GoodParty.org

Hello, I hope that you are doing great.  Hard to believe that Memorial Day is just a week away! 

I spent part of the week out West in California.  One of the best aspects of trying to make the world a better place is meeting other people who are trying to do the same thing.  One of those people is Farhad Mohit, whom I interview on the podcast this week. 

Farhad’s story is incredible – he immigrated to the U.S. from Iran as a child to California.  Straight out of business school Farhad founded the consumer review website Bizrate and later the shopping search engine Shopzilla, both of which became big successes.  He then founded Flipagram, which was acquired in 2017 by ByteDance and combined with Musical.ly to create a little-known app called TikTok.  “I started one of the largest and fastest growing mobile apps of all time.” 

Farhad’s mind went to bigger challenges.  He concluded years ago that the American political system wasn’t going to lead to good things.  “It was years ago at TED.  I knew that the two existing parties weren’t going to lead to a desirable future for humanity.  I thought, why don’t we just start a new party?  But then I realized who I am and what I do.  I build tech tools.  Why don’t I start an organization that will build free tech tools for anyone running as an Independent so they can compete?” 

That organization became GoodParty.org, which Farhad founded and now describes himself as ‘full-time volunteer.’  “We want to empower the young brand new candidate to be able to compete with the establishment.  The majority of young people in particular don’t like the two parties.  Want a press release or fundraising email?  Our AI can produce that in moments.  Our toolkit is getting better all of the time.  And it’s totally free to any independent candidate.  More viable independent candidates mean less money in politics, less corruption, and more solutions.” 

Farhad is a patron of the arts and also founded Gifted Savings, a non-profit that is giving investments to adults in Ohio and high school seniors in Michigan so that they can create opportunities for themselves.  No wonder we get along. 

Yes, there’s a benevolent techie looking to level the playing field of politics.  “I have the benefit of having made enough money so I can just focus on what’s important for the future of humanity.  The symbol of GoodParty.org is a heart of love.  That’s what the world needs.”  GoodParty.org and Forward are teaming up to assist dozens – perhaps hundreds – of local candidates this cycle.  Can we deliver what most people want?  Farhad has made history a few times already – I wouldn’t bet against him doing it again. 

For my interview of Farhad click here.  To check out GoodParty.org tools click here.  To join Forward click here.  My TED Talk is now up to more than 650,000 views and I get positive messages about it every day – you can see it here.  Thank you for spreading the word!