If you’re a founder building anything that isn’t “AI for AI” right now, you’ve probably felt the same cold shoulder: investors asking where the model is, journalists fishing for a ChatGPT angle, and social feeds drowning in demo videos of yet another agent that books meetings.

Here’s the good news: you don’t need to pretend you’re an AI company to win attention. You need to communicate like one.

AI has rewired the media ecosystem in two ways: (1) it made novelty cheap, so “cool tech” doesn’t automatically earn headlines; and (2) it made audiences more ruthless about time, so only clear outcomes cut through. Your job this year is to show, quickly and repeatedly, that your startup produces a specific, provable result for a specific group of people—then distribute that proof like it’s a product.

Below are practical tactics you can start this week, even if your startup is in climate, logistics, fintech, health, consumer apps, hardware, edtech, or anything else that doesn’t wear “AI” on its hoodie.

1) Stop Pitching the Product. Start Pitching the Change.

The fastest way to disappear in 2026 is to describe your startup like a feature list:

“We’re a platform that streamlines…”

No one has time for that. Your job is to compress your story into a before/after statement that a tired editor, investor, or customer can repeat without thinking.

Use this template:

Before:the costly status quo (time, money, risk, pain) n After:the measurable improvement n Mechanism: the one-line reason it works

Example:

• Before: “Small manufacturers lose weeks chasing late payments.”
• After: “We cut payment time from 45 days to 12.”
• Mechanism: “We integrate into invoicing and automate reminders + dispute resolution.”

You’ll notice AI isn’t required. But “measurable improvement” is.

2) Build a “Proof Library” That Journalists and Social Feeds Can Steal

In an AI-saturated year, attention doesn’t go to the loudest—it goes to the easiest to verify.

Create a simple folder (Notion, Drive, whatever) with:

• 3 customer stories (problem → adoption → result)
• 1 data point you can defend (even small is fine)
• Screenshots that show the product working
• A founder headshot and logo kit
• Two short videos (15–30 seconds each)
• one “product in action”
• one “the problem is real” (customer quote, industry pain point, visual proof)

This turns you from “another startup asking for coverage” into “a story package” someone can publish fast.

3) Use AI Tools Like a Power User (Not a Tourist)

Here’s where AI actually helps founders who aren’t building AI:

A) Turn one idea into 10 angles

Use an AI assistant to generate:

• 10 headline options
• 5 contrarian takes
• 3 founder-story arcs
• 2 data visuals you could create

Then choose one and execute. The tool isn’t the content. The tool is the multiplier.

B) Create “micro-assets” at scale

Your product update can become:

• a thread
• a LinkedIn post
• a 30-second script
• an FAQ
• a customer email
• a press note
• a short demo outline

AI helps you reformat without losing your mind—as long as you keep the core claims honest.

C) Media training on demand

Paste your pitch and ask:

• “What parts sound like fluff?”
• “What would a skeptical reporter ask?”
• “Where are the gaps in proof?”
• “Rewrite this in plain English.”

You’re basically running a hostile interview rehearsal.

D) Competitive and narrative research

Have AI summarize:

• how competitors position themselves
• what reporters have written about your category
• what narratives are overdone (avoid them)
• what narratives are under-covered (own them)

The goal isn’t to copy. It’s to find the open lane.

The Real Cheat Code: Be Specific, Be Provable, Be Repetitive

AI has made the internet louder. It hasn’t made it smarter. If you want to stand out in 2026, act like an operator with receipts:

• one clear before/after
• one measurable claim
• a steady stream of proof
• distribution that looks like reporting, not ads
• AI used as leverage, not camouflage

You don’t need to win the “AI” conversation. You need to win your customers’ conversation—and make it so easy to understand that media and social can’t help but amplify it.

If you’re building something real, this is your year. Just don’t hide it behind jargon. Show the change. Then show it again.

Want a dead-simple way to put this into practice?

Build your proof, package it, and ship it—publicly—through HackerNoon’s Proof of Usefulness Hackathon.

It’s designed for projects with receipts: real users, real outcomes, real stability. Not “cool demos.”

Submit what you’ve built (new or existing), show the change you create, and let the scoring system reward real-world utility—adoption, revenue, and technical quality.

There’s $150,000+ in prizes, plus smaller participation awards—because the point is to spotlight software that actually works.

If you’re serious about standing out in 2026, don’t just say you’re useful—prove it.

:::info
Learn more here!

:::

Great Startups That You Should Know About

Meet Skyld AI, 2pers, and Sekoia.io.

Skyld AI

Skyld is a deeptech startup founded in July 2023 by Marie Paindavoine, a cryptography PhD with over ten years of experience in cybersecurity. The firm provides provides solutions to secure AI models and regularize AI licensing and is backed by Station F, Inria & Berkeley SkyDeck.

Based in Rennes, France, this impressive startup won HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year award for the region and was nominated in the Network Security, Cybersecurity Services, and Data Privacy & Compliance categories.

2pers

2pers is a provider of key technologies in the domain of wireless (5G/6G), media, AI, and SaaS industries. It helps customers on advanced topics, including the development of new products (currently in research/incubation stage).

Based in Rennes, France, this impressive startup was a runner up in HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year award for the region.

Sekoia.io

Sekoia.io is a European cybersecurity technology company that provides cyber teams with a SOC platform that can respond to security incidents, regardless of the attack surface.

Based in Rennes, France, this impressive startup was a runner up in HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year award for the region and was nominated in the Network Security, Cybersecurity Services, and Data Privacy & Compliance categories.

That’s all for this week. Until next time, hackers!