# Release types — press-kit

Per type: the lede angle, the must-include facts, and one short worked lede. Pick
the type before drafting; the type decides what paragraph one leads with. Sources:
ereleases "What to Include" 2025–2026; Prowly format guide; Cision 2025 State of
the Media (relevance + multimedia). Verify every figure before send.

## Product launch

- **Lede leads with:** what it does + who it is for + availability date.
- **Must include:** the user problem it ends, price/availability, one differentiator,
  a quote on why now, a product image in the manifest.
- **Worked lede:**
  > SAN FRANCISCO, CA, June 2, 2026 — Acme Corp today launched Relay, a tool that
  > cuts invoice approval from days to minutes, available now for teams of any size
  > at acme.com/relay.

## Funding round

- **Lede leads with:** amount + round + lead investor + what it funds.
- **Must include:** round size and stage, lead + notable participating investors,
  use of funds, a traction number, a quote from the founder and ideally the lead investor.
- **Worked lede:**
  > AUSTIN, TX, June 2, 2026 — Northwind Ventures led a $12M Series A in Acme Corp,
  > the invoice-automation startup now used by 4,200 teams, to expand its product
  > and engineering teams across North America.

## Executive hire

- **Lede leads with:** name + role + the credential that makes it news.
- **Must include:** the hire's prior role/outcome, what they will own, what it
  signals about the company's direction, a quote from the hire or the CEO, a headshot.
- **Worked lede:**
  > NEW YORK, NY, June 2, 2026 — Acme Corp named Priya Shah, former VP of Payments
  > at Stripe, as its first Chief Product Officer, signaling a push deeper into
  > financial workflows.

## Partnership

- **Lede leads with:** the two parties + what the joint offering enables.
- **Must include:** both companies and what each brings, the concrete user benefit,
  availability, a quote from each side. Avoid vague "strategic synergy."
- **Worked lede:**
  > LONDON, June 2, 2026 — Acme Corp and Ledgerly today partnered to let mutual
  > customers reconcile invoices and bank statements in one workflow, available to
  > all Ledgerly users starting July 1.

## Product update

- **Lede leads with:** the capability that is new + the user problem it ends.
- **Must include:** what changed, who it affects, whether it is live, one before/after
  number if you have it. Only worth a release if it is genuinely newsworthy — else
  it is a changelog or an owned-channel post (`marketing`).
- **Worked lede:**
  > BERLIN, June 2, 2026 — Acme Corp added real-time fraud screening to Relay,
  > flagging suspect invoices before approval and cutting manual review by 60% for
  > early-access teams.

## Milestone

- **Lede leads with:** the number + why it is a category signal, not a brag.
- **Must include:** the metric, the timeframe, the external context that makes it
  meaningful, a quote that ties it to customer value (not internal celebration).
- **Worked lede:**
  > TORONTO, June 2, 2026 — Acme Corp processed its one-millionth invoice this week,
  > a volume the company says reflects how quickly mid-market teams are abandoning
  > manual approval.

## Award

- **Lede leads with:** the award + the independent body + what it validates.
- **Must include:** the exact award name, the awarding organization, the basis/criteria,
  a short quote. The independence of the body is what makes it news.
- **Worked lede:**
  > SAN FRANCISCO, CA, June 2, 2026 — Acme Corp won the 2026 Fintech Breakthrough
  > Award for Best Accounts-Payable Solution, selected from more than 4,000 entries
  > by an independent panel.

## Event

- **Lede leads with:** what + when/where + why a reporter should attend or cover.
- **Must include:** date, time, location (or stream URL), who is speaking, why it
  matters, RSVP/press-access details and contact.
- **Worked lede:**
  > CHICAGO, IL, June 2, 2026 — Acme Corp will host RelayCon, its first user
  > conference, on September 18 at the McCormick Center, featuring keynotes on the
  > future of automated finance; press passes are available on request.

## Crisis / correction

Different discipline: lead with facts and what you are doing, not spin. Acknowledge
what happened, state the response, give a single accountable contact, and avoid
adjectives. Keep it shorter than a normal release. If the situation is legally
sensitive, the release is downstream of legal review — flag that to the user rather
than drafting around it.

- **Lede leads with:** what happened (plainly) + the action being taken now.
- **Worked lede:**
  > SAN FRANCISCO, CA, June 2, 2026 — Acme Corp today confirmed a June 1 outage that
  > affected invoice processing for some customers between 9 and 11 AM ET, has
  > restored service, and has begun a full review; affected customers are being
  > contacted directly.
