FOUNDER OF THE MONTH
CONNER JOHNSTON
WARCHEST
BY Russell Nichols
The 2020 presidential election may be over , but the team at Warchest still has work to do . Founded by two staffers of U . S . Rep . Ami Bera ’ s 2012 campaign , this startup launched in 2017 with software to address cash flow problems of political campaigns .
“ Campaigns are a nonprofit , so they should be spending all the money by or on election day ,” says CEO Conner Johnston , who cofounded Warchest with Josh Wolf , president of the company . “ Obviously , you don ’ t want to spend more than you have . If you have money left over , those are resources that could ’ ve gone toward winning .”
This moving target is hard to hit with old-fashioned spreadsheets and physical documents sent between consultants , committee members and various staff . Inconsistent data can be costly . Warchest ’ s cloud-based software gives campaign managers the tools to optimize every dollar .
Based in the political hubs of Sacramento and Washington , D . C ., Warchest is now used nationwide by every competitive Democratic congressional campaign , hundreds of state legislative races and several senate races , Johnston says . This recent election cycle , he says , close to $ 1 billion have been budgeted through Warchest . ( Warchest has no plans to expand to Republican campaigns . Johnston says there are very few , if any , political tech tools available to campaigns on both sides .)
PHOTO BY TERENCE DUFFY
Budget for Change . My backup name for the startup was ..............................................
ski instructor . If I could have any other job , I ’ d be a ................................................
The book that best represents my approach to business would be ..... “ The Lean Startup ” by Eric Ries .
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never launching . My biggest fear about launching was ................................................
courage If I could give my younger self some advice , that would be .................. requires vulnerability . ..........................................................................................................
DO CAMPAIGNS PAY ONE TIME , OR IS IT SUBSCRIPTION-BASED ? “ It is a subscription service , month to month . The rate depends on the size and complexity of budget and number of users .”
IS THERE A LULL AFTER THE NATIONAL ELECTIONS ? “ It is true that we are most busy during even years , but there are actually elections every year , and we often have dozens of races during off-cycle years . We also have many on-cycle races starting to budget as early as spring ( 2021 ) for the 2022 election , so though there is a lull after November , it is not a long one .”
For more on Warchest , read Russell Nichols ’ Startup of the Month column at comstocksmag . com .
94 comstocksmag . com | February 2021