Today we celebrate the launch of an exciting venture founded by one of our team members, Bianca Zwart, who currently leads DSA’s PR strategy.

While previously managing PR for Amsterdam-based challenger bank bunq, Bianca worked with many PR agencies and found that while traditional agencies may be good at maintaining reputations for established firms, they aren't designed to build reputations for new ventures. She experienced first-hand how frustrating this can be for startups and scaleups.

To address this gap in the market, Bianca took a leap and started her own PR agency, Black & White Communications, which specialises in the PR needs of startups and scaleups. She soon realised that not all startups actually need a PR agency. Many choose to do as much as they can in-house, especially in the early stages, not only because it’s more efficient but because startups typically have very limited resources.

This prompted Bianca to think about how she could help startups set up and manage their own PR communications as effectively as possible, and ultimately benefit from a high-caliber PR strategy without having to outsource to agencies.

Enter the Pioneer Academy: an educational, subscription-based platform that teaches startups to build their very own in-house PR-machine.

The Pioneer Academy teaches startups how to design and execute a cost-effective, data-driven PR plan that works at an agile pace and on a lean budget. The platform empowers startups to build life-long PR competencies tailored to their own needs, for a fraction of the fees typically charged by traditional PR firms.

You can learn more and access the platform here. 

And, using the discount code 'dsa21', you’ll get 15% off the first month, valid from today until mid-March!