Robbie Robinette

President, Better Choices for Democracy

Robbie Robinette is an entrepreneur and democracy advocate based in Austin, Texas. In 2001, after founding a series of successful technology companies, Robbie applied his background in physics, machine learning, and modeling dynamic systems to trading markets. As founder and President of RGM Advisors, Robbie and his partners grew a firm founded in his living room into one of the largest proprietary trading firms in the world. Over 17 years, RGM used machine learning to analyze market data and trade trillions of dollars of equities, currencies, and futures in American, European, and Asian markets.

After selling RGM in 2017, Robbie began to apply his background in modeling and complex systems to the mathematics driving our political systems and polarization. Candidates behave the way they do because it works. But why does it work? And how can we improve that? Most of all, Robbie wants to reform our elections so that when candidates act in their self-interest, they act in the public interest.

Answering these questions has driven Robbie to engage with experts in the field and to publish papers on public choice theory. Where the preexisting academic work focused on the mathematics of the election system itself, Robbie has developed models to explain the profound implications of election systems on the societies they govern.

Robbie has worked with San Diego, Georgia, and Alaska reform organizations to implement election systems that are consistent with Consensus Choice Voting. He has also given lectures on public choice and factionalism at The University of Texas and Virginia Tech.

Robbie also sits on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Non-Partisan Reformers.