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April 21, 2014 Bethany Wood Leave a response

Name Brands Get in on Crowdfunding

Typically, we discuss the regulations surrounding crowdfunding. Today we are going to explore how big brands are jumping on the bandwagon. Crowdfunding has been a cult phenonminon that has swept the nation up in excitement. Whether investing in the latest techy watch, movie, album, or designer, the crowd has mobilized around hip and cutting edge concepts. Traditional investors have also benefited by participating in crowdfunding sites that offer equity opportunities for accredited investors. What has been missing from the equation is known and established brands. That has suddenly changed.

Hard Rock Hotel

This famous hotel chain is similar to a franchise in that each location is individually owned and they pay for the rights to the brand name. The owner of the Palm Springs location, Andre Carpiac, needed to raise $1.5 million so he turned to the crowd. With a campaign for accredited investors to “own a piece of the Rock” they hit the ground running. Within a couple of days they raised $500,000. In exchange for their investment, investors received discounts on hotel stay, access to the owners pool deck, VIP treatment and receptions, food and drink credits, and a portion of the profits. This is an excellent opportunity for accredited investors to be part of the Hard Rock franchise without actually owning one.

Hawaii Education System

This famous vacation state is testing the idea of crowfunding portions of their education system. If fully implemented, this will be the first state to do so. The pilot program is seeking to raise capital for the repair of two local schools.

UCLA

A famous college, the University of California Los Angeles has launched crowdfunding in order to fund research and ideas that students or faculty have. They are trying to tap into this new form of capital in order to meet some of their funding goals.

Tom Hanks and Veronica Mars

Even famous movie stars are getting in on the action. Kristen Bell succesfully raised the funds she needed for a Veronica Mars movie through crowdfunding and now the movie is out in theaters. The company Junction makes movies for people like Tom Hanks. Now, movie fans can get in on the action before it ever hits theaters.

The fact that name brands and powerful players are now participating in crowdfunding should be a sign of its ability to cross over all business sizes, consumer groups, and industries. The staying power of crowdfunding will remain as long as the crowd continues to be interested. Businesses and entrepreneuers will always need capital. This is one of the sources they can turn to for it.

A key challenge going forward will be connecting the crowd to the right campaigns. Crowdfunding platforms will need to continue to improve their search and matching features. This may lead investors towards specailized crowdfunding platforms that focus on one specific industry. In the meantime, investors are enjoying sorting through crowdfunding listings in search of the next big thing and everyone is noticing.

April 16, 2014 Bethany Wood Leave a response

Another Crowdfunding Delay from the SEC

Business owners and investors have been anxiously waiting for the SEC to finalize their crowdfunding regulations since the JOBS Act was passed in 2012. It has been two years and we are still waiting. In 2013, the SEC issued their proposed rules and we have reviewed them extensively on this blog. They covered everything from who can be involved, how much money can be raised, the amount individual investors can contribute and more. In total, the document is over 500 pages long. Since issuing the proposal, the SEC has been accepting comments from anyone related to the industry in order to get feedback on which part of the proposed rules to keep and which ones need adjusting.

The Proposed Rules Have Been Scrapped

Last week the SEC’s crowdfunding advisory board, a panel of 21 people, voted unanimously that they proposed rules do not meet the spirit or guidelines outlined in the JOBS Act. In other words, they need to be scrapped and the SEC must start again. Considering it took a year and a half to issue the first set of proposed rules this is not good news for the crowdfunding community.

Here is some of the feedback gathered from the advisory board:

The rules need to be tightened. Barbara Roper of the Consumer Federation of America said that one of the concerns is investors putting money into start up companies that are traditionally the riskiest investment type.
Hype. Ms. Roper was also concerned that the excitement created by crowdfunding campaigns would unnecessarily cause people to invest out of excitement.
Cap investments. The committee wants to cap how much someone can invest in crowdfunding to the greater of their income or total net worth, excluding their home equity. The cap would be 5% for people with $100,000 or less in income or net worth and 10% for those above that number.
Creation of online tools. They want the SEC to require an online tool to be established that would calculate people’s net worth or show them how to do so.

This group is made up of a diverse group of people with various view points on crowdfunding. Some, would prefer it didn’t exist while others are trying to open it up to the masses. Who will win and where the rules will take us is yet to be seen. The concern is that the rules become so cumbersome that they hurt the very people crowdunding is supposed to help.

Remember, crowdfunding is designed to provide businesses and entrepreneurs access to capital while providing regular people with the opportunity to participate in deals that they were previously shut out of. Crowdfunding is the great equalizer. With modern technology and progressive crowdfunding platforms companies don’t need to hire a team of lawyers or broker dealers to raise capital. This removes a standard barrier to entry they have faced with raising money through a PPM. Likewise, regular citizens aren’t prevented from being investors simply because they haven’t “made it” yet. The spirit of crowdfunding must be preserved in order for it to be effective. Something the crowd needs to keep in mind is the importance of speaking up in regards to their opinion on these pending rule changes. Otherwise, they are likely to lose.

April 8, 2014 Bethany Wood Leave a response

New Crowdfunding Law in Alabama

Alabama is the latest state to pass an intrastate crowdfunding law. As the SEC continues to stall their feet in finalizing crowdfunding regulations, states have taken matters into their own hands. Until the SEC finalizes their crowdfunding rules the only option for states is to pass their own regulations. Alabama has joined states that include Georgia, Kansas, and Michigan in taking steps to improve the local economy through crowdfunding.

The bill was sponsored by Senator Author Orr of Decatur, Alabama with support by the state’s securities commission. It passed and was promptly signed into law.

Alabama’s crowdfunding law allows companies based in the state to raise money from investors that also live in Alabama. The total raise is capped at 1 million per year and each investors can give up to $5,000 annually, regardless of how much money they make. This is actually more generous than the proposed federal regulations that would limit investors to a percentage of their income, which could cut out many retirees.

Joe Borg, Securities Commission Director, said that this is an excellent opportunity for local businesses and entrepreneurs to raise capital in a still tight credit market. He is absolutely correct. The benefits of intrastate crowdfunding are high. First, they help businesses to raise the capital they need in to succeed. Whether a start up or business looking to expand, capital can make the difference between sustaining operations or closing your doors. With a tight job market, it is important for states to make it easier for businesses to thrive so that they can retain existing jobs and create new ones.

Another benefit of intrastate crowdfunding is that businesses get a built in customer base. When someone local invests money in a local company they will also be likely to visit that company and buy its products or services. When used in a small community, crowdfunding can become a tool for not only raising money but creating a sustainable business model.

Governor Robert Bentley, Alabama, understands the benefits of crowdfunding and how it can positively impact his state. He promptly signed the legislation into law so that citizens can start participating. Once the SEC finalizes their crowdfunding rules businesses in Alabama, and other states with intrastate crowdfunding laws, will have to decide if it is in their best interest to use the state legislation or federal one. Part of that will depend on the final regulations that the SEC issues and how restrictive they are. In the meantime businesses in Alabama can happily start to raise money.

March 31, 2014 Bethany Wood Leave a response

Crowdfunding Regulations to Tighten in the UK

The SEC has already issued proposed crowdfunding regulations in the United States. These proposed rules are over 500 pages long and we have been discussing many of them. One of the most significant changes is the limit on how much a non-accredited investor may invest on an annual basis. The SEC wants to limit this amount to $2,000 per year or 5 percent of their annual income. This is to limit the amount of risk any one person takes, however it also limits their opportunities. For example, a retiree may have a portfolio of investments and receive social security and a pension but still be under $40,000 per year in annual income (the amount needed to invest $2,000). Many business groups and investors are complaining that these limits need to be raised.

In the UK, the FCA seems to be following suit. If you view campaigns on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and RocketHub you will see a lot of campaigns are originating out of England. People from both sides of the pond have been participating in each others crowdfunding campaigns. The FCA appears to be mirroring the SEC in trying to further regulate the industry. While the rules are unlikely to be identical, one can expect major similarities.

The FCA’s proposed crowdfunding regulations would limit the amount an investor can contribute to no more than 10 percent of their portfolio. They released a statements saying that the platforms “must assess the appropriateness” of clients wanting to invest without professional advisers. This creates a regulatory nightmare for companies looking to raise capital and crowdfunding platforms looking to facilitate it. How, for example, would a crowdfunding site make that assertion and would they be held accountable if the investor was proven to not be “appropriate”? At least with the SEC the rules are plain, leaving less room for ambiguity and getting trapped by the proverbial “grey area”.

Many crowdfunding advocates are claiming that these new regulations would essentially take the crowd out of crowdfunding. The crowdfunding experience has been built on the dream, and reality, that regular citizens can participate in new and exciting ventures regardless of how much money they have, their annual salary, or their investment savvy. It removes the barrier to entry for every day citizens that have been put in place to keep the rich in deals and the poor out of them. By restricting UK investors to only ten percent of their portfolio, the entire crowd without a portfolio, is eliminated overnight.

Something that has not yet been established is how both the SEC and FCA will regulate foriegn investors contributing to crowdfunding campaigns. Since people throughout the world are investing in campaigns, regardless of their origination, it is likely that they will continue looking to invest in exciting opportunities that are based in countries outside of their own. If the SEC and FCA do not specifically create rules around foreign investors, it is safe to assume that they would be regulated under the same rules as citizens of the country where the business is located. The two organizations need to get together to determine how to sort through inconsistencies between their rules. In the meantime working with a securities attorney is a wise investment when launching an equity crowdfunding campaign.

March 24, 2014 Bethany Wood Leave a response

The Federal Reserve and Crowdfunding

The Federal Reserve hosted the Crowdfunding for Community Development Finance Conference today in Washington D.C. In the opening remarks an emphasis was placed on the value of raising funds for local communities. That is one of the major benefits of crowdfunding, local people helping local business. When people invest in local businesses they are also likely to visit that business and become a customer. The company in turn hires more employees which then have disposable income to spend in the local economy. The value of crowdfunding at a local level cannot be overstated as the economic impacts are vast.

Governor Jeremy Stein gave the opening remarks, saying, “The question for today is whether this power of the crowd can be harnessed to support community development, a field that has not widely benefitted from crowdfunding thus far. Indeed, when I say “power of the crowd,” it is worth noting that while individual investment amounts may be small, the total amount of funds raised from this source can be large. Although we lack reliable data on the current size of crowdfunding, some sources indicate that it’s a multibillion-dollar industry, with more than 1 million separate offerings each year, and that the field is growing rapidly.”

One of the examples given at the event was the crowdfunding platform, Fundrise where investors can put money into commercial real estate transactions and businesses. So far they have raised over $10 million for 18 different real estate deals within the Washington D.C. area. Some of these buildings were vacant and are now being transformed into restaurants, retail, and office space. These are local people that are investing in their neighborhoods.

The Fed also mentioned community development organizations that are using crowdfunding to help create jobs, renovate housing buildings, and fund non-profits. These groups have sprung up throughout the United States as more and more people become interested in participating in crowdfunding.

The Federal Reserve has taken notice and highlighted the importance of the Fed participating in financial innovation. They see crowdfunding as exactly that – innovation. The Fed is involved in many organizations that they do not directly regulate but that impact the financial stability of a community. They promote and support a variety of community building efforts and are paying attention to crowdfunding to see the impact that it will be able to have from a local community level.

It will be interesting to see what transpires at this event and the level of involvement among key industry and political players. The Federal Reserve does not directly regulate the crowdfunding industry, the SEC does. Perhaps the Fed sees this as an opportunity to create additional regulation, or perhaps they are equally tired with the slow pace of the SEC. Either way, their recognition of the industry is a clear sign that not only is crowdfunding here to stay but it is also revolutionizing how people access capital. If businesses start turning to the crowd, with success, instead of securing loans from banks it could directly impact the many institutions that the Fed does regulate.

March 17, 2014 Bethany Wood Leave a response

Changes to PayPal’s Crowdfunding Policy

Even as the SEC stalls on finalizing their crowdfunding rules the industry is still going strong. While investors are unable to give money for equity in most states, sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have found a way around this. Their platforms enable the crowd to give money in exchange for rewards. Most often this is the first release of a product, album, or an experience. Businesses and entrepreneurs are still able to get the cash they need and backers get a set reward for participating.

Most of theses sites work with PayPal to facilitate the financial aspect of the transaction. PayPal is respected worldwide as the ideal online payment solution, making it a perfect partner for crowdfunding sites. The challenge that many of these sites, and therefor PayPal, has had is that some entrepreneurs have failed to deliver the reward they promised. This happens most frequently when a new product is being invented and manufactured. Production delays, inventory shortfalls, and a lack of organization have plagued some of these campaigns. While Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms do not guarantee delivery of rewards, PayPal is more of a precarious position as the financial go-between. For example, if you bought a new pair of shoes online and they were never delivered you could dispute the charge with your credit card company. Backers have been disputing charges with PayPal when they don’t receive what they have been promised.

In order to address these concerns, and protect their interest, PayPal’s crowdfunding policy has changed. PayPal’s Chief Risk Officer, Tom Barel, commented on the announcement made on the companies blog to require crowdfunding campaign owners to give a specific disclaimer that the product backers are paying for may not be completed or delivered.

“PayPal has started to engage crowdfunding campaign owners early on to clearly understand their campaign goals and help them ensure their campaigns are compliant with our policies and government regulations. Together with the crowdfunding sites, we identify if campaigns are strictly fundraising or pre-selling merchandise. We enable their campaigns without interrupting payments under the condition that the campaign owner is explicit and transparent to their contributors that there is no guarantee of delivery regarding the rewards being offered upon contribution,” said Barel.

Transparency measures make sense and PayPal’s crowdfunding policy promotes honest transactions. When everyone involved in the transaction understands what is being given, what is being received, and what the risks are, there is less room for confusion and conflict. Most campaigns are ran be responsible and conscientious entrepreneurs. These people are what make crowdfunding great because they actively engage the crowd, encouraging discussion and participation. Backers are willing to fund campaigns by the same people over and over again when the experience is good. Unfortunately, there are always people that simply abuse the system. It is better to work out kinks like this before the SEC opens up investment crowdfunding. It is guaranteed that they will be much more particular than PayPal so adopting best practices now is wise for everyone involved.

March 13, 2014 Bethany Wood Leave a response

Crowdfunding Around the Brontosaurus

Human innovation is a story that has often proven its critics wrong, gaining traction and achieving notable success in the face of conventional wisdom and a plethora of nay sayers. Crowd funding is already beginning to look like one of the many achievements of human innovation, despite the best efforts of its detractors to stop its rapid expansion. Since the US Congress passed the JOBS ACT, crowdfunding has been at the forefront of the debate around allowing people the option to make their own choices, weighing their own risks and rewards, and ultimately winning or losing based on their own decisions. Since 1930 it has been the job of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to be the guard dog which carefully regulates securities and shares, how they are sold, who can buy them, and what level of bureaucracy needs to be involved. Unfortunately for the SEC, the JOBS ACT and the surging popularity of crowdfunding threatens to derail almost a century of carefully crafted rules and regulations that seek to allow only a sliver of the population into the investment game.

The challenge the SEC faces is, perhaps, one that it has never had to face before. From its earliest inception, the SEC has been focused on regulating an industry that lead directly to the great depression. In a world of varying shades of gray it became paramount for the SEC to be able to identify who the black and white players were. It set about this task with vigor and with the full backing and support of the American Congress, and by proxy the American people. A large sprawling bureaucracy was born that focused its attention on putting rules in place, rules that were meant to keep the bad guys out, keep the good guys on notice, and prevent the catastrophic consequences of another huge market crash because of disingenuous practices on the stock market. The problem, once again, with this line of thinking was that despite the myriad of rules and regulations the SEC and every other government organization was unable to prevent the market crashes of the millennium. Nor were the rules and regulations sufficient to prevent the rising tide of people who simply were willing to take a limited risk in an environment that had banks refusing to lend money and an economy in desperate need of innovation. Crowdfunding was born of this drive to change, catching the SEC flatfooted and leading directly to months of dithering on the part of the agency as it seeks to balance its titanic sized mandate with a more nimble approach. As a result the rules on crowdfunding have languished, or maybe the SEC is just hoping the whole movement will die of starvation and the world can go back to business as usual.

People across the globe have been trading, successfully and unsuccessfully, since the first man offered another man a rock in exchange for a fish millions of years ago. Trade and barter are concepts so fundamental to the human experience that the amount of regulation the SEC, and others, want to put on crowdfunding puts them at odds with a fundamental survival mechanism. We were designed to trade goods and service, just like we were designed to take risks. It is time for the SEC to modernize, realize that crowdfunding is simply adventurous humans looking to find a better fish, and get with the program before it is too late and we all realize just how defunct the brontosaurus like government gatekeepers really are.

March 12, 2014 MandyCummings Leave a response

Finding Your Crowd: 3 Ways to Socialize Crowdfunding Campaigns

By: Mandy Cummings, WildRock Account Coordinator

A surprisingly common myth about crowdfunding is that once you make your project live, affluent beneficiaries will come flocking to fund your idea. In reality, it takes strategy and foresight to seek out the crowds that will be interested and passionate about your cause, and time invested in building that online community, before your campaign launches.

A proven way to foster that community and excitement for your project is through effective use of social media. In fact, according to crowdfunding platform Fundable, social media is a critical factor in crowdfunding success, citing that for every order of magnitude increase in Facebook friends (10, 100, 1000), the probability of success increases drastically (from 9%-, 20%, to 40%).

Based on WildRock’s research and experience in helping leverage social media for crowdfunding projects, here are three tips for your campaign:

Pick your channel. The list of social media sites available can overwhelm even the experts. Choosing your appropriate channels wisely will help direct and focus your efforts, without spreading you and your team too thin.

Facebook first. Regardless of what other channels you decide to expand your presence on, Facebook should be your foundation. Posting updates on your personal page is an easy way to keep friends and family looped in to your efforts, and creating abusiness page allows you to monitor stats and analytics to better focus your posts and timing.
Branching out. Carefully consider the demographics of your target audience and nature of your project when determining which additional social media channels to pursue. For example, Twitter’s hashtag features lets you join in conversations about particular trends and topics, and can be a valuable way to solicit feedback from your customers and keep reporters and media contacts updated about your project. Product-based projects can find success in engaging on Pinterest and Instagram, giving your audience more imagery and insight into how the new product can be used.

Start early. It may seem obvious, but efforts on social media have the greatest impact when channeled towards the largest audience. Take the time well in advance of your project launch to start building your fan base on your various social channels and engaging in dialogue so that when you’re ready to launch, you have an actively listening audience.

Drive traffic through outside links. Include social media icons in your email signature, newsletter, blogs, articles – anywhere you have an online presence, use links to drive folks back to your social media pages.
Empower your supporters who are already following you on social media to be your advocates, encouraging them to share about your brand and increase your network. With a loyal supporter base and creative content and messaging, social media efforts throughout your campaign have a greater chance of going viral and attracting new interest.

Create engaging content. Creating “sharable” content and images that people can easily use will encourage fans to spread the word and give traction to your campaign. Images tend to be the strongest source for sharing, and facts can also be effective at tugging on the heartstrings of why your project is important.

Mix it up. Use a variety of content, combining project/funding updates, funny/human interest posts and posts that encourage fan engagement.
Network, network, network. Social media is not only a powerful way to converse with your audience, but also to strategically network with other organizations. Be proactive in researching and reaching out to like-minded groups and pages that are already established on social media sites, aligning your project with their brand and introducing yourself to their audiences. Before your project launches, begin “talking” on other pages outside of your own where your ideal supporter might be listening. This could mean joining discussions by other organizations on LinkedIn, or commenting on articles posted by partners on Facebook.

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March 4, 2014 danizargel Leave a response

Massachusetts-based Modular Furniture Designer “ModRoomz” Launches IndieGoGo Campaign

ModRoomz, a start-up Massachusetts based modular furniture design & manufacturing company are using an innovative method of seeking funding to help launch our modular furniture concept.

ModRoomz Modular Furniture are seeking start-up funding via IndieGogo to allow them to purchase vital manufacturing equipment.

ModRoomz modular furniture allows you to build anything from a bed, to a crib to desk and then rearrange the ModCubes to create something entirely new when you need to Instead of offering pointless promo items or asking for big donations, they are requesting perks of just $1 and in return, they are giving supporters a ten-fold discount against any future ModRoomz purchase (once they hit their $100k target).

People can obviously donate more if they wish but ModRoomz’ goal is to build awareness and support in large numbers rather than having large individual donors which are far more difficult to come by!

Obviously they require a lot of supporters to do this but they believe passionately in their exciting modular furniture product and are asking for your help & support!

ModRoomz modular furniture allows you to build anything from a bed, to a crib to desk and then rearrange the ModCubes to create something entirely new when you need to ModRoomz furniture will be built locally and create much needed manufacturing jobs in our communities so please help them gain traction via social media, word of mouth about them, their crowd-funding campaign and their exciting new product which we has been compared to the “Transformer of the Furniture World“.

For more information, please contact Dani Zargel via dani@modroomz.com or see their crowd-funding campaign:http://igg.me/at/support-modroomz

ModRoomz modular furniture allows you to build anything from a bed, to a crib to desk and then rearrange the ModCubes to create something entirely new when you need to

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March 3, 2014 Bethany Wood 2 Responses

Michigan Passes Crowdfunding Exemption

Michigan just joined the growing number of states that have passed crowdfunding exemptions. Intrastate crowdfunding is a way for states to circumvent the log jam in the federal government. By allowing local investors to invest in local businesses, states like Michigan are promoting the local economy without the oversight of the federal government or the SEC.

Michigan’s crowdfunding law allows accredited and non-accredited investors to invest in local businesses. Limits have been set at $10,000 a year for non-accredited investors. This is more straightforward than the SEC’s proposed limits which are based on a percentage of income. For example, the SEC rules would cap annual investments at 5% of a person’s annual income or $2,000 total. If the investor makes over $100,000 per year the SEC will raise that amount to 10% of their income. Michigan has simplified things by issuing the straight $10,000 a year cap. Accredited investors are not bound to these rules as they are free to invest in companies through existing Regulation D exemptions.

Michigan is looking to take their stance on local investments one step further. Their legislature is currently considering a bill that would allow for a Michigan only stock exchange. This would create additional liquidity within the state, helping to promote local businesses, create jobs, and hopefully improve the states economy.

The bill, HB 5273 is facing some opposition as law makers are concerned with how the SEC would become involved in the process, potentially creating regulatory hoops. They are concerned that the internet would create a means for the SEC to regulate these transactions but the SEC has not clearly issued a statement as such. The bill lays out the framework and guidelines for an instate only stock market, along with provisions to protect both parties.

Michigan is a good example of a state willing to take action to improve their economy. Crowdfunding is not simply a fad that novice investors want to participate in. Crowdfunding is a viable mechanism for growing small businesses and improving the economy. When a local investor puts money into a local business they will not only help them financially but are likely to support them by visiting their business and buying their goods or services as possible. They will also become cheerleaders for the business, telling their friends to become a customer as well. This is the beauty of an intrastate crowdfunding exemption. You are building a local echosystem where investors, consumers, and businesses all work together to make something a success.

Local investors are true stakeholders in the companies they support, just as they are with local charities and community organizations. We will continue to watch Michigan and other states like Kansas to see the level of success they are having with their intrastate crowdfunding platforms. Once the SEC has finalized the federal crowdfunding rules businesses will have to decide if they want to stay with local in state platforms or if they want to open it up to investors nationwide. Several things need to go into that discussion including acknowledging where your support is likely to come from and looking at the investment caps per person at the state and federal level.

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Your Source for Crowdfunding News

Name Brands Get in on Crowdfunding

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Massachusetts-based Modular Furniture Designer “ModRoomz” Launches IndieGoGo Campaign

ModRoomz, a start-up Massachusetts based modular furniture design & manufacturing company are using an innovative method of seeking funding to help launch our modular furniture concept.

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Michigan Passes Crowdfunding Exemption

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