Opinion

December 18, 2013 @ 1:30 pm By Kim Wales  |  

Compilation vs. Review vs. Audit for offerings of more than $500,000? Efforts to influence the final proposed rule for Financial Disclosure (Section 4A(b)(1)(D)), requires “a description of the financial condition of the issuer,” in which regulators have requested comments from the public for the Final… Read More

December 18, 2013 @ 11:43 am By JD Alois  |  

As the consultation period on crowdfunding regulations comes to a close, a debate was held today at Westminster where MPs promised it would not allow FCA regulations to stifle growth of the burgeoning crowdfunding industry.  Various MP’s spoke in support of the innovative industry which… Read More

December 17, 2013 @ 8:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

Debate Takes Place as Consultation Period Nears End. Members of Parliament (MPs) will be debating the future of crowdfunding at Westminster tomorrow,  Wednesday, December 18, 2013.  The Westminster Hall Debate has been initiated by Barry Sheerman MP, a leading proponent of crowdfunding. Mr Sheerman, chair of… Read More

December 17, 2013 @ 10:15 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Canadian law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) released a risk assessment for 2014. Crowdfunding makes the list at #2 on their list of the top ten business issues with legal implications for the new year. Entrepreneurs, access to capital and the crowd: The Canadian economy… Read More

December 17, 2013 @ 3:00 am By Barry James, The Social Foundation  |  

Green Light the new freedoms of the digital age. The idea of a man having to walk in front of each car on the road waving a red flag to ensure that they didn’t scare the horses has often been the object of a mixture… Read More

December 16, 2013 @ 10:32 am By Charles Luzar  |  

An anonymous user on Quora asked me and a few others to answer the following question: What is the future of Crowdfunding? It’s a great question and one we think about quite often here at Crowdfund Insider. We cover so many stories in the space and… Read More

December 13, 2013 @ 9:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Stuart Law of Assetz Capital Declares Nesta Predictions as “Worst Case Scenario”. In a release responding to the just released Nesta predictions for the growth of alternative finance, which includes crowdfunding, Stuart Law, CEO of Assetz Capital, one of the UK’s fastest-growing peer-to-peer lending platforms,… Read More

December 9, 2013 @ 11:01 am By Kendall Almerico  |  

When I think of bad actors, I think of Keanu Reeves and William Shatner. When the Securities and Exchange Commission mentions bad actors, they are talking about people they want to prevent from using equity crowdfunding in order to protect investors from fraud. Before the… Read More

December 4, 2013 @ 11:19 am By Dan Gilmartin, Dr. Elisabeth Gerber & Chris Miller  |  

What would happen if we could invest in businesses in our own communities? What would happen if that entrepreneur you know could raise the capital needed to start a business from friends and neighbors and investors who are intimately familiar with the project? Michigan citizens… Read More

December 3, 2013 @ 2:08 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

We’re growing increasingly fond of Quora as a resource for crowdfunding tips and insights from the likes of future Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler and Yan Budman, Director of Marketing at Indiegogo. Here are a selection of Quora questions and answers we found interesting this week…… Read More

December 2, 2013 @ 10:22 am By Charles Luzar  |  

A new method of capital raising that is gaining increasing interest is crowdfunding. Generally, the term “crowdfunding” is used to describe a form of capital raising whereby groups of people pool money, typically comprised of very small individual contributions, to support an effort by others… Read More

November 30, 2013 @ 1:40 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Black Friday has become an annual shopping phenomenon where consumers take to stores in droves seeking deals from the world’s largest retailers. Similarly, Cyber Monday was launched as an answer to Black Friday to encourage shoppers to buy Christmas gifts online. In light of this,… Read More

November 26, 2013 @ 11:00 am By Charles Stack  |  

Angel investing involves accredited investors (millionaires) investing directly in the private stock of early stage companies. Millionaires are rare—they make up 1.5% of the world and 4% of the US. As most entrepreneurs quickly learn, angels are very, very rare. Only 3% of all accredited… Read More

November 26, 2013 @ 9:22 am By JD Alois  |  

On WSJ.com under The Accelerators, the pose the question: Should average Joes and Janes be allowed to buy shares in private companies through online investment platforms known as crowdfunding sites? Or should this be restricted to only wealthy, “accredited” investors?  What are the advantages and disadvantages for… Read More

November 25, 2013 @ 11:00 am By Charles Luzar  |  

The SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation took place last week at the Securities and Exchange Commission Headquarters in Washington, DC. I will admit that I was very excited to attend this event. This was the first event we attended last year shortly… Read More

November 25, 2013 @ 10:49 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Every once in a while an interesting conversation pops up on Reddit involving crowdfunding and the public’s perception of crowdfunding as a means of raising money. Recently Reddit user mavspade solicited opinions on crowdfunding as a way of raising money for films, asking on subreddit /r/Filmmakers “is… Read More

November 21, 2013 @ 11:23 am By Kendall Almerico  |  

When the proposed SEC equity crowdfunding rules were released on October 23, those of us who had been anxiously waiting for months were finally given what we had been begging for. The long-awaited SEC rules had finally arrived. Equity crowdfunding under the JOBS Act was about to become… Read More

November 19, 2013 @ 11:30 am By Charles Luzar  |  

In a recent interview with WENN, Spike Lee underscores an important strategy for crowdfunders, celebrities and regular joes alike. He credits “good karma” with helping him find crowdfunding success on Kickstarter… I’ve invested in at least eight or nine projects since I got on Kickstarter…. Read More

November 17, 2013 @ 1:57 pm By Francis Moran  |  

The biggest mistake Canadian angel investors could make if and when equity crowdfunding is made more widely available in Canada “is to sit on the sidelines and do nothing and let crowdfunding pass them by,” says one of this country’s leading legal experts on the… Read More

November 10, 2013 @ 12:38 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Like a lot of people, I’m excited about crowdfunding, and specifically the crowdfunding of startups now that’s it’s legal in the US.Chris Dixon Chris Dixon is a prolific investor and has been a co-founder of multiple companies including Hunch and SiteAdvisor. He is currently an… Read More