Conversation with Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org
Eli Pariser, the founder of MoveOn.org, came to speak at my college today! Ends up that he was once a student here at Simon’s Rock, the Early College. Like the rest of us, he finished with a 4 year degree before he turned 20, and had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. Lucky enough, I was given the chance to introduce him to the audience 
It was funny to hear that he interviewed here as a theater major and ran the school magazine that I cut funding on. Somehow, he shifted from being a liberal arts theater geek into being a leader of a huge non-profit. How did that happen? Completely accidentally. He didn’t sit down with a few friends and decide to start a non-profit. He was a techie and set up an online petition calling for a non-military response to 9/11. Within a few weeks, half a million people signed the petition. By November, he was asked to join what is now MoveOn.org.
I found it especially interesting that he said:
“It’s not all about a candidate. It’s also a movement… Change cannot just be done by a president.”
That goes to show that Americans (and organizations) love placing responsibility and blame on one person. Our president sucks not only because he’s an inefficient leader, but also because he has an inadequate team. Whether or not you agree with his policies deserves a whole different argument, but it can be seen that he’s failed at being the “CEO” of our country. If we want true change to happen, we can’t just elect a new president. People who truly believe in an objective must continue to work with a leader to accomplish its necessary goals.
Image of Pariser with students in Simon’s Rock College’s Formal Lounge. Credit to Ryan Shepherd
We read about Eli Pariser in the news quite often. I’ve seen his name mentioned in Valleywag, the NY Times, and CNN dozens of times. Many people hate him and MoveOn.org for their views on politics. So I asked him, “how do you deal with people shit talking you all the time?” It comes down to fulfilling an objective. He isn’t on this planet to be liked. He’s working for a specific cause. I then asked whether or not he believes all press is good press. “OF COURSE NOT!” The point of having press for MoveOn.org is to spark discussion and to get the press going back and forth about those discussions. Looking at this from a marketing perspective, you’re definitely getting 10X what you paid for when you spark the right questions. When the press continues to mention you over and over again for a question you asked or discussion you sparked, you’re getting free coverage.
How about getting people to join a movement? He took psychology here at Simon’s Rock with the same professor I took psychology class, and he was quick to mention cognitive dissonance and the “foot in the door technique.”
“By making someone sign a petition, they’re not just signing their name on a piece of paper. They’re identifying themselves with a certain issue. They sign a petition, they volunteer, and they move up the ladder. A successful movement involves matriculating people up that ladder. It sometimes gets tricky because leaders need a balance between moving followers up the ladder VS finding a bigger base of supporters”
Does this quote remind you of anything? Running a business, duh! Back when I ran a dedicated server hosting business, my co-founders and I had to find the right balance between growth and maintenance. When to focus on current customers and when to focus on finding new customers. It’s always an on-going conflict, and that’s where staff recruiting comes in!
On another note, Pariser made a huge emphasis on listening to your followers. Take into account everything they say and let them help you lead. If he had it his way, he’d be running a site that did only what he wanted, but that would be impractical and inefficient. Even as a leader, you continue to learn.
Of course, Pariser hasn’t had a perfect streak. We all hear about how he is the executive director at MoveOn.org, but he tried leading tens of other projects that didn’t go anywhere. It’s almost as if the press frames his life story as something that grew overnight. He developed as a person and he learned how to lead by managing many different campus projects, activities, and events.
I think it’s safe to say that he’s doing pretty well for himself… putting his personal finances aside, Eli Pariser is leading a project that has over 3 million members, that has raised over $100M, and is super passionate about the cause he’s fighting for a cause he believes in.
Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She’s currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, and Jessicamah.com. In her free time, she enjoys the prospect of being an underage angel investor while partying like a rock star.