Crowdfunding Now!

The Board authorized FINRA to issue an interim form to seek essential information from prospective funding portals intending to apply for membership with FINRA pursuant to the JOBS Act. Prospective funding portals would file the interim form with FINRA voluntarily until final SEC and FINRA rules governing funding portals are in place. FINRA will file the interim form with the SEC. http://www.finra.org/Industry/Regulation/Guidance/CommunicationstoFirms/P197425

We noticed an article in the news today about the first supposed case of crowdfunding fraud. According to the article, "Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin filed fraud charges against two out-of-state oil and gas operations in connection with their sale of unregistered securities to Massachusetts investors. In one, Prodigy Oil and Gas LLC allegedly employed a cold-caller who had been found guilty of theft. According to the complaint, Prodigy principal Shawn Bartholomae was subject to three state securities regulatory actions and two criminal charges." Here is the thing to keep in mind: these guys would be committing fraud even if crowdfunding did not exist. That's one of two ways you know the tie to crowdfunding is bogus.  This is the Commonwealth Secretary acting on behalf of large financial institutions to try and scare investors away from crowdfunding. The other way you know this is bogus? Simply keep track of donations to this specific politician from big fi...

The crowdfunding provisions of the JOBS Act are one of the most exciting developments in the world of finance this year. The ability of companies with innovative products and services has already been proven. This effectively disintermediates venture capital firms and banks from a process they have been purposefully obstructing, the process of providing small businesses and entrepreneurs with start up capital.  As I mention in several blog postings ( http://under30ceo.com/ignore-the-naysayers-the-job...  and in my book (The JOBS Act: Crowdfunding for Small Businesses and  Startups  http://www.amazon.com/The-JOBS-Act-Crowdfunding-Businesses/dp/143024755X)   I understand that this is a complicated question, but it is also a critical one.  Here is what I think the SEC must do now:  Broaden the base. At its November 15th Forum on Small Business Capital Formation, the SEC did not have a single African American on any of the panels. (I guess the S...

Interesting blog post by someone  (AFP and The Grand Theft Orchestra)   who raised a million on Kickstarter. Read her blog posting for more detail. She describes where the money went: Old bills and paying back bank loans $250,000.00 CD book manufacturing and shipping costs $105,000.00 Vinyl production costs $30,000.00 Art books $80,000.00 Art book production costs $15,000.00 Neil and Kyle books $30,000.00 100 Turntable packages $15,000.00 Arts and Crafts 7 inch packages $30,000.00 Six City Tour $10,000.00 House parties $10,000.00 Art party visual artists $20,000.00 Commissions $150,000.00 Four or five music videos $80,000.00 Kickstarter and Amazon fees $75,000.00 TOTAL $900,000.00 The first thing to note is the first item. What old bills? Bank loans? $250,000? That 25% of the raise . Commissions? $150,000? Most s...

On November 15th, the SEC held a Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. The Forum, held at SEC Headquarters, covered the following: 9:00 a.m.- Call to Order - Gerald J. Laporte, Chief, Office of Small Business Policy, SEC Division of Corporation Finance - Introductions of Chairman and Commissioners Meredith B. Cross, Director, SEC Division of Corporation Finance - Remarks Chairman Mary L. Schapiro, Commissioner Elisse B. Walter, Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar, Commissioner Troy A. Paredes, Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher 9:50 a.m. Panel Discussion: JOBS Act Implementation- Moderators: Meredith B. Cross, Director, SEC Division of Corporation Finance, Gregory C. Yadley, Partner, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP. Panelists: Sara Hanks, Co-Founder and CEO, CrowdCheck, Jean Peters, Board Member, Angel Capital Association; Managing Director, Golden Seeds Fund LP, Michael Lempres, Assistant General Counsel ...

Crowdfunding News 11/16/12 Crowdfunding Gains Traction in UK Wall Street Journal (blog) As founders of escapethecity.org , a website that helps high-flying executives leave the rat race of corporate life, Rob Symington and Dom Jackman didn't want to rely on City financing when they needed money to expand their young company in London. See all stories on this topic » CrowdFund Investing: Emphasis Turning to Implementation and Entrepreneurs Forbes I had the chance to catch up this week with Alon Hillel-Tuch, the Founder and CFO of Crowdfunding platform RocketHub ( www.RocketHub.com ), in New York. As we near the JOBS Act's legalization of CrowdFund Investing(CFI) in 2013, allowing loan and ... See all stories on this topic » Forbes Why We Chose Crowdfunding For Our Product (Should You?) Forbes In reality, there are many things to consider when jumping into one of the hottest trends in the world of entrepreneurs, both positive and negative. Whol...

Thought this was an interesting article, reminiscent of: Why Does the Fed Have So Little Supplier Diversity? In the Crowdfunding article under review here, "Tides Foundation Program Director Anthony Jewett raises an interesting question about crowdfunding: 'Where’s the color in the crowd?' He acknowledges many crowdfunding success stories in an industry that he says will generate $2.8 billion in funding for start-up and small enterprises this year (nearly double what it generated last year) and he argues that crowdfunding has 'more serious potential to democratize access to capital across the for-profit, nonprofit and political arenas over the long term.' But he is troubled by the lack of people of color in the crowdfunding industry, which is dominated by leaders looking much like the venture capital and private equity industries in terms of ethnic and racial diversity—which isn’t much." We agree.