Business Insider’s Dan DeFrancesco on pitching to newsletters

Amanda Coffee is CEO of Coffee Communications and ex-Under Armour, PayPal and eBay.  

With more than 100 million readers globally, Business Insider is a leading force in digital media. The outlet has a unique style of people-centric storytelling mixed with an unmatched ability to syndicate their content across multiple channels. DeFrancesco is at the center of BI’s content strategy overseeing Business Insider Today, a daily newsletter recapping the top business stories of the day. 

Starting his career in business trade press, DeFrancesco’s has an old-school style to his reporting, focused on building sources, picking up the phone (yes, he had a physical landline when he started at BI) and coming prepared when speaking to executives. 

DeFrancesco is also known as a mentor in the BI newsroom, coaching new staff members on how to find the most compelling angels in their beat. He’s cool under pressure when breaking a big scoop. We got married weeks apart in 2019 and when recapping our big days, he mentioned his fiancee needed her tooth removed the day prior to his wedding. He was the calm rock that held the bridal party together and no one noticed the bride was temporarily MIA. Now with a toddler and new baby on the way, I’m sure his calm demeanor comes in handy. 

Hear directly from DeFrancesco on how to pitch BI and what’s new at the publication:

You oversee BI’s main daily newsletter. What’s your strategy for the newsletter and goals for 2025?

I’m constantly focused on making sure the newsletter always provides value to readers. People have so many options in their inbox. So when someone opens Business Insider Today — hopefully every day! — I want them to feel like it was worth their while. That could mean learning something completely new, better understanding a topic they already know pretty well, or even just having a laugh about something in the news.

You’ve held a few high-profile roles at BI from reporter to editor and now media leader you have great insight across the newsroom. Any advice for PR pros trying to pitch the publication?

I think you’re overselling me a bit, but I’ll take the compliment! I’d say it comes down to a few things. Pitches should always be timely and relevant to the reporter. I know it’s tough and everyone’s busy, but a quick search of a reporter’s author page can give you a sense of whether it’s relevant to them. The easiest way to annoy a reporter is by sending them pitches that have nothing to do with their beat.

Also, make sure you can fulfill your promise. Don’t tell the reporter your client can speak on a topic only for them to try and turn it into a commercial for their company. 

Finally, speed matters. The faster you can turn around an interview for a reporter, the better your chances are. 

Jamie Heller recently joined BI from the WSJ. Jamie is known across the media industry to be a very effective leader. What have you learned from her to date? 

Jamie’s fantastic! And I’m not just saying that because she’s the big boss. Hearing her talk through the day’s biggest stories and how we should approach them is helpful context for writing the newsletter every day. 

I really appreciate her attention to detail. She also always considers different perspectives or angles of a story or trend, which I find so valuable for the entire newsroom. 

It’s also been great to see her figure out ways for teams across the newsroom to collaborate on stories that are important to our readers. It’s brought a real cohesiveness to our coverage of the biggest stories in business, tech, and innovation.

Your readers can’t get enough of your dry humor that comes through in your newsletter. What’s a recent story or joke that sparked a lot of conversation?

I’m addicted to making egg puns. With egg prices skyrocketing recently I’ve written about it a lot in the newsletter, and I just can’t help myself. Inflation egg-celerates. Consumers feel beat over egg prices. Bird flu has really scrambled egg supply. I think it’s one of those things that’s gotten so bad it becomes good again. Or maybe it’s just bad.

You’re very active on social media. How has social video impacted your distribution strategy and community around the newsletter?

Social media is such a tricky thing in our business. It’s something we can’t ignore, but it’s also easy to come off as pretentious, snarky, and a try-hard. I’ve started doing some walk-and-talk videos on my LinkedIn summing up the newsletter. I think it’s a fun way to quickly recap what’s going on and shows a bit of my personality. (Hopefully, that’s a good thing.)

You reported live from the World Economic Forum this January. What would surprise your readers about the event? 

I honestly think the biggest business at Davos is the souvenir shop. I know it sounds like a joke, but there’s one shop on the main promenade, and I’m sure it makes a killing. I had to take out a small loan to get gifts for my daughter and wife. At this point I’m surprised a private-equity firm hasn’t scooped it up yet. The margins on a $40 souvenir t-shirt have to be incredible.