I built a bipartisan SaaS platform for local political campaigns from zero. No funding, no co-founder playbook, no safety net. Just a question worth answering and the resourcefulness to ship it.
It started with a simple question while watching The West Wing: how do small campaigns actually function in an increasingly digital world? The big campaigns have millions in funding and access to enterprise software. But what about the person running for city council or school board for the first time? They're running operations out of spreadsheets, personal phones, and disconnected tools, if they have tools at all.
At the time, I was working as a Technical Sourcer at Google during the day and finishing my MBA at night. The question wouldn't leave me alone. So between 10pm and 2am most nights, I started building the answer.
Most people watch a show and move on. I watched one and started a company.
Virtual Campaignr was designed to do two things: teach first-time candidates how to run for local office and give them the software to actually do it. No other platform combined education with execution at an accessible price point.
Step-by-step guidance on how to run a local campaign from filing paperwork to election day
Built on public voter records so candidates could manage outreach, track contacts, and segment voters
Track donations, manage expenditures, and stay compliant with reporting requirements
Organize volunteer teams, assign tasks, and coordinate campaign operations
Automated alerts for filing deadlines, reporting windows, and key election dates
Everything a first-time candidate needed in one place instead of six disconnected tools
I assembled and led a founding team that brought together the skills the company needed. A product designer who helped shape the platform from day one. A campaign manager and communications director from one of the major political parties who brought real operational knowledge. Outside legal counsel to navigate campaign finance compliance. And shortly before launch, a marketing lead who joined on equity to drive go-to-market.
For engineering, I evaluated three third-party development firms, assessed the quality of the systems they proposed, and selected the partner that could deliver what we needed within our constraints. I managed that relationship end-to-end across time zones that stretched from Croatia to Colorado. I worked when others had time to work, and moved my own tasks forward in between.
For over a year, Virtual Campaignr was a side project built between 10pm and 2am after full days at Google and evening MBA classes. Then in early 2023, I was laid off from Google. That same month, I finished my MBA.
So I went all in. Virtual Campaignr became my full-time job from February 2023 through the end of the 2024 political season. Every dollar was self-funded. We had minimal cash on hand and had to be scrappy with every decision: vendor selection, tooling, scope, timeline. There was no room for waste, which meant there was no room for anything but the right priorities.
We were entirely underfunded from the start. We still made it to the finish line and delivered a platform capable of competing with the resourced giants in the space.
We built Virtual Campaignr on a principle: more voices should enter the race. Party politics have historically been less important in local elections, and we wanted to serve any candidate regardless of affiliation. That meant building a bipartisan company.
Both major parties wanted us to share our voter data. We refused. We believed candidates should own their own data and their own campaigns. That decision cost us. Party-backed candidates were discouraged from using our platform, which made growth significantly harder. But it was the right call, and I'd make the same decision again.
We tested through our networks: friends, family, political operatives, and candidates across our founding team's connections. Campaigns used the platform in real elections. But without the funding to make the improvements and iterations we needed to take another swing, I made the decision to shut it down.
That decision was harder than starting the company in the first place. But it taught me something critical: knowing when to stop is just as important as knowing when to start.
Starting something from nothing taught me how to be resourceful with little to no money. I carry that founder mindset into every problem I touch.