Justin Horwitz

Basic Info

• Role: Political Strategist (Democratic side) / Media Entrepreneur / CEO of Really American Media
• Location: Unknown (Connections in Illinois/Chicago)
• Friend of Gary Sheng and Mikey Gendel.
• Business: Founder and CEO of Really American Media network

Professional Background & Connections

• Highly connected in Democratic politics.
• Invited to the White House multiple times.
• Social media advisor to the Governor of Illinois and the Secretary of State.
• Involved in efforts to revitalize Chicago.
• Founder and CEO of Really American Media network
• Consultant for political figures including J.B. Pritzker ($25K/month), Nancy Pelosi, and others
• Built multiple media brands: Really American, US Democratic Socialists, Democratic Wins Media, Raw Story partnership
• Growing over 100,000 YouTube subscribers monthly
• Generating $30-50K/month from YouTube profit sharing
• Facebook operations generating $20-30K/month
• Described himself as "a scatterbrain creative"
• Self-identifies as a "pragmatic socialist"
• Building what he envisions as a major progressive media network

Interactions

• Mention (2025-04-18): Gary mentioned him as one of the high-profile friends he's flying into Austin.
• Mention (2025-04-20): Mentioned by Gary during a call with David Chang and Sofia Sunaga as a key political strategist attending the Wednesday dinner. Gary emphasized his role in handling the Democratic side of scaling Alpha Schools.
• Strategy Session (2025-04-23): Had lunch (Terry Black's BBQ) with Gary Sheng and Mikey Gendell. Provided significant strategic input on how Alpha Schools can gain traction in Democratic cities (Chicago, NYC) by targeting Black churches and community leaders (e.g., Pastor Brooks). Framed school choice as a community empowerment issue to counter teacher union influence. Discussed leveraging the Black Caucus and local organizing. Gary referred to him as the potential "Steve Bannon of the Democratic party" for Alpha. Discussed potentially extending his stay in Austin.
• Business Collaboration Call (2025-11-28): Deep discussion about Gary joining Really American Media as an AI consultant. Justin described his media empire's growth (200K+ monthly cross-platform growth) and operational challenges. Discussed Gary helping with AI automation for story identification, thumbnail creation, and content production. Justin offered hourly consulting arrangement with potential for board-level involvement. Conversation included nuanced discussion about Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nationalism, and the role of religious beliefs in politics. Gary revealed his recent Christian baptism and evolving political philosophy. Justin shared that Nathan (his Facebook operations lead) runs Christian pages with millions of followers. They agreed to start with Gary joining team meetings to understand operations before implementing AI solutions.
• AI Operations Meeting with Kenny Hesse (2025-12-01): Three-way meeting introducing Gary to Kenny Hesse, Justin's content producer. Focused on practical AI solutions for Really American Media operations. Key areas identified for automation: story identification/selection (particularly from X/Twitter), headline optimization, thumbnail generation, and scripting/outline creation. Kenny explained current manual process takes 30-45 minutes from download to upload, with thumbnails being a major bottleneck. Discussed spending patterns on X API ($200-15k/month depending on usage), accessing vidIQ data, and analyzing top performing channels (Midas Touch, Keith Edwards). Gary proposed building a bookmark tool for story ideas and thumbnail generator as initial deliverables. Kenny to provide thumbnail analysis examples and list of Twitter accounts they follow. Justin emphasized need to simplify and expedite all processes for scaling before 2028 election cycle.
• Christian App Collaboration Meeting with Nathan Brown (2025-12-10): Justin orchestrated meeting between Gary and Nathan to explore Christian media opportunities. Discovered Nathan's "Walking with Jesus" page shows 100% Trump support, exciting Justin about infiltrating "America First" movement. Justin proposed Gary as face of Christian app venture leveraging Nathan's massive Facebook audience. Discussed his mother's serious health situation (hemiplegia requiring bone marrow transplant), father kicked out of hospital for refusing to apologize to security. Gary offered to connect them with his pastor who has healing gifts, sharing testimony of rabbi who found peace through prayer. Justin expressed frustration with family's resistance to alternative healing approaches. Ended with commitment to develop Christian affirmations app together, with Justin joking "the Jew who put you as face of Christianity in America, it was me." Discussion included leveraging short-form content to build Gary's profile in Christian space, with Justin suggesting recording 30 videos monthly for Facebook reels.

Really American Media Business Details

Current Business Structure

• Really American: Main YouTube channel and umbrella brand
• US Democratic Socialists: Facebook-focused, generating $50K+/month revenue (Justin takes 35%)
• Raw Story: 50-50 partnership with legacy brand
• Democratic Wins Media: Collaboration with Ethan Wolf
• Union Proud Warrior: Additional media property
• Revenue Streams:
  • YouTube: $30-50K/month after profit sharing
  • Consulting: $25K/month (delegated work)
  • Facebook: $20-30K/month (farmed out)
• Growth: Over 100K YouTube subscribers/month, 40-50K Instagram followers/month
• Infrastructure: Building editing team (6-7 hosts), thumbnail creators, story researchers
• Vision: Building network model for 2028 election cycle ("most insane news cycle ever")

Operational Challenges

• Story identification and selection (particularly time-sensitive stories)
• Thumbnail and headline creation (currently takes 30-45 minutes)
• Production turnaround times
• Competing with AI-generated content (e.g., AI channels with celebrity voices)
• Need for data-driven decision making
• Scaling multi-platform presence
• A/B testing thumbnails and titles without analyzing the data
• Manual processes that could be automated

Potential Role in Alpha Ecosystem

• Lead political strategist for Alpha Schools, focusing on Democratic districts, blue states, and major cities (e.g., Chicago, NYC).
• Develop and execute strategies to navigate and overcome political opposition, particularly from teachers unions, by mobilizing community groups (especially Black churches).
• Act as a political "fixer" and potentially build coalitions with existing school choice advocates (e.g., Democrats for Education Reform, potentially Pastor Brooks).
• Could collaborate with Republican counterparts (like Samuel Armes) within the Alpha movement for a bipartisan push.
• Gary sees him as a "killer," "instigator," and founder type, aligned with Joe Liemandt's desired qualities, potentially for an executive role.

Strategic Value & Collaboration Areas

With Gary Sheng

• AI Consulting: Gary to help automate content operations (story selection, thumbnails, headlines)
• Board-level Advisory: Potential inclusion in network leadership structure
• Cross-Platform Religious Content: Leveraging Nathan's Christian pages for bridge-building content
• Data-Driven Operations: Implementing AI systems for guest selection, content performance prediction
• Initial Deliverables: Thumbnail generator tool, story idea bookmarking system, X API integration for story discovery
• Process Analysis: Gary to join team meetings to understand operational flow before implementing solutions

Key Quotes & Insights

• "I'm the boss. I did not consent for this to be recorded." (joking about meeting scheduling)
• "Pragmatic socialism, not this bullshit. Dude, like the DSA is only focused on Israel. I'm like, you guys even care about healthcare?"
• "Nationalism is the actual poison. The belief that because you are who you are or born where you are, you are superior to the people over there"
• "How do we turn this multi-platform, multi-brand beast into something that seamlessly grows as fast as humanly possible before 2028?"
• On AI competition: "How am I supposed to compete with George Clooney AI?"
• "Culture is everything" - regarding firing toxic employee after 48 hours

Personal Philosophy & Values

• Strong advocate for pragmatic progressive politics
• Critical of extreme left positions (particularly DSA's Israel focus)
• Values operational excellence and cultural fit in team building
• Jewish identity with nuanced views on Israel-Palestine conflict
• Believes in dialogue and long-form conversations for resolution
• Entrepreneurial mindset - has built business over a decade
• "Bleeding heart Jew" - acknowledges complexities of Jewish identity in current political climate

Personal Situation (December 2025)

• Mother's Health Crisis: Mother diagnosed with hemiplegia, supposed to be in remission but needs successful bone marrow transplant
• Family Dynamics: Father kicked out of hospital and banned for refusing to apologize to security - "This isn't about you, man"
• Openness to Alternative Healing: Referenced his own seizure disorder when parents tried everything including paying Catholic priests and Eastern medicine (Korean Chundosunbap)
• Current Struggle: Frustrated with family's resistance to non-conventional approaches: "that mindset is very dangerous"
• Gary's Support: Gary offered to fund trip for his pastor to come pray for healing, sharing testimonies of rabbi who found peace through prayer and cancer healings
• Reflection: "Life is short. Things change over time" - dealing with unexpected family crisis focus shifting from mother's illness to father's behavior

Transcripts

Transcript ID	Date	Summary
2025-12-10-gary-justin-nathan-christian-app-strategy	2025-12-10	Strategic meeting with Nathan Brown exploring Christian app development collaboration
2025-12-01-gary-justin-kenny-ai-operations	2025-12-01	AI automation strategy meeting for Really American Media operations with Kenny Hesse
2025-11-28-gary-justin-horwitz-ai-collaboration	2025-11-28	AI collaboration discussion for Really American Media automation and content strategy