027: Interview with Ethan Rasiel from Lightspeed PR

Ethan Rasiel, the CEO of Lightspeed PR, is our guest this week. He and Shira discuss PR for the entire show - so if you need to understand the process of PR and how it can work for your business I highly recommend this episode. About Ethan A true technology connoisseur, Ethan started his communications career as a journalist – by day as a news reporter for Gannett's metro and business desk, and by night as host of an AM radio show. In 1998 Ethan began a nearly 15 year stint at Edelman. He ultimately led a team of 60 as GM and EVP, and counseled a range of clients from startups to brands like GE, Canon, HP and Motorola. While there, he pioneered Edelman Labs, which revamped the firm's approach to product review programs. In 2011 Ethan became Director of Communications for Samsung Electronics America, responsible for external communications around all consumer products. While managing five agencies, he introduced several tools to improve collaboration and efficiency both internally and externally. Ethan co-founded Lightspeed Public Relations in 2013, with the mission to harness the skills and learnings from all aspects of his career – while avoiding bureaucracy and unneeded overhead. He graduated magna cum laude from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University and completed additional coursework in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. Ethan is host of "Marketing at Lightspeed", a weekly show on the VoiceAmerica radio network. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife. About Shira Shira Abel is the CEO and Lead Strategist at Hunter & Bard, an inbound marketing and branding agency. She is also Acting CMO of Cyara. Clients include: Totango, Cyara, Sarine Technologies, Pushbullet, AXA Tech, CloudEndure, AppsGeyser, Pitango VC, Chipolo, Allianz, and more. Creator and host of the SaaS Insider podcast. Creator of the Behavior Engineering Canvas. Mentor at 500 Startups. Former professor of Marketing for Startups at Tel Aviv-Jaffa Academic College. MBA from Kellogg School of Management. Loves family time, cooking, and travelling. Hates writing about herself in the third person.