The startup's founders bring decades of in-house and agency PR experience. Masek most recently served as senior vice president of marketing and communications at Obvious Ventures, the venture firm led by Ev Williams. There, she said she was struck by the challenge of "helping with the why and when of comms and marketing for 110 portfolio companies," which led her to ask: "Is there a way to scale the senior-level expertise into AI [in a way] that actually helps users do the work of comms in the proactive and skilled way that we do?"
Honeyjar is the answer. It automates processes like finding the best journalists to pitch and scanning news and social media for opportunities. But Jamshidi said in a follow-up email that the vision extends beyond media relations. "Honeyjar can find reporters, build media lists, scan news and social, track coverage, and surface opportunities," she said. "Those capabilities are important, but they're just one piece of what we're building. The bigger idea is bringing the whole communications workflow together: signals, context, strategy, judgment, timing, and execution."
The platform is not just for founders. Masek said she realised there are "millions and millions of unassigned communicators responsible for the work of comms." She added: "They don't have the title of comms, but they're marketers, investors, authors, creators, school superintendents, sports team leaders. It's incredibly horizontal, this need to nail strategic communications. It's always passed around, but the problems are very often not solved."