SXSW Pitch Finalist: Votem
The Forrest Four-Cast: February 20, 2020
Paging Iowa elections officials! Votem promises to make voting more accessible, to restore trust in elections, and to serve election management bodies and their constituents.
One of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020, Votem is a revolutionary election management company that aims to give democracy back to the people. They leverage a blockchain-based mobile voting platform to let everyone’s voices be heard by making it easy to vote and nearly impossible to cheat.
Votem is a complete end-to-end platform that takes your organization from registration through to results and review. It provides election bodies with the ability to offer voter information, online/mobile registration, interactive online voting, absentee/remote voting, real-time vote counting, and the ability to audit the entire electronic chain-of-custody.
Their mission is to have 1 billion people around the world vote through the Votem platform using their mobile device by 2025.
As founding members of the Elections Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council (EISCC), and chair of their cybersecurity working group, Votem also advises the elections industry on cybersecurity best practices. Their work with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI means they have insider knowledge to guard your elections from the latest threats to the election ecosystem.
See Votum pitch in the category of Blockchain Technology (12:30 pm to 1:30 pm Sunday, March 15), before a live audience and a panel of expert judges.
Winners in each of the 10 categories will be announced at the Pitch Awards Ceremony, at 6:30 pm Sunday, March 15. SXSW attendees are also invited to Meet the Finalists from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Monday, March 16. All SXSW Pitch events take place at the Hilton Austin Downtown.
Votem Founder and CEO Pete Martin is a successful serial entrepreneur, with more than 25 years of experience in the technology business and enterprise-software space, and author of the upcoming book, “Sparking a Mobile Revolution: How Mobile Voting Will Change the World as We Know It.”
He talked about innovations in voting, drumming, and never giving up.
What is your top goal for Votem for 2020?
Support our customers this election season and grow the company.
Votem is based in Cleveland. Why Cleveland?
Why not?! It’s a GREAT city with amazing talent, a great culture, and lower operating costs than the coasts.
With the exception of Votem, what tech trend is your team most excited about?
The potential for blockchain to make elections more verifiable and less contested as well as AI/machine learning for fraud detection and a better voting experience.
What will be the most overhyped tech trend of 2020?
I think it’s still early days for both AI and blockchain, so there’s still a bit of hype for both, but the technologies are starting to find their way.
If you weren’t working for Votem, what would you be doing?
Helping other entrepreneurs in their journeys because it is very difficult starting and growing companies and it can be very lonely for the courageous women and men that do so.
What has the startup experience taught you about life?
Never give up. Being a five-time entrepreneur has taught me resilience and resourcefulness and knowing that there are going to be difficult and dark days and weeks — particularly when you are trying to disrupt an entrenched industry. With support from others, you can figure out a way around the constant potholes if you have the will and desire.
What do you think is the most overrated virtue?
I’d say diligence, only because I think we can get wrapped up in working hard and judging our worth by our hours versus the outcomes we produce. I am completely guilty of this myself and often look back on a long work day only to discover I didn’t make any real progress on the most important things.
Which talent would you most like to have?
To be able to drum like Neil Peart, drummer from Rush; RIP
What’s your actual super power?
Helping people realize the power that they have within themselves is what inspires me the most.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten — or given?
I have had so much advice given to me over my career, but I would have to say, “Always ask for help when, and preferably before, you need it.” I tend to want to solve problems on my own.
Tell us about something you love.
I’m a drummer in a rock band and I love music. I love listening to it, playing it and writing it, and my world generally melts away when I am jamming with my band, both when we are practicing and when we play gigs.
What do you do when you are low on energy?
I’m generally a pretty high energy guy, but sometimes I’ll drink green tea during the day if I’m low on energy and/or I’ll get up and walk around, use my standing desk, or just remove myself from wherever I am at the moment to regain my energy level.
Tell us about a memorable celebrity encounter.
It’s a long story but Ronnie Woods from the Rolling Stones at the Rock Hall Induction Ceremony in Cleveland.
If you were offered the opportunity to colonize Mars (but with no guarantee that you would ever return to Earth), would you go?
I wouldn’t go. I think it’s pretty wonderful here on Earth if you just look around and notice the beauty and caring of most people and things. (We) tend to focus on all of the bad and negative events around us. I refuse to buy into the narrative.
Look for more interviews with other finalists in this space between now and the start of SXSW Pitch on Saturday, March 14. Visit this page to see all previous interviews in this series as well as a list of all finalists.
If you are an entrepreneur, check out the SXSW 2020 Startups Track, which runs March 13–17. This track brings together founders and funders and showcases exciting new companies, products, services, and business models across different verticals and industries.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
