Indeed. As if one needed more proof that the TechCrunch <-> PR industry loop is rotten to the core:

During the three months [the $15,000 per month PR firm] were working with us, their most important achievement was a piece of news that generated lots of traffic, leads and job applications, namely this TechCrunch post. It ended up being a very positive article filled with product images of Lookback. One could argue we could've achieved that post ourselves but I'm not so convinced. We had submitted news tips to multiple sites previously but to no avail.

Seems like the PR firms are the ones selling shovels in this gold rush.

agreed. With a seed investment, why not just use standard convertible note docs or the YC Safe notes? Did the lawyers really help?

SAFE and convertible notes rarely works outside the US.