Sifted is the FT-backed bible of European startup and tech — read by founders, operators and VCs who want substance, not spin. The Interviews And Profiles beat is where that audience goes for founder narratives with real commercial tension. This guide shows how to earn a slot with Sifted Interviews And Profiles reporters.

This beat runs long-form profiles, Q&As and the signature "Sifted Interview" format. The subject is almost always a founder, operator or investor with a story that reveals something about European tech.

Geography matters: pan-European angles beat UK-only stories. A Berlin climate founder scaling into France is stronger than a London startup doing well in London.

The bar is insight over announcement. Coverage celebrates candid detail — a bad hire, a near-death pivot, a contrarian bet — not a funding round or product launch.

Start with the Sifted Interviews And Profiles reporters list and map bylines to sub-sectors. The beat has 2+ active journalists, so each writer carries wide territory — fintech, climate, deep tech, health.

Representative writers in our directory include Orlando Crowcroft and Kai Schwarz. Read their last three profiles before pitching.

Track cadence: most writers file a handful of long-form pieces per month, which means the bar is high and the pipeline fills fast. Time your pitch to land before their commissioning window, not after.

Sifted Interviews And Profiles journalists reward specificity. Give them proprietary numbers — headcount growth, revenue multiples, churn, hiring velocity, market size — before they ask.

Strong angles: second-time founders reversing a failed playbook; European expansion that went wrong before it went right; operators leaving Big Tech for unglamorous verticals; quiet companies that became category leaders without hype.

Weak angles: "we're disrupting X," award wins, advisory board appointments, or anything that reads like a translated press release. Sifted's audience spots those in one line.

Offer a data hook tied to the person, not the company. "Our founder cut headcount 40% and grew revenue 3x — here's the internal memo" beats any product story.

Sifted Interviews And Profiles journalists contacts are best sourced from the reporters list, then verified against recent bylines and the writer's own social profiles. Sifted addresses commonly follow a firstname@sifted.eu pattern — confirm before sending.

Keep the pitch under 150 words: one-line hook, two-sentence why-now, three bullet talking points, one offer of access. No attachments on the first email.

State exclusivity plainly and honour it. If you offer first interview to one writer, do not run the same angle to a competitor 48 hours later — the beat is small and the community is smaller.

Europe runs on CET/GMT working hours; Tuesday to Thursday mornings land best. One polite follow-up after four working days is enough.

• Subject line: "[Founder name] on [contrarian decision]" — never "Interview opportunity."
• First line: the most surprising thing this person will say on record.
• Numbers: at least two proprietary data points, sourced.
• Access: confirm the founder is available for a 60-minute call within two weeks.
• Exclusivity: offered explicitly, in writing.
• Assets: headshot, bio, and one supporting document — attached only if requested.
• Follow-up: single nudge after four working days, then move on.
• Kill criteria: if the angle needs the funding round to be interesting, it isn't a profile — it's a deals brief.