How to Run for President (of the United States)
Step one: register with the Federal Election Commission. (Estimated time: 48 hours.)
Pro-tip: when naming a presidential campaign, go for magnanimous, not humble e.g. no “Friends of Andrew Yang,” yes “Yang for America.”
Step two: register for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, start a bank account with this EIN, build an ActBlue donation page and boom, you’re in business. (Estimated: 2–4 weeks, depending on bank.)
Step three: build a nationwide movement with support from over 400,000 Americans, raise $40 million dollars, and outlast sitting senators, former governors, and other lifelong politicians. (Estimated time: TBD, but full disclosure it took us over two years.)
This Medium series will attempt to address step three, in detail, based on my experience from the front-row perspective of a major 2020 presidential campaign. Every stage of the campaign represents a distinct mindset and change of modus operandi on the campaign, so I will break up our experience into chunks to make it less unwieldy.
