As someone who has been on TechCrunch many times, I offer the following observations:<p>1) There are a glut of startups. The only time the majority of startups get coverage is a money event (funding, acquired, dead-pooled). You chances of launch coverage if you are not funded is pretty low. But fight the good fight!<p>2) Do your homework on the editors! If you just send an email to tips@techcrunch.com, you're going to get routed to a random editor who may or may not be interested in what you do. Take the time to find the most likely editors and email them in advance.<p>3) There's an old VC trope: "If you want advice, ask for money; if you want money, ask for advice." In this case, I would modify it to "If you want silence, ask for coverage; if you want coverage, ask for advice." Get an editor interested in what you do before asking for the money shot.<p>4) Take the time to develop relationships with editors. You're in this for the long haul, over multiple companies, right? At this point, I can probably get coverage from Mike, Erick and MG, because they know me and trust me. Conversely, I only ask for coverage in rare instances.<p>In the short term, #2 is probably most important. In the long term, it's all about #4.