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At 2 p.m. on November 6, 2012, , the chief analytics officer of 鈥檚 campaign, was sweating. The results were starting to come in.

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Wagner bet $25 million, or about 2.5 percent of the campaign鈥檚 entire budget, on his approach to polling, targeted advertising, and community research.

We know how that day ended for Obama, but for Wagner, Obama’s re-election ended with a conversation between him and , then-executive chairman of and previous CEO of Google, for plans to start a new company: .

Wagner is not alone in transitioning from government to entrepreneurship. Take , founder of , and former director of analytics during Obama鈥檚 2008 campaign. Or , co-founder of , and former U.S. Chief Technology officer. Other founders and entrepreneurs have blossomed out of Obama鈥檚 team, tackling a mix of issues from modernized notaries to web experimentation.

The transition from the political field to a startup makes sense, Civis Analytics鈥� Wagner said, because campaigns are a 鈥渉ard exercise that requires a lot of willingness to be wrong, and willingness to face reasonable amounts of humiliation.鈥�

To rewind, Obama鈥檚 campaign is regarded as one of the most advanced campaigns of all time. The campaign’s efforts mobilized (more on its early days ). Barack Obama鈥檚 office did not respond to press inquiries.

For Siroker, the founding of Optimizely was a result of his time as director of analytics during Obama鈥檚 2008 campaign.

The company, which helps companies experiment with their digital web presence, just raised a $50 million Series D and employs over 500 people.

Another company is Blue State Digital, led by Joe Rospars. It focuses on digital strategy and company campaigns. Rospars was previously the principal digital strategist within Obama鈥檚 2008 and 2012 campaigns, and is currently unavailable for comment due to his involvement within the Elizabeth Warren campaign.

鈥淧eople don鈥檛 just vote on Election Day鈥攖hey vote every day with their wallets, with their time, with their clicks and posts and tweets. By reimagining organizations鈥� relationships with their most important supporters and customers, we help our clients transform their businesses and scale their impact,鈥� Blue State Digital鈥檚 website reads.

, Rospars said that campaigns have a 鈥渇ocus on getting ordinary people involved and giving them as much responsibility and ownership of the campaign as possible.鈥�

Moving from the nerdy back room of an analytics campaign to a 500-person company raising venture capital is, I imagine, quite a learning curve. However, Michael Chodos, who helped kickstart after working in the Obama administration, said it helps founders 鈥渞eally understand system-based change.鈥�

鈥淚f somebody were to ask you or anybody how do governments actually change鈥攊t鈥檚 a total black box for most folks,鈥� said Chodos, who worked for the Small Business Administration. 鈥淪o the first thing that government service does is show you how things actually work.鈥�

Chodos said time within government helps individuals answer hard questions. How do you build a coalition? How do you move technology forward? How does government regulate and influence things you鈥檙e working on?

鈥淓very campaign is a startup, they basically move fast, break things, get stuff done,鈥� said Chodos 鈥淔igure out the goal, with constant, constant iteration.鈥�

For Wagner, moving fast brought him a winning campaign, and the chance to lead a company that鈥檚 raised as his initial $25 million bet. As far as return on investment goes, that鈥檚 some speedy, sweaty success.

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