Crowdfunding Now!

As we  forecast , today (10/30/15) the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted 3 to 1 to allow small companies to raise up to $1 million online. Small firms and startups can now solicit anyone, regardless of their location, net worth or wealth, thereby giving small investors a chance to own what may be the next Facebook or Google (or not).  More likely, it means the day care center or restaurant down the street can now offer ownership stakes, or shares of stock, to their most supportive customers and clients. This is great news for women and Black-owned firms, which tend to be small and capital starved. The SEC vote approving rules implementing  Title III of the JOBS Act  means greater opportunity for minority, women and veteran firms to obtain equity funding. In addition to allowing firms to raise capital from anyone via a crowdfunding platform (a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or FINRA registered internet website set up specifically for this purpose), the S

"Notice is hereby given, pursuant to the provisions of the Government  in the Sunshine Act, Pub. L. 94-409, that the Securities and Exchange  Commission will hold an Open Meeting on Friday, October 30, 2015 at  10:00 a.m., in the Auditorium, Room L-002.  The subject matter of the Open Meeting will be: The Commission will consider whether to adopt rules and forms related  to the offer and sale of securities through crowdfunding under Section  4(a)(6) of the Securities Act of 1933, as mandated by Title III of the  Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act.  http://www.sec.gov/news/ openmeetings/2015/ ssamtg103015.htm  " Having said, in March, 2015 that the SEC wasn't going to do Title III,  we changed our minds last week and declared that the SEC was going to  approve Title III after all. https://www.linkedin.com/ pulse/sec-poised-implement- title-iii-jobs-act-cunningham- am-mba?trk=pulse_spock- articles We think they will also announce new policies that allow them to move 

Yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced "that it will hold its annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation at its Washington D.C. headquarters on Nov. 19, 2015. The morning session of the forum will feature panel discussions on exempt and registered offerings occurring after the passage of the JOBS Act." You can register for the forum  here .  We think the SEC will use this opportunity to release the final Title III crowdfunding rules. As I describe in my  book on the JOBS Act , small businesses and startups will be able to raise up to $1 million in equity (or debt) funding online via what are called Crowdfunding Platforms―online communities and websites. Imagine an eBay-like site that allows you to post your idea for a commercial venture online and then allows investors to purchase equity shares or stakes in it.  Recently,  two state securities regulators (Montana and Massachusetts) brought a suit in the United St

I attended a HowU Innovate panel on how to raise money for your startup. The invitation encouraged people to "Come out and hear from some of the best minds in the field." While not super well attended, I did find it interesting. There was much good information, but it seemed a less edgy, more conventional rehash of a talk I gave at Howard in April and of the talk I gave at the 2015 National Black MBA Association Washington DC Chapter (NBMBAA-DC) Entrepreneurship Expo. My talk, titled “Black People and Venture Capital” is on video below. One person sent me the photo at left in response to a photo I tweeted out during the meeting.  Now, that's a little harsh, but I understand why they sent it. Much of the advice was super conventional and rests on the fiction that Black people can actually get money from VC's. At one point, the person on the panel who works for a VC referenced the small number of Black professionals he knows, implying that there we

As the New York Times reported, "Syrian refugees continue to flee the violence at home, President Obama is turning to the modern tools of Silicon Valley entrepreneurship as a supplement to the more traditional means of humanitarian relief. At the request of officials from the White House Office of Digital Strategy, the crowdfunding website Kickstarter has begun its first social service campaign aimed at raising money for the United Nations refugee agency on behalf of Syrian refugees."  Here is my 10/7 talk on NPR's Press Play with Madeleine Brand:  http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand   How effective is this? They raised $700,000 in six hours. Six hours. For more, visit the links below.  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/world/middleeast/obama-turns-to-crowdfunding-to-aid-fleeing-syrians.html?_r=0 http://qz.com/519438/kickstarter-just-crowdsourced-a-million-dollars-for-syrian-refugees/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kickstar