of the American Inno network), a vertical dedicated to the entrepreneurs, companies, and ideas shaping the region's future. In this dual role, he both manages the newsroom's day-to-day operations and personally reports on the technology companies transforming Austin's economy.

> **Template:** Operator (Media Persona) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (on-air broadcasts, published books, public interviews), Suggestive (social media, podcast appearances)

**Casey Newton** is the founder and editor of **Platformer**, one of the most influential independent tech newsletters, covering the intersection of social media platforms, content moderation, AI policy, and democratic institutions. Previously a senior editor at **The Verge** for seven years, where he created the "Interface" column and broke major stories on content moderation failures at Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

> **Template:** Operator (Media Persona) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (published articles, public appearances), Suggestive (social media, podcast appearances)

**Connie Loizos** is a veteran Silicon Valley journalist who served as editor at **TechCrunch** and previously co-founded **StrictlyVC**, a daily newsletter covering venture capital and startups. She has covered the VC and startup ecosystem for over two decades, including stints at the San Jose Business Journal and Corporate Counsel magazine. Her reporting has focused on the mechanics of venture capital — fund formation, LP dynamics, fundraising cycles, and the often-hidden negotiations between founders and investors.

**Courtney Kube** is a Pentagon and national security correspondent for **NBC News**, where she has covered the Defense Department and U.S. military operations since the mid-2000s. She is one of the most visible Pentagon reporters in television news, appearing regularly on MSNBC and NBC Nightly News with breaking defense and national security coverage.

**Cuneyt Dil** is a reporter at **Axios**, covering the intersection of the Austin tech ecosystem and Washington, DC. He writes for Axios Austin and Axios DC, which gives him an unusual dual-city beat: he tracks how Austin's tech and startup scene connects to federal policy, defense spending, government contracts, and the political class. He's the reporter who sees the line between what's happening on Congress Avenue and what's happening on Capitol Hill.

**Dan Lamothe** is a military reporter at **The Washington Post**, where he has covered the U.S. armed forces and the Pentagon since 2014. He is one of the most prolific Pentagon correspondents in American journalism, having embedded with all five branches of the military and reported from combat zones, training exercises, and bases worldwide. Before the Post, he spent years covering the Marine Corps at **Marine Corps Times** (2009-2014), which gave him a ground-level understanding of military culture that most Pentagon reporters lack.

**Dan Primack** is the author of **Axios Pro Rata**, the daily deals newsletter that's become the go-to morning read for venture capitalists, private equity professionals, investment bankers, and anyone who needs to know about the money before the market opens. Before Axios, he wrote the Term Sheet newsletter at **Fortune**, where he established himself as the definitive voice on startup funding, M&A, and the private capital markets.

**David Fahrenthold** is an investigative reporter at The New York Times, previously at The Washington Post, where he won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his investigation into Donald Trump's charitable giving — or rather, the lack thereof. That investigation is a case study in methodical, document-driven journalism: Fahrenthold spent months calling hundreds of charities, one by one, asking if they'd received donations from Trump. He tracked every call on a yellow legal pad, photographed the pad, and posted the photos to Twitter, turning the audience into collaborators who sent him tips.

**David Martin** is the national security correspondent for **CBS News**, a position he has held since 1993 — making him one of the longest-tenured Pentagon correspondents in broadcast journalism history. He has covered every major U.S. military operation from the Gulf War through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rise of ISIS, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the subsequent era of great power competition. Before CBS, he worked for **Newsweek** as a Pentagon correspondent, giving him a foundation in both print depth and broadcast immediacy.

> **Template:** Operator (Media/Journalist) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (TechCrunch bylines, public author page, published articles through December 2024)

**Emily Chang** is the anchor of **Bloomberg Technology**, Bloomberg Television's flagship technology program, and the author of *Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley* (2018). Based in San Francisco, she has interviewed virtually every major tech CEO, VC, and founder of the last decade. Before Bloomberg, she worked as a correspondent for CNN International based in Beijing and London, giving her an unusually global perspective on the tech industry.

**Eric Newcomer** is the founder and editor of **Newcomer**, an independent newsletter and media company covering venture capital, startups, and Silicon Valley power dynamics. Previously a senior reporter at Bloomberg covering Uber and the broader ride-hailing industry, and before that at Bloomberg Businessweek. His reporting broke multiple stories about Uber's internal culture, Travis Kalanick's ouster, and the SoftBank Vision Fund's inner workings. He launched Newcomer in 2021 to cover VC deal-making with the independence that mainstream outlets couldn't offer.

> **Template:** Operator (Media/Journalist) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (TechCrunch bylines, 100+ Pitch Deck Teardowns published, public author page)

**Harry Stebbings** is the founder and general partner of **20VC**, both a venture capital fund and the world's largest venture capital podcast with over 3,000 interviews conducted since he started at age 18 in his London bedroom. He has since raised multiple funds and invests at the seed and Series A stage across enterprise software, consumer, and fintech. His podcast guests include virtually every major VC partner, LP, and founder in the ecosystem.

> **Template:** Operator (Media Persona) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (on-air broadcasts, published books, public interviews), Suggestive (social media, podcast appearances)

**Jennifer Griffin** is the chief national security correspondent for **Fox News**, based at the Pentagon. She has covered the Defense Department and national security for Fox since 1999, making her one of the longest-serving TV correspondents on the Pentagon beat. Before the Pentagon assignment, she spent nearly a decade as Fox's Jerusalem bureau correspondent (1996-1999, plus earlier stints), covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East wars, and terrorism — experience that deeply informs her national security reporting.

**Julia Black** is a reporter at **The Information**, where she writes for the Weekend section — the publication's home for features about the people and companies reshaping tech culture. The Information is one of the most influential (and expensive) tech publications in the world, read by VCs, founders, and tech executives who pay $400+/year for insider intelligence. The Weekend section is its storytelling arm: longform profiles, culture pieces, and the human dramas behind the deal sheets.

**Kara Carlson** is a reporter at **Bloomberg News**, based in Austin, Texas. She covers electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, AI, and robotics — the physical-world applications of frontier technology. Before joining Bloomberg, she was the tech reporter at the **Austin American-Statesman** (roughly 2019-2024), where she covered the Austin startup scene, SXSW, and the broader Texas tech ecosystem. That Statesman tenure means she knows the Austin tech community from the inside — the founders, the investors, the accelerators, the politics.

**Kara Swisher** is the most feared interviewer in technology. Co-founder of **Recode** and **AllThingsD**, host of the **Pivot** and **On with Kara Swisher** podcasts, contributing opinion writer for **The New York Times**, and a special correspondent for **New York Magazine**. She has been covering Silicon Valley since the early 1990s at The Washington Post, making her one of the longest-tenured and most influential technology journalists alive.

**Karoline Leonard** is the technology reporter at the **Austin American-Statesman**, the city's paper of record. She covers the Austin tech scene — startups, venture capital, SXSW, Austin Tech Week, and the companies reshaping the city's economy. She's the local tech reporter that Austin founders, VCs, and accelerators want to know, because her byline in the Statesman carries weight with the city's business and political establishment in a way that national outlets don't.

**Kate Clark** is a senior reporter at **The Information**, covering the venture capital and startup fundraising beat. Previously at **TechCrunch**, where she was a prolific reporter on startup rounds, VC fund dynamics, and the behind-the-scenes deal-making that drives Silicon Valley. She is one of the most plugged-in reporters on the VC beat, known for breaking stories on fundraising rounds, markdowns, internal fund conflicts, and LP drama before companies make their own announcements.

> **Template:** Operator (Media/Journalist) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (TechCrunch bylines, public author page, published articles through April 2026)

**Lara Seligman** is a Pentagon and defense reporter for **Politico**, where she covers the Defense Department, military operations, defense policy, and the defense industry. She is a key contributor to Politico's **National Security Daily** newsletter and has become one of the most-read defense reporters in Washington's policy community. Before Politico, she was a defense reporter at **Foreign Policy**, where she covered the Pentagon beat and developed deep sourcing within the defense establishment.

> **Template:** Operator (Media/Journalist) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (TechCrunch bylines, public author page, published articles through April 2026)

**Lex Fridman** is a research scientist at MIT and host of the **Lex Fridman Podcast**, one of the most popular long-form interview shows in the world with millions of subscribers across platforms. Born in the Soviet Union, he immigrated to the US as a child and developed a deep fascination with robotics, AI, and the nature of human consciousness. His academic background is in electrical engineering and computer science, with research focused on human-robot interaction, autonomous vehicles, and deep learning at MIT's CSAIL.

**Liz Hoffman** is the business and finance editor at **Semafor**, where she covers Wall Street, deal-making, corporate strategy, and the intersection of finance and power. Before Semafor, she spent years at **The Wall Street Journal**, where she was one of the paper's top deal reporters, covering the biggest mergers, acquisitions, and corporate transformations of the decade.

**Loren Grush** is a space industry reporter at **Bloomberg News**, based in Austin, Texas. She covers the commercial space sector — launch companies, satellite operators, NASA contracts, space policy, and the companies building the infrastructure for humanity's next chapter off-planet. She's one of the most recognized space journalists working today, having previously covered the beat at **The Verge** for several years before moving to Bloomberg.

**Maggie Haberman** is the White House correspondent for The New York Times and a CNN political analyst. She is, by consensus of peers, competitors, and subjects alike, the definitive reporter on Donald Trump — before, during, and after his presidencies. Her 2022 book *Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America* drew on decades of coverage that began when she was a tabloid reporter at the New York Post and New York Daily News covering Trump as a New York City real estate figure and celebrity.

**Matt Levine** is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and the author of **Money Stuff**, the most widely read financial newsletter in the world. Money Stuff publishes daily (Monday through Friday, except when Matt takes his famously cherished vacations) and covers securities law, corporate governance, financial engineering, cryptocurrency, M&A, and the often-absurd intersection of law and finance. His readership includes Wall Street traders, Silicon Valley VCs, SEC enforcement attorneys, corporate lawyers, and finance professors who all read him for the same reason: he makes complex financial and legal concepts not just understandable but genuinely entertaining.

**Max Abelson** is a finance reporter at Bloomberg News who covers Wall Street culture, executive compensation, banking, and the human side of high finance. He is known for writing colorful, literary profiles of finance executives that cut through the industry's self-seriousness with humor, detail, and a keen eye for the absurdities of extreme wealth.

**Meridith McGraw** is a national political correspondent at **Politico**, where she has become one of the defining reporters on the Trump orbit — the constellation of advisors, donors, family members, and hangers-on who shape Republican politics. Before Politico, she worked at **ABC News** covering the White House.

**Mike Allen** is the co-founder of **Axios** and the author of **Axios AM**, the morning newsletter that helped define the "smart brevity" movement in DC media. Before co-founding Axios in 2016 with Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz, Allen was the creator of **Politico Playbook** — the original DC morning newsletter that became the most influential daily read in Washington politics.

**Mike Isaac** is a technology reporter for The New York Times, covering Silicon Valley's biggest companies, their cultures, and the people who run them. He is the author of *Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber* (2019), which became an HBO series, establishing him as one of the premier narrative nonfiction writers on the tech industry. He's working on a follow-up about Facebook/Meta.

CNN/PBS science journalist. BBC Tiki Bar Zoom group member. Use when reviewing science communication, media, technology, or space topics.

**Missy Ryan** is a national security and defense reporter at **The Washington Post**, where she covers the Pentagon, U.S. military operations, and defense policy. She has been one of the Post's key voices on the intersection of military power and foreign policy, covering major U.S. operations in the Middle East, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and great power competition with China and Russia.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** is the CEO of **Positive Sum** and host of **Invest Like the Best**, one of the most respected business and investing podcasts with a listener base of professional investors, CEOs, and strategists. He is the son of Jim O'Shaughnessy (author of *What Works on Wall Street*) and was previously CEO of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management (OSAM), a quantitative asset management firm. His background uniquely blends quantitative investing rigor with qualitative business judgment.

**Rachael Bade** is a co-author of **Politico Playbook** and one of the sharpest congressional reporters in Washington. Before Politico, she covered Congress for **The Washington Post**, where she was part of the team that broke stories on House Republican leadership battles, impeachment politics, and the internal dynamics of both caucuses.

> **Template:** Operator (Media Persona) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (on-air broadcasts, published books, public interviews), Suggestive (podcast appearances, social media)

**Ryan Lizza** is Politico's chief Washington correspondent and a co-author of **Politico Playbook**, the most-read morning newsletter in Washington. Before Politico, he spent years at **The New Yorker** as Washington correspondent and was a regular presence on CNN as a political analyst. He's been covering presidential politics, Congress, and the permanent Washington establishment for over two decades.

**Sara Fischer** is the media reporter at **Axios**, where she covers the media industry, advertising, streaming, social platforms, and the business of news. Her newsletter **Axios Media Trends** is required reading for media executives, ad buyers, and anyone trying to understand the structural shifts reshaping how Americans consume information.

> **Template:** Operator (Media/Journalist) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (TechCrunch bylines, public author page, published articles 2011-2026)

**Steve Clemons** is the editor-at-large at **Semafor** and one of Washington's most connected insider-conveners. Before Semafor, he was the editor-at-large and Washington editor at **The Hill**, and before that he spent years at **The Atlantic**, where he was a senior fellow and editor. He also ran **The Washington Note**, an influential early political blog, and was a senior fellow at the **New America Foundation** — the think tank founded by his close ally and Semafor co-founder Justin Smith.

**Tara Copp** is a Pentagon reporter for **The Associated Press**, one of the most influential wire service positions in defense journalism. Her AP stories are picked up by thousands of outlets worldwide, giving her reporting an outsized reach. Before the AP, she built her defense journalism credentials at **Military Times** (covering the Marine Corps and defense policy), **Stars and Stripes** (reporting from military installations globally), and the **Houston Chronicle**.

> **Template:** Operator (Media Persona) > **Source reliability:** Reliable (published articles, public social media), Suggestive (interviews, podcast appearances)

**Tim Ferriss** is an author, angel investor, and host of **The Tim Ferriss Show**, one of the first podcasts to exceed 900 million downloads. He is the author of *The 4-Hour Workweek*, *The 4-Hour Body*, *The 4-Hour Chef*, *Tools of Titans*, and *Tribe of Mentors*. Based in **Austin, Texas**, he is an early-stage investor in companies including Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Alibaba, and more than 50 other startups. He's a Princeton graduate and former kickboxing champion who approaches every topic — from business to health to cooking — with an obsessive, systematic methodology.

**Tom Bowman** is the Pentagon correspondent for **NPR**, where he has covered the U.S. military, defense policy, and national security since 2006. Before NPR, he spent over 15 years at **The Baltimore Sun** covering the Pentagon and defense issues, making his total run on the defense beat one of the longest in Washington journalism. He has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and U.S. military installations worldwide.

**Tony Capaccio** is the Pentagon reporter for **Bloomberg News**, a position he has held for over three decades — making him one of the longest-serving defense reporters in Washington. He is Bloomberg's go-to for defense budgets, weapons programs, military procurement, and the business of national defense. His reporting sits at the intersection of money and military power, which makes him uniquely valuable to Bloomberg's financially sophisticated audience.

**Valerie Insinna** is a defense reporter at **Breaking Defense**, where she covers military aviation, defense acquisition, and weapons programs. She previously spent years at **Defense News**, one of the premier trade publications covering the military-industrial complex, where she established herself as one of the sharpest reporters covering fighter jets, bombers, tankers, and the acquisition programs that buy them.