Stealth Mode is Dead, and That’s Perfectly Fine

Once upon a time, stealth made sense. It gave founders and first hires peace of mind. They didn’t owe anyone explanations. They could experiment with names, logos, and brand identity before locking into a narrative. And, crucially, they could focus on executing fast, gaining a competitive advantage by staying quiet until they were ready to reveal their big idea.

But fast-forward to today, and stealth mode has lost its teeth. The definition itself has become slippery. Many so-called stealth companies now have polished landing pages outlining their product – sometimes even complete with customer logos and testimonials. Why? Because in an ultra-competitive market, especially in enterprise sales, credibility matters. A landing page signals maturity. If your “big idea” can be derailed just because someone else saw it on your website, it likely wasn’t as big as you thought it was.

I’ve worked with hundreds of founders over the years, but only in recent months has a very specific question kept popping up: We’re in stealth, but we have a website and post on social media – is that okay?

My answer: stealth mode is dead. And that’s perfectly fine.

Unless you’re an Ilya Sutskever, the media doesn’t care much about what you’re building before you reveal it. What they do care about – almost obsessively – is how much you’ve raised. Fundraising numbers have always driven coverage, and that’s even more true in today’s climate (but that’s a whole other conversation).Founders should stop worrying: you’re not risking a TechCrunch push notification by spinning up a landing page or posting on LinkedIn. The brutal reality of today’s media cycles is that journalists aren’t waiting on standby for your grand debut. They’re drowning in pitches. If you think “emerging from stealth” alone will earn coverage, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

In fact, being “stealth-fluid” can really help you. Top candidates want to know what they’re signing up for – and being too stealthy can scare them off. Investors, too, increasingly see a public-facing presence as a positive signal of execution and maturity. The old “we’re in stealth, you’ll find out later” act doesn’t impress anyone anymore.

But let’s be clear: there are rare exceptions where full stealth still makes sense. If you’re genuinely creating a new category, or if you’re touching a raw nerve in your industry, working with high-profile customers who are constantly in the media spotlight, or if you’ve landed early funding from a name-brand investor that’ll draw attention before you’re ready – then yes, maybe don’t leave a digital breadcrumb trail just yet. But these cases are rare. In most scenarios, keeping things too buttoned-up just holds you back.

So what can you do in this new era of semi-stealth?

• You can have a website. Include your name, your logo, your high-level positioning.
• You can share a one-pager-style overview of what problem you’re solving and how you’re different.
• You’re allowed to brief analysts.
• You cannot publish customer testimonials, name-drop clients, share advisor or investor info, or hint at any kind of business momentum.
• No backers, no logos, no “we’re already working with X.” That’s not stealth – that’s just soft launching.

My message to founders: breathe easy. Stealth was always a peculiar artifact of our industry, and it’s okay for it to evolve. Don’t overthink it. Be smart about what you share, but don’t hide in the shadows. Control and safeguard the details that matter (read: your funding round), and give yourself the flexibility to build publicly where it counts.

And to my fellow PR folks: let’s retire the tired “emerges from stealth” headline. It doesn’t reflect reality anymore. “Secures $X in funding” or “launches with $X round” works just as well – and sounds a lot more grounded in how the startup world actually operates nowadays.