The top strategists from recent political campaigns took to the stage to present “What Your Start-Up Can Learn from Barack Obama and Howard Dean” at South by Southwest on Saturday. Although many in the political world of Washington, DC, have been carefully considering each campaign’s approach for months, this discussion was unique because the panelists were applying their political experiences to technology start-up businesses.

Clay Johnson of Sunlight Foundation captured the audience’s attention right off the bat when he asserted that even new technology businesses need to have an opponent. Just as Barack Obama was fighting against the status quo and Howard Dean was fighting against the Iraq War, start-ups need to similarly address an enemy, whether that is boredom, connectivity, or whatever a new business seeks to address. And just as the candidates did, new businesses need people to understand why their product or service means change for them.

Jake Brewer, the Internet Director of the Energy Action Coalition, enumerated several concepts from campaigns that tech start-ups should embrace. Brewer encouraged start-ups to think like a movement and to be open and authentic. More concretely, he also believes that email and video are still keys to engaging the public. And finally, he urged start-ups to fail and learn from the ways that they fail, just as many campaigns do.

Michael Bassik, a longtime political strategist and currently Chief Digital Officer for Air America Media, believes that start-ups also should consider taking a localized approach. This includes localizing online marketing, website content, email marketing, mobile marketing, and more. Taking a cue from Obama, Bassik is confident that providing a local connection will be extremely valuable to even a national business marketing campaign.

Scott Goodstein was the power behind Obama’s innovative mobile campaign, known best for embracing shortcodes and giving mobile subscribers first-to-know information. Goodstein urges start-ups not to be afraid to experiment with new technologies and to use short-term testing to see which approaches are most effective. Citing the viral video success of the Obama campaign’s Will.i.Am video, Goodstein noted that consumer attention is a great way to validate tactics.

Finally, Mary Katherine Ham represented the Republican angle of the panel. Ham is from Weekly Standard and was formerly a conservative blogger for TownHall.com. Listening to your consumers is a great tool for start-ups which Ham saw the Dean campaign do by using feedback from supporters to craft fundraising messages. Her final advice — to communicate on a gut level and make sure not too use too much of your own jargon.

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