The Democratic Party’s most hated startup can’t change what happened in Iowa. But it can change its name.

Shadow, the startup behind the catastrophic Iowa caucuses earlier this year, has quietly rebranded itself and brought in new leadership to help chart a new, more focused direction in 2020.
What was once called Shadow, Inc. is now called BlueLink, a recent restructuring that was almost certainly necessary after Shadow became embroiled in controversy for creating the flawed and hastily built app that sowed confusion and significantly delayed the reporting of the results of Iowas Democratic caucuses. Its part of an attempt by the company to move past a massive blunder that not only jeopardized Shadow the company, but also cast shadows over the Democratic Partys tech and Silicon Valley donors abilities to bring their know-how to the party.
If theres ever a time for a rebrand, its CEO, Gerard Niemira, told Recode, this is it.
Niemira and Shadows majority investor, a constellation of progressive political groups called ACRONYM, became some of the most despised forces in Democratic politics after the apps technical difficulties in February delayed results for a week and robbed the caucus winners of their momentum. Now, ahead of the general election when the Democratic Party will need its digital efforts to prove error-free the group is trying to move forward.
Obviously when something like Iowa happens, its important to take stock, Niemira said.
He is also now bringing on more help. Irene Tollinger, a Silicon Valley designer and product executive, has joined the company as its chief operating officer, and will oversee what the startup is hoping will be a return to its foundational work: integrating data for campaigns neatly into one place, rather than developing caucus apps beyond its expertise. Niemira said he was talking to Tollinger who calls herself an untangler of thorny problems in her Twitter bio before the Iowa screw-up, but she is expected to oversee its main business line, the data work, called LightRail, going forward.
The other pillar of Shadows work, software that allows campaigns to text voters and volunteers, wont be a priority after the November elections because of the crowd of other progressive vendors that have begun offering similar services, Niemira said. Hes also vowing to kill one-off projects like the Iowa app.
My cardinal sin with the Iowa stuff was distracting the team, he said.
But even with a more focused company, its not clear that the startup that brought you the Iowa caucuses will be able to escape its history. ACRONYM remains its majority investor, Niemira said. But its unknown whether Shadow will have more financial support from ACRONYM, or that of other donors, going forward. And while lines like When a light is shining, Shadows are a constant companion, have been scrubbed from its website, Niemira seemed well aware that partners will easily be able to figure out that the company remains essentially the same product in a new wrapper.
Its a cover, he acknowledged with a knowing laugh, that is pretty thin. But thats better than continuing to run one of the most hated brands in Democratic politics.
It wasnt fun for me personally, I can tell you that. It remains not fun, he said of what happened in Iowa. But you got to get up and do the work every day, whether its coronavirus, bad press, or anything else that comes your way.
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