A Starting Point
A Starting Point is a privately held video-based civic engagement platform founded in 2019 by Chris Evans, Mark Kassen, and Joe Kiani, delivering bipartisan video content from U.S. elected officials to American citizens via web and mobile apps. The platform operates free for users with no disclosed revenue model.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What A Starting Point does
A Starting Point is a privately held civic engagement platform that delivers video-based political content from U.S. elected officials to American citizens. Founded in 2019 by actor Chris Evans, producer Mark Kassen, and technology entrepreneur Joe Kiani, the company operates a direct-to-consumer platform accessible via a responsive website and native mobile applications on iOS and Android. The platform's content is organized into modular formats: two-minute "Starting Points" answers to common civic questions, timely "Daily Points" commentary on current events, bipartisan "Counterpoints" debates, in-depth "Explores," expert "Chats," and "Campus Conversations" for student engagement. Content is categorized across eight policy domains: Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Health, Immigration, International, and Rights.
The underlying technology is a content management system that allows elected officials to submit and publish video responses, organized by topic and political affiliation. The platform supports user registration with representative matching by address, personalized content following, topic customization, and social sharing across Facebook, X (Twitter), email, and embed codes. An integrated Election Hub provides voter registration status checking, polling place lookup, absentee ballot requests, and ballot information lookup. The platform has accumulated 47+ pages of Daily Points content and features contributions from elected officials across multiple U.S. states and both major political parties (27+ pages of contributor profiles). Dana Brown serves as Chief Content Officer.
The business model is not publicly disclosed. The platform is free for end users with no subscription tiers, advertising, or monetization mechanism documented in available materials. The company operates as A Starting Point LLC, a California-domiciled entity headquartered at 1626 Wilcox Avenue, Suite 104, Los Angeles. There is no evidence of external institutional investment, private equity involvement, or acquisition activity. Ownership remains concentrated among the three co-founders. The company has no disclosed partnerships, certifications, patents, or regulatory actions.
A Starting Point firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- A Starting Point
- Legal name
- A Starting Point LLC
- Website
- https://astartingpoint.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- A Starting Point is a privately held video-based civic engagement platform founded in 2019 by Chris Evans, Mark Kassen, and Joe Kiani, delivering bipartisan video content from U.S. elected officials to American citizens via web and mobile apps. The platform operates free for users with no disclosed revenue model.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
A Starting Point industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Civic Engagement Platform
- NAICS
- Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)
- SIC
- Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Generalist Short-Form Video Social Platforms (MPACAHAA)
Keywords
Where A Starting Point is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
A Starting Point business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Platform Operations (Undisclosed): The revenue model is not explicitly disclosed. The platform appears to be free for users, with revenue generation mechanisms not specified in available public materials.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free Platform Access |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
A Starting Point product offering
Product offeringCore offering
A Starting Point (ASP) is a video-based civic engagement platform that publishes short-form videos from U.S. elected officials across both major political parties on topics such as the economy, education, environment, government, health, immigration, international affairs, and rights. It organizes content into multiple editorial formats (Starting Points, Daily Points, Counterpoints, Explores, Chats, Campus Conversations) and bundles voter-services tools via an Election Hub. Distribution is via website, iOS and Android mobile apps, and an email newsletter.
Product overview
A Starting Point (ASP) is a video-based civic engagement platform that creates a bipartisan channel of communication between Americans and their elected officials. The platform operates as a unified content ecosystem centered on video-based political content, comprising multiple content modules: Starting Points (two-minute answers to common questions), Daily Points (news commentary), Counterpoints (bipartisan debates), Explores (in-depth discussions), Chats (expert discussions), and Campus Conversations (student-lawmaker dialogues). Additional offerings include an Election Hub for voter resources, a Contributors directory, and an ASP Newsletter. The platform is accessible via web and mobile applications for iOS and Android. ASP was co-founded by Chris Evans, Mark Kassen, and technology entrepreneur Joe Kiani, with Dana Brown serving as Chief Content Officer.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Starting Points
Companies that use A Starting Point
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
A Starting Point technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
A Starting Point partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
A Starting Point competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Vote.org: Non-partisan voter registration and turnout platform offering registration status, polling place lookup, and absentee ballot tools. Directly overlaps with ASP's Election Hub and shares a similar non-partisan civic engagement mission.
- iCivics: Non-partisan civic education organization founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, providing games and curriculum to teach U.S. government. Comparable in its bipartisan, education-first approach to civic engagement, with stronger classroom distribution.
- Ballotpedia: Non-partisan online encyclopedia of U.S. politics covering candidates, elections, and policy. Highly comparable to ASP's mission of providing balanced, accessible political information to American citizens, with deeper encyclopedic depth but less video content.
- Rock the Vote: Non-partisan organization focused on registering and mobilizing young voters. Comparable voter-registration functionality and youth-engagement positioning, with a stronger organizing and advocacy bent.
- When We All Vote: Non-partisan voter turnout organization co-founded by Michelle Obama. Comparable in driving civic participation through celebrity-led awareness, mirroring ASP's celebrity-founder engagement model.
- C-SPAN: Non-profit public service providing unfiltered coverage of U.S. government proceedings. Comparable in its non-partisan positioning and video-first format, though focused on live legislative coverage rather than explanatory content.
- TurboVote: Non-partisan voter registration and election reminder tool now part of Democracy Works. Direct overlap with ASP's Election Hub on registration, polling lookup, and absentee ballot requests.
- Civics Unplugged: Non-partisan civic education nonprofit focused on high school and college students. Highly comparable in target demographic, with stronger fellowship programming and less video production than ASP.
Emerging players
- Crooked Media: Progressive political media company (Pod Save America, etc.) producing podcasts, video, and newsletters. Comparable in direct-to-consumer political content and multi-format strategy, but with a partisan, audience-aligned model that differs from ASP's bipartisan positioning.
- PragerU: Video-first political content platform reaching tens of millions of users, but with a clearly conservative perspective. Comparable in short-form political video format and direct-to-consumer model, though positioned opposite ASP's bipartisan stance.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
A Starting Point social profiles
Digital presenceA Starting Point financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
A Starting Point leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
A Starting Point funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
A Starting Point M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about A Starting Point
What does A Starting Point do?
A Starting Point (ASP) is a video-based civic engagement platform that publishes short-form videos from U.S. elected officials across both major political parties on topics such as the economy, education, environment, government, health, immigration, international affairs, and rights. It organizes content into multiple editorial formats (Starting Points, Daily Points, Counterpoints, Explores, Chats, Campus Conversations) and bundles voter-services tools via an Election Hub. Distribution is via website, iOS and Android mobile apps, and an email newsletter.
Is A Starting Point a public or private company?
A Starting Point is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was A Starting Point founded?
A Starting Point was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is A Starting Point based?
A Starting Point is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does A Starting Point make money?
One revenue line is on record: platform Operations (Undisclosed).
Who are A Starting Point's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Vote.org, iCivics, Ballotpedia, Rock the Vote, When We All Vote, C-SPAN, TurboVote and Civics Unplugged. Emerging players are Crooked Media and PragerU.
Does A Starting Point have an API?
No public API is recorded for A Starting Point.
What industry is A Starting Point in?
A Starting Point's product category is Civic Engagement Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAHAA, Generalist Short-Form Video Social Platforms. Its NAICS code is 51621 and its SIC code is 7812.