Apr 18, 2025, 6:30 AM ETInterview, Fireside Chat, Podcast

Inside the $350M Pelosi Stock Tracker

Autopilot, formerly a Nancy Pelosi stock tracker, is a venture-backed, multi-billion dollar outcome company with a focus on democratizing access to expert investment strategies.
The company has achieved 2.5 million app downloads and maintains six figures in active subscribers.
Current assets under management (AUM) connected to the platform total $500 million, with $6 billion in total connected assets (including retirement accounts).
Revenue has reached eight figures annually, growing month-over-month without a single down month.
The platform serves as a broker-agnostic social investing tool allowing users to connect accounts from Robinhood, Webull, Fidelity, and Schwab to follow expert portfolios.

The company is transitioning from a single-political-figure focus to a creator economy model, partnering with influencers to build their own tradable portfolios on the platform.
Creator partnerships utilize a revenue-share model where creators receive a percentage of subscription fees from users following their portfolios.
Half a million dollars in creator payouts have already been distributed, with 30–40 creators waiting to launch.
Organic social media growth is driven by a small team of three (including two primary creators) achieving 70 million monthly impressions across Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit.
The Pelisi Tracker account specifically has 1.1 million followers, while the Instagram account "Politician Trade Tracker" commands 1 million followers.
Growth tactics rely on "social growth engineering," where the team identifies viral cultural trends (e.g., Ghibli art style, AI experiments) and adapts them to financial content to drive downloads.
Chris Josephs attributes early success to "getting lucky" with the polarizing nature of the Pelosi tracker but emphasizes the need to build a sustainable business beyond one figure.

The STOCK Act of 2009 was passed following public outcry over politicians trading on knowledge of the 2008 financial crisis; it requires filing trades within 45 days, creating a significant lag for real-time tracking.
Richard Burr (R-NC) is highlighted as a key example of alleged insider trading; he sold $1.4 million of his retirement portfolio weeks before a market crash while publicly urging calm via a WSJ op-ed.
Burr's brother-in-law also liquidated stocks days after Burr's sale, and Burr was investigated by the SEC and FBI but faced no charges before retiring.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has been identified as buying stocks immediately after Trump's tariff announcement and again after the tariffs were paused, though filing delays obscure many other politicians' actions.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Bernie Sanders are actively pushing for legislation to ban politicians from trading stocks; a rally in Los Angeles recently drew 40,000 participants.
86% of Americans reportedly support banning politicians from trading stocks.
The "Pelosi Act," co-sponsored by Josh Hawley and John Ossoff, proposed a ban on stock trading, a divestment requirement for private investments by politicians, and a timeline for spouses to file trades by 2027-2028.
The private investment divestment clause of the Pelosi Act creates complex liquidity challenges for politicians with small businesses or startups (e.g., JD Vance, Kamala Harris).

Nancy Pelosi's portfolio, which had $350 million following her trades on Autopilot as of the interview, has historically outperformed the S&P 500 significantly (up 54% last year, 80% at one point during the tracking period).
Most politicians tracked follow a "buy and hold" strategy, often buying the dip and holding tech-heavy portfolios (e.g., NVIDIA, Apple, Google).
Dan Crenshaw's portfolio has been tracked as up approximately 60% since the tracking period began, with holdings including Meta, Wynn Resorts, and the S&P 500.
Recent Pelosi trades included positions in Tempus AI (market cap grew from ~$4B to ~$9B) and Vistra (AI-focused).
The company highlights that missing the 10 best trading days of the year reduces annualized returns to 3.3% versus the historical average of 9.8%, emphasizing the risk of emotional trading.

Autopilot has raised approximately $6–7 million to date, including investments from Craft Venture Partners, Nomad Ventures, Next Fund, Path VC, and Incline Ventures.
Nomad Ventures (Chris and James) invested during the "Iris" phase (pre-pivot) and provide weekly operational guidance on scaling and compliance.
The company has remained capital efficient and has not announced a Series A yet, preferring to wait for the right strategic partner in the fintech/political space.
Investors are fully supportive of the company's bipartisan stance and media appearances, including Tucker Carlson and Tom Billey.

The company views the current volatility caused by political tariffs and market cycles as evidence that retail investors need automated, long-term strategies to avoid emotional decision-making.
Autopilot aims to restore trust in institutions by advocating for a ban on politician trading, arguing that distrust in politicians cascades into distrust of all institutions.
The team is exploring the integration of prediction markets (e.g., Polymarket, Kalshi) to help users navigate political outcomes and cut through social media noise.
The product philosophy draws inspiration from Apple (simplicity), Duolingo (fun/humor), and Brex (data-centric B2B dashboards).
Forward-looking goals include evolving the brand from a "Pelosi Tracker" to a full-scale marketplace for creator-led portfolios, acknowledging the risk of pivoting away from their current viral success.