Editor of TechCrunch talks Armenian startups and AI

Upon the invitation of Armenian SoloLearn, Editor of TechCrunch Europe Mike Butcher arrived in Armenia to take part in ArmTech 2017 Global Armenian High Tech Business Conference in Yerevan. TechCrunch platform provides latest tech news from around the world.

Itel.am talked to Mike Butcher.

- You mentioned about your wish to come to Armenia during TechChill Riga in February. How did it become possible?

-I heard about ArmTech, and it fit my schedule, so I decided to come and see what’s going on. I basically knew nothing about Armenian tech before this visit, but clearly there is an Armenian diaspora internationally, and I had the opportunity to meet Armenian entrepreneurs. In fact, we covered one of Armenian startups on TechCrunch.  They also participated in TechCrunch Distrupt and a program I ran during Europas Awards. Those guys told me about the developments in Armenia.

-Today you have talked about the latest developments in artificial intelligence. Can you name the top global trends in this direction?

- All major companies are producing their AI-based products today. It’s rapidly entering many spheres: high-tech, IOT etc.

Basically, every startup pitching for TechCrunch has an AI-based product. AI is going to be part of every tech company in the future.

- Probably lots of Armenian startups have approached you today, told about their products and expressed their desire to be featured on TechCrunch. What’s the best way to pitch for TechCrunch?

- Best thing to do is to keep the pitch simple, make sure you target the proper journalist. Don’t target a journalist that is unlikely to write about what you do. Ask the journalists if they want more information and when they say yes, send them exactly what they want to know without more details.

Sending big long press releases and cold emails doesn’t work well.

Just don’t appear from nowhere. You need to join the news cycle, make sure you know what’s going on in the news and make relevant news yourself. If your startup is in computer vision, and Apple buys a computer vision company, than it’s a good time to start talking to a journalist on what your company is doing.

Narine Daneghyan talked to Mike Butcher