Most tech entrepreneurs want to build “buzz” for their products and services. It sparks marketing and sales and investment. But, this woman has been different. She has kept her head down and worked on her product out of the limelight for years, and she prefers it that way. It helps that her product is revolutionary and can change medicine as we know it. However, it is unusual for someone in Silicon Valley to remain silent. She is apparently stepping away from her monastic vow with recent interviews, but not too far. To someone in PR, it is difficult to understand why anyone would reject favorable publicity. Perhaps she didn’t want the pressure to perform while developing her product. Perhaps, she has no use for the media. Perhaps she feared competitors seizing her idea and running with it. Whatever the reason, she has refused to talk until now, so she is largely unknown by comparison to other Silicon Valley billionaires. She has been the despair of publicists.
Public Education
The Federal Aviation Commission has set a huge PR task for itself in its announcement that it would educate the public about the use of drones. Most drones are the size of model airplanes. The difference is that they can hover and move in ways a model airplane can’t. The FAA is likely to face huge resistance from drone users who see the utility of the aircraft and are not afraid of the risks. Drone use has mushroomed and projected use, including aerial delivery, are making the craft part of everyday living. It will be hard for the FAA to regulate them, since they can be used anywhere anytime. That is what commercial users of drones are hoping for. They can loft the aircraft, perform a mission and be gone before anyone knows. The FAA is correct that there needs to be some kind of drone rules. Otherwise the sky will become a freeway of aircraft crashing into one another. However, the FAA has cast itself as the heavy in regulation, so it might need to proceed with a gentle hand.