Most political movements have a hierarchy. The Astroturf Network is no different. At the top are billionaires like hedge fund manager William Obendorf, crypto chief Chris Larsen and onetime venture capitalist Michael Moritz.

Further down sits Y Combinator Chief Executive Garry Tan. Until recently, his greatest contribution has been to organize other Silicon Valley executives and ideologues, many of whom wish to curry favor with the man behind the largest technology incubator in the world. Much of Tan’s organizing has been limited to Twitter/X where he serves up a mixture of geeky advice and political rants to some 1 million followers.

Tan’s ready to further raise his profile. He’s increased his political donations, which had been relatively modest when compared to many of his Silicon Valley brethren. In the spring, he gave $76,000 to the campaign to oppose the Overpaid CEO Tax on the June 2026 ballot. He donated another $10,000 to District 2 candidate supervisorial candidate Stephen Sherrill’s. He dabbled in statewide politics, donating $40,000 to Matt Mahan’s failed gubernatorial campaign. He has promised to use his financial might to fight the Billionaire Tax Act on the November 2026 ballot.

In December, his firm, Y Combinator, created its first political action committee, the Little Tech PAC. In the six months from December 2025, it has raised a relatively modest $200,000, marking Tan’s first significant foray into national politics. It has spent $117,000 on mostly conservative candidates including Republican Senators Josh Hawley, the late Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz. It represents Tan’s first significant foray into national politics.

Perhaps his biggest move to-date has been the launch of Garry’s List, an online website that pushes Tan’s conservative agenda, a peculiar mix of law-and-order policies, YIMBYism, deregulation, (particularly of the tech industry), and angry finger-pointing at progressives.

Tan dates his political awakening to the attacks on Asian-American elders during the COVID-19 pandemic. He used his role as a central figure in the tech industry to become a political organizer for the Silicon Valley elite. A November 2023 article in the San Francisco Standard describes a gathering that included the leaders of GrowSF, Together SF and Neighbors for a Better San Francisco after the successful recall of three progressive members of the San Francisco School Board and reform-minded District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

“Tan’s role in throwing the shindig carried far greater significance than simply serving as a good host,” the Standard wrote. “The centimillionaire appears to be completing his metamorphosis from a deep-pocketed political donor and attack dog on X (formerly Twitter) to becoming a major political player IRL, where his ability to convene disparate actors could be critical to achieving an ambitious political agenda.”

A few months after that party, in January 2024,

The 2024 election was tougher for Tan. The Astroturf Network suffered such significant losses — including those of three candidates for the Board of Supervisors — that Tan stepped away from city politics to lobby officials of the Trump Administration for tax breaks on startups. Additionally, he stepped down from the board of GrowSF, the Astroturf Network group that has been active in San Francisco politics since 2020.

Tan is nothing if not tenacious. By February of 2025 he was back with Garry’s List, a 501(c)4, meaning that it is a nonprofit allowed to engage in political activity including campaign endorsements. Because of Its specialized tax status, it is not required to disclose donor information and can make unlimited contributions to political campaigns. 

Tan describes Garry’s List as a “voter-education group” supporting “common-sense candidates and policies.” In reality, Garry’s List reflects Tan’s personal interests: The site’s ‘Issues’ section features AI-generated stories promoting  tech deregulation, increased policing and a healthy dollop of billionaire worship. He rarely misses an opportunity to lash out at his enemies: Labor unions and progressive political officials. To help him in his crusade, Tan has hired the equally combative Forrest Liu, a local political operative who threatened progressive Supervisor Connie Chan. 

A central focus of Garry’s List has been the statewide Billionaire Tax on the November 2026 ballot. Since its launch, Garry's List has run no less than 20 AI-generated articles attacking the tax, a modest proposal levying a one-time 5% tax on California’s wealthiest residents to fund healthcare. The measure is sponsored by the state’s largest healthcare union.

A typical post, January’s “California’s Wealth Tax Will Murder the Next Apple” argues that it will “trigger mass exodus of startups” a spurious claim that may not resonate with sophisticated California voters who have heard these threats before.

In the spring Tan launched Garry’s Studios, an AI production house focusing on short form videos. Its first release was an ad against San Francisco’s Proposition D, the so-called Overpaid CEO Tax on San Francisco’s June 2026 ballot. The measure failed when Mayor Daniel Lurie used his popularity with city voters to become the face of the opposition. 

Garry’s List and Garry’s Studios offer content that is long on vitriol, no surprise given Tan’s personality. So far, it offers little in the way of thoughtful analysis on the complex issues facing San Francisco and California voters. It is unlikely to find an audience beyond the Silicon Valley elites, angry that they’re being called upon to pay their fair share.