Tagged: perspective

October 24, 2014 @ 9:59 am By Ludwine Dekker  |  

What’s happening: the industry wants equity It’s ironic that crowdfunding makes it possible to set up companies that otherwise never would’ve come into existence, only to ruin them later by postponing the valuation issues that any start up will have to solve sooner or later…. Read More

October 13, 2014 @ 3:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week the Investor Advisory Committee met at the Securities and Exchange Commission to review and make recommendations on several issues regarding investors.  At the top of the list was the hot polemic on how an accredited investor should be defined. As it stands today… Read More

October 12, 2014 @ 5:52 pm By Giuditta Armiraglio  |  

Indiegogo recently announced the launch of a new pilot program called Forever Funding  that will allow campaigners to raise money indefinitely, a sort of never ending crowdfunding round. If the rewards campaign closes with a successful result the platform gives the organizer the opportunity to… Read More

October 10, 2014 @ 8:58 am By JD Alois  |  

Paul Niederer and his investment crowdfunding platform, The Australian Small Scale Offerings Board (ASSOB), started doing equity crowdfunding before the term was even coined.  The entire global crowdfunding industry has looked towards Australia for their experience garnered from years of actual practice.  ASSOB has raised… Read More

October 5, 2014 @ 3:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

As retail investment crowdfunding has stalled in regulatory limbo at the federal level, many states have moved foreword with homegrown initiatives to bring investment crowdfunding to companies operating within their state borders.  The old media maven Chicago Tribune has shown they are interested in bringing the… Read More

September 30, 2014 @ 7:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Seedrs recently chalked up another first by offering shares of Chapel Down in an equity crowdfunding campaign on their platform.  Chapel Down is a publicly traded company listed on the ISDX growth market in the UK.  The funding closes on October 1st but stands at… Read More

September 25, 2014 @ 11:34 am By JD Alois  |  

Last month Harvard Business School published a case study on the real estate crowdfunding platform Prodigy Network and its founder Rodrigo Niño.  Authors Karim Lakhani, Katja Hutter and Greta Priar, reviewed the dramatic rise of Prodigy Network and the vision of Niño that “crowdfunding will… Read More

September 24, 2014 @ 9:49 am By Jason Futko  |  

There is a lot of media focus on crowdfunding, but sometimes the types of crowdfunding are not properly distinguished. You hear a lot about the Kickstarter’s and Indiegogo’s of the world and people are confusing these with actual investments in companies. To understand debt (lending)… Read More

September 6, 2014 @ 5:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

Global tax and advisory firm KPMG recently commented on the crowdfunding industry and how traditional banks are sizing up the new, innovative form of finance. As we all know the finance industry is absolutely enormous.  Crowdfunding, along with peer to peer lending, is still quite… Read More

September 4, 2014 @ 11:39 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Do you remember that scene from the movie Tommy Boy where the store manager rants about the importance of having a guarantee on the product box “calling out, I’ll never let you down, but if I do I’m gonna make things ALL better.” I can’t… Read More

September 3, 2014 @ 7:30 am By Kim Wales  |  

Some Issues in Title III Crowdfunding Regulations Require Modification. Recently, there has been a renewed call for action on Title III (Regulation Crowdfunding) to go-live. And there are some proponents in the industry that just want the rules to go live ‘as-is’. However, the Crowdfunding… Read More

August 21, 2014 @ 9:10 am By Barbara Roper  |  

When Congress passed the JOBS Act lifting the ban on general solicitation in offerings under Rule 506 of Regulation D, it turned these so-called “private” offerings into potentially very public ones.  Since Reg D offerings involving general solicitation can only be sold to “accredited” investors,… Read More

August 18, 2014 @ 2:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Professor John Mullins, from the London Business School, authored a book entitled “The Customer Funded Business”. He recently visited the studios of CNBC to share his perspective on how some VCs can be injurious to a business. Mullins states that running a business is a… Read More

August 9, 2014 @ 8:53 am By JD Alois  |  

The United Kingdom has focused great attention and energy on encouraging an economic environment of innovation and entrepreneurial growth.  While actions always speak louder than words from a US perspective, we sometimes look with envy at what is occurring the UK and not happening in… Read More

August 8, 2014 @ 1:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jeremy Rifkin, the founder of the ‘Foundation on Economic Trends’, is an economic and social theorist, advisor to sovereign nations (China, France et al) and an overall big thinker that looks to the future with the benefit of a profound knowledge of the past.  While… Read More

August 5, 2014 @ 8:30 am By Ludwine Dekker  |  

Why do we want more women in business? Practicing gender equality is usually not the reason one starts a company. Are men making a mess of our economies and companies? Is “the men’s world” not functioning or failing in creating sustainable growth within our economies?… Read More

August 4, 2014 @ 8:02 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

Many of us are wondering when, if and how the SEC will finally roll out final regulations to implement major provisions of the JOBS Act of 2012, including Title III (investment crowdfunding) and Title IV (Regulation A+). So too were a group of Congressmen, gathered… Read More

July 23, 2014 @ 7:36 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

On July 10, thanks to the Dodd-Frank Act which mandated its reinstitution, the revived SEC Investor Advisory Committee met in a public forum to discuss certain securities law issues, including a subcommittee’s initial proposals on the definition of “accredited investor” (as defined in Section 501(a)… Read More

July 15, 2014 @ 7:26 pm By Barry James  |  

What has been called a “Terrifying Misuse of Legislation” was debated Thursday at the Westminster Crowdfunding Forum where it was unanimously agreed that it’s essential to tackle an over regulation of social media which is threatening both the Crowdfunding industry and the individual liberties of… Read More

July 10, 2014 @ 4:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Destroying Net Neutrality has implications far beyond Kickstarter. Yancey Strickler, CEO of crowdfunding giant Kickstarter, has posted today affirming their support on the subject of Net Neutrality – something that should concern us all. Kickstarter has filed an official comment with the FCC expressing their… Read More