Crowdfunding Lobby Picks Up Momentum
Crowdfunding Industry Unites Behind Regulatory Organization to Protect Investors
WASHINGTON, DC and NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – Mar 23, 2012) – With the passage of the JOBS Act, the Crowdfunding Industry is uniting behind a Self Regulating Organization (SRO) to monitor and oversee this new
marketplace and ensure investor protection. The Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Association will commit to providing investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation of those within the crowdfunding industry. CFIRA will create rules, oversight and a united voice for the CrowdFund Investing platform companies as the industry is formed. CFIRA announced today that the founding partners will be:
- Startup Exemption, The CrowdFund Investing authors that wrote the framework for the Crowdfund legislation passed by Congress.
- The SoHo Loft Capital Creation (TSLCC) Events, the definitive event platform for the private markets aimed at facilitating capital formation and job creation.
- Gate Technologies & GATE Impact, a platform and electronic marketplace and that provides regulatory compliant private market transactions. Continue reading
Crowdfunding: Canadian Sites
Are there any Canadian crowdfunding sites?
The answer is that there is at least one: Fundweaver.
I don’t know if it’s equity, debt, or donation based.
Startup Advice: Fake it Till You Make it – Part III
Here’s a joke that like all good jokes contains a kernel of truth in it. When you are starting out and resources are scarce you need to compensate with resourcefulness. Continue reading
Startup Advice: Fake it Till You Make it – Part II
Never be shy about promoting yourself because if you aren’t going to no one else ever will. – Gene Simmons
When I first wrote the piece “Fake it Till You Make it” a couple of people became morally outraged and delivered sermons on a popular networking site. My original piece was basically about the need for aggressive self-promotion, particularly in this day and age. There’s an actual legal term for this strategy: puffery. Yes, it’s legal. My two critics jumped to the erroneous conclusion that I was suggesting illegal behavior. I wasn’t. Continue reading
Startup Capital: How the Vast Majority of Startups are Funded
How Startups Survive the Financing Valley of Death and Launch
Rock star venture capitalist Paul Kedrosky lays it on the line about how the vast majority of startups are funded initially. According to Paul, 84% of fast growth companies never receive a dime of venture capital.
less than one-in-five of the fastest-growing and most successful companies in the United States had venture investors, according to the study. The report evaluated venture financing among companies on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies. Only approximately 16 percent of the roughly 900 unique companies on the list from 1997-2007 had venture capital backing. (pdf) Continue reading
Startup Tips: Don’t Use the Word “Pivot.” Ever!
Pivot: Possibly the Most Annoying Business Buzzword in History
Everyone needs to agree to never use this dreadful word again. Please don’t use it. It makes you sound like someone who lacks the depth to think deeper than the buzzword of the month. Continue reading
Selling: How Top Salespeople Own Their Niche
How Top Salespeople Own Their Niche
If you need to become a better sales professional, check out the book by Eric Luhrs, the sales trainer to America’s top salespeople. Here’s a podcast loaded with tips from Eric on how to dominate your niche.
Crowdfunding: Profounder bites the dust
Crowdfunding Site Profounder Shuts Down
Just got the news this morning that a crowdfunding site called Profounder is shutting down. A far as I know they never really got going but it’s still sad to hear about the loss of a prospective member of the community.
There is now a group that lobbies for crowdfunding that supporters should know about.
Another Amazing Crowdfunding Success Story: Omari & the Orphans
Crowdfunding Can Perform Miracles
Just three weeks I read a heart-wrenching story on Reddit.com about an attack on a defenseless orphanage in Kenya by some thugs. I’m not sure of the details but somehow the story ended up on Reddit with a graphic image of a man named Omari who had suffered a machete wound to the head while trying to protect the kids. The wound put him in the hospital for two days and required major stitching. (Don’t click that unless you can handle grisly wounds.) Omari and his Reddit associate then asked Redditors, who have raised money before for various good causes, to donate $2000 for a wall to protect the orphanage.
Long story short, within about 24 hours over $50K had been raised to build the wall and help the orphanage out in other ways. At last count, over $80K has been raised. Continue reading
Startup Advice: Fake it Till You Make it
The Entrepreneurial Spirit
This is about a real life Zelig and the entrepreneurial spirit.
Do you really need to fake it till you make it? In my humble opinion, the answer is yes in the majority of instances. This is especially true if your startup is a B2B business. Existing businesses rarely gamble on the new kid no matter how low the quote is. There’s simply too much at stake for everyone from the purchasing agent on up to the CEO.
This can also be a factor in B2C businesses. Ask yourself if you would trust a lawyer, doctor, or accountant fresh out of school. Chances are high that you wouldn’t. Nobody wants to be a test guinea pig for a stranger learning on the job.
How do entrepreneurs, deal-makers, and startups get past this credibility obstacle? They fake it till they make. Basically, they puff up the business to make it appear larger and more established than it maybe in reality. If you know what to look for you will see that everyone does it to varying degrees. The most successful entrepreneurs are experts at this game. Continue reading
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