“The sweet spot for TechCrunch is that we always wanted to be super early to stuff — 12 to 18 months early to things — so that by the time it made it to the pages of the Times or the Journal, people could go look at the history of the company on TechCrunch.”

TechCrunch wants to be 12–18 months early — pitch the beginning, not the milestone

TechCrunch's editorial identity is writing the history of Silicon Valley in real time — which means they want to cover companies before they're famous, not after. A pitch at seed stage or first meaningful traction is actually more attractive than a post-Series-A announcement. The writer who covers you early becomes a chronicler who follows your progress.