The Internet Society and Crowdfunding

I attended an informal discussion sponsored by the Washington DC Chapter of the Internet Society and Google DC on the Elections and Internet Policy.

As the society noted, "while Internet policy is not a 'hot button' issue, the platforms for both parties devote paragraphs to Internet issues such as Net Neutrality, cybersecurity, and Internet freedom--and there are significant differences."

The roundtable discussion focused on questions such as: How would Internet policy change in a Romney Administration? What will be the most pressing issues facing the President and the Congress in 2013? If the Republicans win the Senate, will we see new approaches to telecommunications and Internet policy?

Leading the discussion were Phil Bond, Petrizzo Bond (and former CEO of TechAmerica and former Undersecretary for Technology at the Department of Commerce during the Bush Administration), John Kneuer, JKC Consulting (and former head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration), and Eddie Lazarus, former Chief of Staff of the Federal Communications Commission from 2009 to 2012. The discussion was moderated by Michael Nelson, Adjunct Professor of Internet Studies, Georgetown University.

On the question of Crowdfunding and the JOBS Act, the speakers agreed that it is unlikely that policy concerning crowdfunding will change even if Mr. Romney is elected.

Comments

Crowdfunding Accounting 101 - Revenue Recognition in Crowdfunding

A start-up using crowd funding to create a product is different from a normal company. The start-up has cash inflows from donations but does not have a product, yet. In this situation, we recommend using completed-contract method to recognize revenue. Under this way of thinking, we assume the start-up is akin to a project or a long-term contract. The crowdfunding company will find it difficult to estimate the revenue from crowdfunders and, hence, the cost of rewards or perks. Under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and GAAP guidelines, if the firm cannot reliably measure the outcome of the project, revenue should be recognized based on contract costs. These costs should be expensed when incurred. Profit is recognized only at the completion of the project. In summary, for crowdfunding companies, revenue, expense, and profit are recognized only when the crowdfunded product is actually manufactured. 1 For example, assume that AAA Corp. wants to manufacture bicyc...

Top 50 Crowdfunding Campaigns: Fifty Most Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns

Top 50 Crowdfunding Campaigns: Fifty Most Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns Kindle Edition https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RKK4NL0/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Top 50 Crowdfunding Campaigns

The chart below results from an analysis of the Top 50 crowdfunding campaigns on Indiegogo, 'Top' measured by total dollars raised. The X axis shows the dollar amount of the reward or perk ($1 to $10, $11 to $20, etc.) The Y axis shows the cumulative number of rewards/perks collected across all 50 campaigns, so the chart shows that, for the top 50 crowdfunding campaigns on Indiegogo, 100,000 rewards/perks with a value ranging from $1 dollar to $10 dollars were selected by supporters. Normally, we might expect this chart to be convex, declining steadily from $1 to $5000. This is not what we see, however. It seems that people are willing to donate small dollar amounts, up to about $50, and then contributors look to donate at least $100. What's going on here? To explain this phenomenon, classify backers into two categories: 1. The first category are people who simply want to help. They donate less than $50 dollars and do not donate for the reward (normally a T-shi...

Crowdfunding Now!

Search This Blog