Statistically, your votes to congress do not have a high-correlation with actual policy (don't act surprised). Instead, corporate money tends to set the agenda.
This wasn't always the case. Before their decline, unions counter-balanced this influence. So we set out to understand how might we leverage technology to give a voice back to the people.
"For many, this election feels eerily like a circus show. Voices feel squashed, issues lie dead on the hill, and the confidence in our country’s leadership continues to waver. It’s time to give the power of voice and action back to the people.
Mimmer is an app that perfectly marries crowdfunding and community-based social media for political activism."
Kristyn Black
Hypepotamus, 2015
Marketing & Growth Strategy
Establish Credibility: Build a polished, approachable, partisan-neutral brand.
Seed Community: Partner with organizations & media with pre-existing user bases. Leverage election buzz.
Grow Community: Cross-market communities and build viral loops through cause activism.
Build habit triggers: When the news makes you angry, Mimmer becomes the hub for action.
Milestones
Achievements
Accomplished World-Class Design
Raised money for prototype
Formed a bipartisan board of former presidential campaign managers
Launched prototype with an organic wait list of over 20k
Results
Turns out that there are major headwinds to re-inventing American political system–who would have thought?
We ultimately achieved the milestones that we had set out for ourselves prior to seeking the next round of funding; however, we found that the unconventional nature of the 2016 election and subsequent administration injected too much extrinsic risk for early-stage investors.
Though we still believe in this concept, the political landscape today likely has more pressing issues at hand than counteracting corporate influence.