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Fiscal Note

Website:

fiscalnote.com/
Location:

Washington, DC
Type:

Data Analytics Consulting
Formation:

2013
CEO:

Tim Hwang

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Fiscal Note (sometimes written as FiscalNote) is a publicly traded software and programming company that compiles and summarizes laws and regulations. Its clients include for-profit companies, nonprofit advocacy groups, lobbying firms, nongovernmental organizations, and others. Fiscal Note is based in Washington, D.C., with offices in the United Kingdom, Belgium, India, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia.

Co-founder Tim Hwang’s vision for impacting politics has been compared to the impact of sabermetrics on professional baseball as popularized in the book and film Moneyball. Hwang has said: “Our goal is to try and create a technology platform that aggregates every law and every regulation that governs all of humanity in every country on the planet.” In another interview, he stated Fiscal Note’s goal was to “enable the top attorney at McDonald’s to immediately understand every single law and regulation pertaining to their industry.” 1

History

Fiscal Note was conceived by Tim Hwang when he was an elected member of the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland. Hwang found it difficult to find easily digestible summaries of laws and regulations at the local, state, and federal levels of government. Hwang also wrote a program to aggregate and rank how well top websites abided by their privacy policies and found that most were not in compliance. The two experiences inspired Wang to apply data analytics to politics. In 2013, at age 21, Hwang and two childhood friends, Gerald Yao and Jonathan Chen, established Fiscal Note. 2 3 4 5

Early investors in Fiscal Note included Jerry Yang, New Enterprise Associates, and Mark Cuban. The company raised $7 million in its Series A funding, and $10 million in its Series B. 6 7 8

In 2015, Fiscal Note acquired MyCandidate to expand into South Korea. 9

In 2017, Fiscal Note acquired Voter Voice, a similar company with 1,100 clients. 10

By 2018, Fiscal Note had 1,300 clients and had raised $50 million in investments. 11

Services

Fiscal Note’s services are divided between 30 platforms across seven domains: public policy and issues management, advocacy, constituent services, geopolitical and market intelligence, communities, data and intelligence, and ESG (environment, service, and governance). Platforms include Oxford Analytica, CQ Federal, and Congressional Directories. 12

Fiscal Note platforms are supplied with data and analysis from a team of researchers utilizing data from hundreds of government websites, including the Congressional Budget Office and the Congressional Research Service. In 2018, Fiscal Note had 46 researchers with contact information on 78,000 elected officials “and every regulation from every US regulatory agency going back 110 years.” 13

Prices for Fiscal Note’s services range from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a year of access to databases and analytics. 14

Clients

Fiscal Note’s corporate clients have included Southwest Airlines, Toyota, the Data Coalition, the Zoldak Agency, 15 7-Eleven, Chevron, Nestle, Lenovo, and Susan G. Komen. 16

Fiscal Note’s nonprofit clients have included the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Lupus Foundation of America, 17 and the Arthritis Foundation. 18

Fiscal Note’s industry association clients have included the Mortgage Bankers Association, the News Media Alliance, and the Cruise Lines International Association. 19

Fiscal Note’s government clients have included the Tulsa Regional Chamber 20 and the White House. 21

Leadership

Tim Hwang

Fiscal Note co-founder and CEO Tim Hwang is a co-founder and chairman of Nitra, a business purchasing card for medical companies and of Ownerific, a fintech firm that helps companies establish savings accounts for employees designed for home purchasing. Hwang is a founding partner at Inauguration Capital, a technology investment company. In 2016, Hwang was named a technology pioneer of the World Economic Forum. 22

Hwang was inspired to launch Fiscal Note while serving as a member of the Montgomery County Board of Education. At age 15, he worked as a youth regional organizer for then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama’s (D-IL) presidential campaign. 23 24

Gerald Yao

Co-founder, chief strategy officer, and global head of ESG (environment, social, and governance), Gerald Yao is also a leadership team member of the Diversity in Government Relations Coalition. He previously worked as director of finance at the National Youth Association, as a senior partner at Articulance Consulting Group, and as a founding member of Operation Fly, a homeless advocacy group. Yao also founded Armita Dessert Decorations, an edible decorations company. 25

Yao was the media and communications director on Hwang’s campaign for the Montgomery County Board of Education. Prior, Yao briefly worked as a research assistant for the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health. 26

Todd Aman

Co-founder, general counsel, and secretary Todd Aman is a senior director at FLIR Systems, a thermal imaging technology company. He formerly worked as assistant general counsel and secretary for Gannett, the parent company of USA Today, and as an associate at Hogan Lovells. 27

Board of Directors

Members of Fiscal Note’s board of directors include retired U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, GPO Fund co-founder Key Compton, Xplorer Capital co-founder Keith Nilsson, and AS1 Growth Partners co-founder Conrad Yiu. 28

Advisory Board

Fiscal Note’s advisors have included President Barack Obama’s (D) White House Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu 29 and former U.S. Representative Glenn Nye (D-VA). 30

Criticism

Lorelei Kelly of the Resilient Democracy Coalition at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center, and Tim LaPira, the founder of OpenSecrets, have criticized Fiscal Note for charging high prices which they claim permit well-funded advocacy groups to earn influence more effectively at the expense of poorer groups that cannot afford Fiscal Note’s services. 31

References

  1. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
  2. “Tim Hwang.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/timthwang/.
  3. “About.” Fiscal Note. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.influencewatch.org/person/barack-obama/.
  4. “FiscalNote Founder: This Is What Happened When I Cold Emailed Mark Cuban.” Inc. March 1, 2023. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.inc.com/quora/fiscalnote-founder-this-is-what-happened-when-i-cold-emailed-mark-cuban.html.
  5. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
  6. “Tim Hwang.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/timthwang/.
  7. “About.” Fiscal Note. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.influencewatch.org/person/barack-obama/.
  8. “FiscalNote Founder: This Is What Happened When I Cold Emailed Mark Cuban.” Inc. March 1, 2023. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.inc.com/quora/fiscalnote-founder-this-is-what-happened-when-i-cold-emailed-mark-cuban.html.
  9. [1] Miller, Ben. “FiscalNote Acquires Advocacy Platform VoterVoice.” Government Technology. August 3, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.govtech.com/biz/fiscalnote-acquires-advocacy-platform-votervoice.html.
  10. Miller, Ben. “FiscalNote Acquires Advocacy Platform VoterVoice.” Government Technology. August 3, 2017. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.govtech.com/biz/fiscalnote-acquires-advocacy-platform-votervoice.html
  11. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
  12. “Products.” Fiscal Note. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://fiscalnote.com/about.
  13. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
  14. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
  15. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
  16. “Fiscal Note.” Fiscal Note. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://fiscalnote.com/.
  17. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
  18. “Fiscal Note.” Fiscal Note. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://fiscalnote.com/.
  19. “Why VoterVoice?” Voter Voice. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://info.votervoice.net/why-votervoice.
  20. “Why VoterVoice?” Voter Voice. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://info.votervoice.net/why-votervoice.
  21. “Fiscal Note.” Fiscal Note. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://fiscalnote.com/.
  22. “Tim Hwang.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/timthwang/.
  23. “Tim Hwang.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/timthwang/.
  24. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
  25. “Gerald Yao.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldyao/.
  26. “Gerald Yao.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldyao/.
  27. “Todd Aman.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-aman-33466929/details/experience/.
  28. “Leadership.” Fiscal Note. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://fiscalnote.com/fiscalnote-leadership.
  29. “Chris Lu.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-lu-159998111/.
  30. “Glenn Nye.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-nye/.
  31. Zaleski, Andrew. “Tim Hwang’s FiscalNote is revolutionizing Washington lobbying with big data.” Technology Review. August 13, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/13/2207/tim-hwangs-fiscalnote-is-revolutionizing-washington-lobbying-with-big-data/.
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Fiscal Note


Washington, DC