Turning an Industry on its Head: A Tech Startup Journey with PressWhisper

In our first episode of the brand new season 4 of Tech Startup Stories, Natalie Binns speaks with serial entrepreneur Jim Edmondson, founder of PressWhisper, about challenging an industry that he believes has become unnecessarily complicated, expensive and disconnected from the people it is supposed to serve. From building companies that have raised significant funding to launching a new product with a co-founder for just a fraction of the cost, Jim’s approach has always been rooted in solving problems, testing ideas quickly and being willing to question how things have always been done.

Listen to the Podcast: Available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Finding a problem worth solving

PressWhisper started with a problem Jim experienced himself, after building a small World War II jacket company with friends, he wanted to get the story in front of journalists and approached a number of PR agencies. The quotes ranged from thousands of pounds a month, often with six-month retainers, but Jim struggled to understand what he was actually paying for and whether the approach would deliver any meaningful results.

The more he looked into it, the more the problem became clear. Journalists were receiving hundreds of emails every day, while businesses were paying agencies to send largely untargeted pitches into an already crowded inbox. Jim saw a system where neither side was really winning, and decided that if the existing model was not working, he would try to build something different.

Building from the problem

Rather than spending months developing a detailed business plan, Jim and his co-founder took a rapid prototyping approach. With his co-founder bringing a strong technical background and Jim focusing on the commercial side, they set out to build something quickly and cheaply enough to establish whether the idea actually worked.

Their first PressWhisper prototype was built in just 48 to 72 hours and produced an immediate signal. The jacket company that had struggled to attract press through traditional PR secured coverage within 24 hours of using the prototype. For Jim, that was enough evidence to keep going.

The next stage was not about building everything at once, but working through the problems that customers were revealing, improving the user experience and continuing to test what actually worked.

Let customers define the market

One of the strongest themes in Jim’s approach is his belief that founders should spend more time talking to customers. Rather than building in isolation and assuming that users will behave in the way the founder expects, he believes the customer should be part of the development loop from the beginning.

That philosophy also shapes how PressWhisper approaches its ideal customer profile. Instead of deciding on an ICP before the product has had time to find its market, Jim's rule is to spend the first six months allowing anyone who wants to use the product to do so. The patterns that emerge from those customers then reveal where the strongest opportunity actually lies.

For PressWhisper, that process highlighted FMCG businesses as a particularly strong fit, something the team would not necessarily have predicted at the beginning.

Building with the right co-founder

Jim also talks openly about the importance of choosing a co-founder who thinks differently. After previously building a company through multiple funding cycles before eventually leaving following disagreements with his co-founder, he deliberately looked for someone who would challenge his thinking rather than reinforce it.

His relationship with Jay, his current co-founder, works because they are very different. Jim describes himself as the enthusiastic commercial founder, while Jay brings the technical perspective and is willing to question ideas that Jim is convinced are brilliant. Those disagreements can be uncomfortable, but Jim sees that discomfort as a strength because it prevents the business from becoming an echo chamber.

For him, building a company means becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Challenging the startup success story

Jim is also sceptical of the idea that entrepreneurship is a shortcut to financial freedom. Having experienced both successes and failures, he argues that what looks like overnight success is usually years of work that nobody sees.

The same applies to the perceived security of employment. While running a business carries obvious risks, Jim believes the traditional idea of a secure job has changed significantly, particularly as technology and AI continue to reshape the workforce. For him, entrepreneurship is not about avoiding risk, but choosing the type of risk and lifestyle that suits you.

Rewriting the rules of PR

Ultimately, Jim’s ambition for PressWhisper goes beyond building another SaaS product. He wants to change how founders think about PR and give them greater control over their own narrative.

His view is that PR should not be an opaque process that businesses feel they have to outsource. With journalists receiving enormous volumes of pitches and AI search increasingly relying on authoritative third-party sources, Jim believes consistent press coverage has become an important part of how businesses build visibility and credibility.

PressWhisper is designed to make that process accessible, helping founders identify relevant journalists, create stronger press materials and build PR into a repeatable monthly activity.

For Jim, the goal is not simply to build a billion-pound company. It is to recalibrate an industry that he believes has been left behind, and give founders the tools to tell their own stories.

The bigger lesson from his journey is that building a startup does not always begin with a grand vision. Sometimes it starts with frustration, a problem that feels unnecessarily difficult, and the decision to ask whether there is a better way of doing things.

Listen to the Podcast: Available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Listen to the full episode with Jim Edmondson from PressWhisper on Tech Startup Stories, hosted by Natalie Binns, and follow for more conversations that focus on the true realities of building a startup.