ASTRSK launches academy for founders to run outreach

ASTRSK has launched ASTRSK Academy, a platform for founders who want to manage their own media outreach.

The New York communications agency describes it as a 21-day self-paced training course paired with software tools for press outreach, pitching and media list building. It is priced at a one-time USD $199, including ongoing access to course material and future updates.

The launch marks a shift from agency services into training software. ASTRSK says it built the platform around methods used in more than 1,500 company launches and 500 product announcements over the past 15 years.

ASTRSK is targeting early-stage companies that are not yet ready to hire a retained PR agency but still need help reaching journalists. The course includes 25 lessons, each designed to take about 20 minutes a day.

Participants move through three modules covering narrative development, media pitching and sustaining media momentum over time. Weekly assessments test progress before users move to the next stage.

Built in-house

The platform was built by Founder & Chief Executive Officer Elliot Tomaeno, who said he had no engineering background before starting the project. ASTRSK says he had never written code six months earlier and spent about 100 hours learning AI development tools before producing a working software product without an engineer or technical co-founder.

The detail may resonate in a startup market where non-technical founders are increasingly using AI coding tools to build products themselves. It also reflects a broader push by service firms to turn expertise into software and education products that can reach customers beyond one-to-one client work.

ASTRSK Academy includes five AI-based tools integrated into the training programme. They are designed to help users draft and refine media pitches, identify story angles tied to current news, compile targeted media lists based on recent coverage, manage outreach and follow-up, and keep records of previous pitches.

Another feature is a free AI Discovery diagnostic that checks whether AI systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini recommend a company and highlights what needs to change if they do not. According to ASTRSK, the diagnostic does not require an account and can be completed in about a minute.

Founder focus

The product is aimed at founders who need publicity support before they have the budget for agency representation. That segment of the market has often relied on ad hoc advice, freelance consultants or in-house trial and error to secure coverage.

Media outreach has also become harder for younger companies as more startups compete for attention and newsrooms cut staff. At the same time, editorial visibility remains important for fundraising, hiring and customer acquisition, particularly for pre-seed and seed-stage businesses.

"We're entering an era where domain experts can build the thing they're an expert in, not just write about it," said Elliot Tomaeno, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of ASTRSK. "We've spent over 15 years getting startups covered. ASTRSK Academy is an open-sourced system for founders who want to do it themselves. For years, I watched talented founders struggle to tell their stories because they couldn't afford an agency or didn't know where to start. Academy is years of frameworks turned into a system and a set of tools any founder can run on their own, with no PR background required."

Graduates receive a "Press Operator" credential and continued access to additional educational material through what ASTRSK calls its "Grad School" curriculum. Those materials cover topics including AI search visibility, thought leadership and newsjacking.

Founded in 2012, ASTRSK has worked with startup and technology brands including Lemonade, Squarespace and Prime Video. The academy gives the firm a product it can sell at a lower price point than agency work while broadening its reach to founders who may later become full-service clients.

The launch also highlights how communications firms are adapting to AI tools that are changing both how companies build products and how people discover brands online. In response, firms with specialist knowledge are increasingly trying to turn advisory work into repeatable software and training products.

ASTRSK says the first three days of the programme are free and do not require a payment card.