Gatos Media

Jason Buzi. Creative PR for businesses with a story to tell.

From Crickets
to Coverage.

I'm Jason Buzi — entrepreneur, author and co-creator of Hidden Cash. My projects have made news around the world. Now I help businesses, launches and bold ideas find the story that gets people talking.

Tell me what you need covered Call 650-471-5807
A silver studio microphone against a bright background
A story worth telling.A voice worth hearing.

From a good story to the front page.Coverage of Jason and his projects

The ideas behind the headlines

A little unexpected.
A lot to talk about.

Before helping other businesses get noticed, Jason created stories of his own. Explore the ventures, experiments and conversations behind the coverage.

2014 · Co-created with Yan Budman · Personal initiative

Hidden Cash.
The city became
a treasure hunt.

Money hidden in public places. Clues posted on Twitter. People heading outside to find it, then sharing their discoveries. Jason and his friends turned a simple idea for giving back into a participatory story.

What began in San Francisco became an international phenomenon. Jason stepped out of anonymity for television interviews, while local treasure hunts became stories for national and international newsrooms.

Read the KQED feature ↗The co-creators ↗
  1. 01 / THE HOOK

    Something to find.

    A real reward made the story immediate and tangible.

  2. 02 / THE PARTICIPATION

    Something to do.

    Clues invited people to become part of the story.

  3. 03 / THE CONVERSATION

    Something to share.

    Each discovery gave participants a story of their own.

From the broadcast archive · 2014

See the story unfold.

Real people, real discoveries. Watch the original coverage on the broadcasters' official YouTube channels.

A Hidden Cash participant holding discovered banknotes in the BBC News video preview
The mystery that caught the BBC's attentionBBC News · May 29, 2014
A participant pictured in the original report.
Cash being taken from a toy in the CNN Hidden Cash report
A treasure hunt ready for televisionCNN · June 2, 2014
How the cash hunts became a broadcast story.

2019 · Top Offer / SXSW · Founder initiative

A puzzle-box twist
on the treasure hunt.

For the launch of his real estate venture Top Offer, Jason announced a hunt around Austin tied to SXSW: puzzle boxes, cash, silver and clues on Instagram. Forbes interviewed him ahead of the event about the connection between giving and happiness.

The story angle A business launch people could take part in.

Read the Forbes interview ↗ Read the launch announcement ↗

2017 · Soshee · Product venture

A social notification.
With a wagging tail.

Jason worked with animatronics specialist John Nolan Studios on Soshee, a small robotic dog designed to respond to social media activity. The crowdfunding-era prototype gave technology writers something they could show, not just describe.

The story angle A familiar digital habit, made physical and playful.

Read Engineering.com ↗ Read Teen Vogue ↗

2015 · Refugee Nation · Advocacy proposal

An idea that opened
a difficult conversation.

Jason proposed a new nation for displaced people. The Atlantic interviewed him about the idea and its challenges. Refugee Nation is presented here as a proposal that attracted debate and coverage, not as a country that was established.

The story angle A bold proposal that gave journalists questions to explore.

Read The Atlantic interview ↗

2017 · Post Hill Press · Author

Smash Your
Alarm Clock!

Jason is the author of Smash Your Alarm Clock!: Living the Dream Through Real Estate Investing, published by Post Hill Press. The book connects his experience as an investor with the freedom to pursue a more meaningful life.

The story angle Firsthand experience becomes an author platform.

Explore the book at Post Hill Press ↗

These are selected projects from Jason's background. Client experiences appear below.

What's the story inside your business? →

Meet Jason Buzi

An entrepreneur's eye.
A storyteller's instinct.

Jason's background is in buying, building and renovating real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. His projects have also taken him into publishing, consumer products and public-interest ideas.

That range is the point: a compelling story can start with a property, a product, a book or a completely unexpected idea. Gatos Media brings that perspective to finding what makes your business worth talking about.

Jason's publisher biography ↗

An unexpected start.
A new approach to PR.

A nationwide game promotion became an opportunity to put my instinct for a good story to work.

Professional camera equipment on an outdoor table in daylight
Finding the angle that gets attention.

A multi-billion-dollar, publicly traded video game company was doing a bus tour across the USA to promote their game. Its initial PR outreach had not generated the coverage the team hoped for.

The story was there.

The tour had plenty to offer: prizes, stops in multiple cities and an experience people could take part in. Especially in smaller towns, there was an opportunity to turn that visit into a local story.

Through a friend of a friend of a brother-in-law, they heard about the tremendous publicity I got for my scavenger hunt and other projects. So they reached out to me, a real estate investor, and asked if I would promote their bus tour.

I agreed. A new business was born.

What getting media has taught me.

How to actually get media

Reporters don't cover announcements. They cover stories. The job is finding the story inside your business and handing it to the right person at the right moment.

Controlling the narrative matters

A clear angle helps a journalist understand what matters. Strong preparation keeps your message focused when the questions come.

A press release is just the start

A media list and an announcement are useful tools. The real work is showing why your story matters to a particular audience.

Coverage can keep working

Earned coverage can build credibility and help people discover your business long after publication. Its value depends on the story, the audience and what happens next.

Online theater, marketing stunts, public companies, startup ventures, book releases, political concepts. Whatever kind of business you have, media coverage can build credibility, support revenue and remain discoverable long after the story runs. A friend at a high-end marketing agency would call me for ideas to get publicity for his own clients.

Select coverage

A few of the stories, campaigns and projects that made the news, including Miami Herald and WKRN.

  1. KQED · 2014Inside the Hidden Cash phenomenon
  2. Forbes · 2019Giving, happiness and Jason's plans for SXSW
  3. Engineering.comThe Soshee robotic dog project · 2017
  4. CNN Jason Buzi discusses Hidden Cash on New Day · 2014
  5. TIME The rich guy who's been giving away free money may be heading to your city
  6. BBC News Hidden Cash comes to London
  7. The Atlantic Jason Buzi and the idea of a Refugee Nation
  8. NBC News Soshee: social media robot dogs will perk up your Friday
  9. Miami Herald Read the archived Miami Herald feature
  10. WKRN Nashville Exercise your imagination with Theater in Place

What clients say

Jason was able to get us media coverage where our PR company failed. This helped us get the word out to many thousands of people in our target markets about our promotion.

Laura K., VP of Global Marketing
Playtika, Henderson, NV

We were able to achieve a truly impressive book launch for our author and break the top 50 Amazon bestseller list through the media coverage and marketing suggestions shared by Jason.

Michael W., President
Post Hill Press, Brentwood, TN

We had some challenging real estate properties, and Jason was able to creatively position them in ways that got customers interested again. His "outside the box" thinking has been a blessing for our business.

Judah M., Owner
Mansion Makers, San Diego, CA

What can I do for you?
Let's talk.

Tell me what you're launching, selling or trying to get noticed. I'll tell you honestly whether there's a story in it.