Leo Schwartz is a reporter at Fortune, where he covers the global impact of crypto, regulation, cybercrime, and all things blockchain. Leo also writes Proof of State, the Wednesday edition of the daily Fortune Crypto newsletter.
During the episode, Leo shares that he rarely works off of cold pitches, what it's like writing both nationally and internationally, what's the best way to get in touch with him, and more.
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Click below to listen to the full conversation and read below for highlights from the interview:
[00:04:37] BB: By the way, Leo, just covering the crypto space, a lot has happened, particularly this year. How do you keep your sanity?
[00:04:44] LS: How do I keep my sanity? That's a great question. I don't know. Take it one day at a time.
[00:04:49] BB: I should ask this on rotation, by the way, for all the journalists we have on here. But seriously, given your beat, what do you do?
[00:04:57] LS: I think a lot of journalists come into it because they love that adrenaline. When there's an incredibly busy news cycle, honestly, it's a reminder of why you got into this in the first place. I think it can be exhausting, but it's an incredibly engaging and entertaining beat. It also has a really good reporting core. I really like all my colleagues from other outlets. There's a level of competition but camaraderie that I think is fun.
[00:05:22] BB: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Competition, tell us more. You mean like are you competing with some of your Fortune peers on like who got the most clicks today or like what?
[00:05:32] LS: Oh, no. I mean with other reporters covering the beat outside of mine.
[00:05:34] BB: Oh, okay. Your external competitors, not your friendly internal.
[00:05:38] LS: No, not my co-workers.
[00:05:40] BB: Oh. So they're not even aware necessarily that you're in competition. Well, they know who you are, but there's no game to find, necessarily. Or are you guys all meeting up every month or something in New York?
[00:05:50] LS: I would say we tend to be at the same events often, whether it’s conferences or company events. But, I mean, you can just see on Twitter what everybody's covering. If someone has a really good scoop, you're like, “Damn, that should have been mine.” So it creates that fun drive, but I think there's also some level of cooperation that happens.
[00:06:06] BB: Yes. It's kind of like the VC world. I like to think like whose check is in but why I want to be part of that, too.
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[00:07:04] BB: Okay. Keeping tabs on that. What to you then, Leo, in this inbox zero aspiration that you have makes a pitch stand out to you subject line-wise?
[00:07:15] LS: I mean, again, it's really – I would say it's not necessarily about the subject line. I do tend to at least skim through almost every email that I get.
[00:07:22] BB: Oh, really?
[00:07:23] LS: Yes. At least give a cursory read. I would say the thing that really makes it stand out is, I mean, one, if I know the person, if I've worked with them before, if I know they have a good track record, or if it's about a company or a storyline that I'm following.
[00:07:38] BB: Okay. So then if you're looking at pretty much every pitch, what do you stands out in a pitch, if anything?
[00:07:45] LS: I mean, the easiest thing is if it's like a fundraise, is it a big number? It would be one factor, credibility. If you're a company and you're announcing something and you have the backing of a major VC firm like Andreessen Horowitz, I'll probably pay attention to that, if it is a major development in the industry, which the PR person should know, like they should be following it. Then also, I do notice if the person pitching me has been following my work and knows the types of stories that I'm interested in and is able to tailor it more personally to that.
[00:08:16] BB: Okay. So these are the details everyone needs to be noting and seeing.
[00:09:56] BB: Leo, I have a quick list of some rapid-fire questions to get into. Shall we do it?
[00:10:10] LS: Let's do it.
[00:10:10] BB: Okay. Video or phone interview?
[00:10:13] LS: I usually prefer phone. It's nice to have less of that pressure. But if it's the first time, video can be nice. If it's a company that I'll probably be following for a while, I do love in-person meetings.
[00:10:25] BB: Oh, you do. Okay, okay, okay. What type of in-person meetings do you like? Like coffee meetings, cocktail meetings, walk-in-the-park meetings? Tell us.
[00:10:35] LS: I would say coffee or a drink is usually better. I think people usually default to food. While I do love food, the reality is like it's tough to be able to carve out an hour, an hour and a half in a day.
[00:10:47] BB: It is. But then – and you know what also? Then it's like, well, now, I have the food to deal with, and I got to cut it up. I have to chew. I can't be writing and listening and consuming all the points of details when I'm consumed. But, yes, I'm with you on this completely. Okay. Do you have a favorite place, by the way? Like little haunts that you like particularly in New York.
[00:11:06] LS: I don't. I probably should. I usually tend to like try to meet people in the neighborhood they're in and make it easy for them if I can.
[00:11:13] BB: Oh, that's so generous of you. Wonderful. Okay. Bullet points or paragraphs?
[00:11:18] LS: For a pitch. I mean, again, I feel like I'm sort of a different example, where most cold pitches aren't going to work. Most of the pitches I'm responding to are from people I know. Usually, it can just be a few lines like, “Here's an update or something I'm working on.” Or even it'll just be like, “Can I give you a quick five-minute call?” I mean, honestly, I prefer if the person actually has a good story that they think that I'm going to cover calls are often the most efficient.
[00:11:41] BB: Okay. We like a call. Images attached or Dropbox zip file?
[00:11:46] LS: I don't think images are usually relevant to the types of stories I'm doing, unless like afterward, they send over like a headshot or a team photo or something. Usually, I would say no images. If it's a report, a link or a PDF is fine.
[00:12:00] BB: Okay. We like a link. Email or Twitter/XDM?
[00:12:06] LS: I think email is usually better. If it's something that's particularly confidential, I do have my signal on my Twitter bio. But please don't abuse it.
[00:12:15] BB: Don't abuse it, everybody. Okay. One follow-up or multiple?
[00:12:20] LS: I actually appreciate follow-ups. I know some journalists get annoyed by it. But the reality is sometimes it does get carried, and I never get offend if people follow up. If you don't – I haven't responded after four, then I'm probably not going to and I do.
[00:12:34] BB: Four. Wow.
[00:12:35] LS: Yes, but one or two never hurts.
[00:12:37] BB: We did not talk about this because we just launched right into your inbox. But how many pitches are you getting a day would you say or a week?
[00:12:44] LS: Oh, I mean, if you're counting like sort of spam pitches and all of the ones that like there's a zero percent chance I would cover, it's probably something like 75 a day. I don't know if that's unreasonable.
[00:12:57] BB: Oh, that sounds kind of manageable, actually. But then that's amidst all the other things you're getting report, your colleagues, your this, your sources, everything else. Yes, that sounds like a lot.
[00:13:08] LS: Yes. I mean, [inaudible 00:13:09] emails that I get are court filings because I have a bunch of court notifications for all the fun cases happening in crypto. So that's most of what’s sitting in my inbox.
[00:13:18] BB: Okay. Direct or creative subject lines?
[00:13:21] LS: I would say direct.
[00:13:22] BB: Direct. Press releases or media kit?
[00:13:25] LS: I mean, even like a short outreach is better, like a paragraph explanation and maybe a press release underneath that with more information if I need it. But, also, I understand that the press release might not be ready yet. Again, if you can just give me a sense of what the story is in a few sentences and why I should care, then that can be helpful.
[00:13:41] BB: Oh, good tip there. Any particular time you read pitches?
[00:13:46] LS: All day.
[00:13:48] BB: All day, every day. There you go. What types of sources, if any, are you looking
for right now?
[00:13:55] LS: I mean, as always, like VCs are usually helpful, heads of companies that are a little more established in the space. If you have viewpoints that are particularly controversial or contrarian, I'm always interested to hear that. If you ever have any dirt you want to share about your competitors, let me know. That's the best.
[00:14:12] BB: Dirt, basically dirt. Tell me. Tell me the dirt.
[00:14:17] LS: Then like legal experts, academics are always helpful, people who can give that 20,000-foot view on what's happening. It might not be relevant immediately for story. But, again, it'll be in my inbox. If in a couple weeks I'm working on a story that it's relevant to, then I'll find them. It's good to be able to have those in the roster.
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