Aristotle

Aristotle
Now You Know

Furthering the democratic process, regardless of political affiliation.

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Kyiv. Photo: Igor Kostin

Aristotle pioneered the twin engines of modern political campaigns: big-data voter analytics to win elections, and automated compliance software to keep them legal. Their tools have powered countless senatorial races, state parties, PACs, and every U.S. President since Ronald Reagan.

When we were first hired by Aristotle, a new wave of venture-backed firms had aggressively moved in to trash Aristotle’s flagship 'Campaign Manager' suite of products as "outdated packaged software." We were tasked with defending Aristotle's leadership position and launching key up-dates.

To defeat the clean-cut tech disruptors, we chose not to run from Aristotle’s history, but to weaponize it. We unearthed a heritage that Silicon Valley couldn’t match if they tried.

As a 21-year-old Princeton junior, co-founder John Aristotle Phillips designed an atomic bomb using nothing but public documents. Leveraging that overnight notoriety, John mounted a congressional run where his brother Dean revolutionized modern politics by coding the first campaign finance database on an Apple II computer—all while the political establishment was trapped in the IBM punch-card era.

We built a fierce, irreverent campaign around this battle-tested political DNA, and drew a line in the sand: you could trust unproven tech kids, or you could trust the original rebels who built the industry.

"Aristotle's ads tap into the world of K-Street, where idealism and cynicism mesh, and they juxtapose the gritty, real-life, roll-up-your-shirtsleeves-and-get-things-done-now existence of Campaign Managers, with an irreverent send up of their political masters."

Leslie Wayne, New York Times

Over the years, our partnership with Aristotle expanded into a series of high-stakes special projects. These ranged from launching a Prediction Market to supporting their efforts to secure free and fair elections in some of the world's most volatile hot zones.

UKRAINE: Aristotle deployed the independent voter exit-polling technology that exposed massive government election rigging. By sounding the alarm on interference, they provided the unarguable data that helped spark the historic pro-democracy protests known around the world as The Orange Revolution.

AFGHANISTAN: Working on the ground during the country's turbulent post-Taliban democratic transitions, Aristotle deployed advanced data analytics to detect and prevent widespread ballot fraud. By navigating highly volatile territories, they built the secure database frameworks required to get out the vote and ensure voter voice was accurately recorded.

In addition to his work in Ukraine and Afghanistan, John has personally witnessed severe abuses of power in Tunisia, Uganda, and Venezuela. But nothing could prepare him for Kenya, where Aristotle's relentless pursuit of election integrity put a target directly on his back.

Just days after a top Kenyan election official was tortured and murdered, a squad of masked, heavily armed men breached John's Nairobi residence. He was handcuffed, bundled into a vehicle, and driven out toward the jungle.

"One of Phillips' abductors passed a machine gun from the front seat to the back while another played a video on his phone that depicted torture and killings."

Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times

Following a tense standoff, top U.S. and Canadian diplomats successfully negotiated his release. By midnight, John was secured at the airport and escorted out of the country.

From what began as the vision of two brothers building the first campaign finance and reporting database, Aristotle is now famous for advancing the democratic process, regardless of political affiliation:

Media Legacy: Aristotle ads became part of political news stories, and were cited by major media outlets long after they had stopped airing.
Geopolitical Shift: Aristotle’s technology helped secure the historic, independent re-run ballot that saw Viktor Yushchenko elected President.
Sovereign Reconstruction: Aristotle's technology neutralized widespread ballot fraud to help secure Ashraf Ghani's victory in the post-Taliban Afghan presidential election.