Welcome to the last Maria 01 Community Breakfast of the spring – let’s talk about PR
Join us for breakfast at the Maria 01 Campus on the 3rd of May and spend a morning mingling with like-minded entrepreneurs and communications specialists, while learning more about how to build valuable relationships with media.
This time we have one of Finland’s top business journalists, Elina Lappalainen from HS Visio, taking the stage with Reetta Ilo from San Francisco Agency to discuss the relationship between startups and media.
Elina will help us better understand the role of media, how to approach journalists and news criteria – which are the stories that can get coverage? Reetta, who has been helping startups and investors build their communications strategies for the past six years, will share her best tips on creating a successful PR strategy for your startup to earn trust and visibility – even when you think there is no story to share. We will also listen to a real case and concrete examples from Deel on how they have used PR globally to build their brand.
This event is ideal for founders and anyone working with communications for a startup, scaleup or VC firm, looking to better understand the dynamics between your company and media.
Expect to learn:
- The role of media and journalists
- How to approach media and build relationships with journalists
- How to build a successful PR strategy to help your company grow
- What stories make the news and what to do when you have nothing to share
Agenda
- 8:30 Doors open & Breakfast served
- 8:50 Welcoming words // Maria 01
- 9:00 How to use global PR to build a successful brand // Kiran Wylie, Deel
- 9:15 Fireside chat – startup & media relationships // Elina Lappalainen, HS Visio & Reetta Ilo, San Francisco Agency
- 9:45 Q&A
- 10:00 Event ends

Elina Lappalainen, Business Journalist HS Visio
Elina is a Business Journalist at Helsingin Sanomat Visio, covering startups and growth companies. She has covered the Finnish startup scene, funding rounds, big growth stories and people behind them since 2011. HS Visio is the new business section of Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.

Reetta Ilo, VP, International PR Growth, San Francisco Agency
Reetta is Vice President at San Francisco Agency, and she leads the agency’s international expansion. Her background is strongly within the startup community, having worked with both startups and investors for the past 6 years, helping them in comms, PR, and financing.

Kiran Wylie, Director, EMEA Communications, Deel
Kiran leads Deel’s communication and PR efforts across multiple countries in the EMEA region. He has extensive experience in international PR and knows how brands can leverage media to drive growth.
This event is unfortunately full. The best way to stay in the loop about our upcoming events and secure a ticket to the next one is by joining our mailing list below. The next Maria 01 Community Breakfast is hosted on the 23rd of May.