This sculpture exhibit and the associated story in Wall Street Journal this week perfectly symbolize for me where we stand today in the evolution of humanity. It strikes a chord with me personally having transitioned from Wall Street to environmental advocacy and now facing the threats of institutional power. This week the small business nonprofit […]
Yesterday the National Law Review published a concise and useful update on Regulation CF crowdfunding written by Samuel Effron. The article summarized the results of the first six months of Regulation CF crowdfunding (July – December 2016). I exchanged emails with the author. We agree that crowdfunding is still in its infancy and we have too […]
Crowdfunding Insider warns that if a successful crowdfunded product is easy to copy, it will be copied and offered at a lower price by Chinese manufacturers. The risk is that crowdfunding companies put their best ideas online for public viewing before they have any developed markets or brand loyalty. Customers who found them online can […]
A good introductory video explaining small business equity crowdfunding by NextGen Crowdfunding. (At least, IMO, it is as good as a video that consists solely of a lawyer and a business guy in blue blazers sitting talking to each other can be). The 10 minute conversation recorded last fall covers many important points including a short […]
I’m now loosely tracking 17 activity different US-based small business crowdfunding portals. This excludes all the portals intended for personal or charitable crowdfunding that would bring the total to 31. The number of investment options continues to grow and the field continues to grow more complicated. The risk to investors remains high and grows in […]
“There was a time when a fool and his money were soon parted, but now it happens to everybody”. Yesterday GrindTV ran an article about more crowdfunding fraud. Investment without responsible independent financial oversight leads to disaster. That’s why the accounting profession exists. Investors simply need a healthy dose of reality here. The most basic […]
Arizona joined the growing number of states that allow small business equity crowdfunding within its borders on terms that do not violate federal securities laws. The state’s new small business crowdfunding law went into effect this month. FundMyBusinessAZ.com is a site that operates under a new law signed by the governor that paved the way for […]
In a post titled “Fraud in Crowdfunding” I’ve written about the ridiculously high rate of fraud on GoFundMe campaigns. Some third-party evidence suggest that the majority of campaigns on that site involve some type of fraud, deception or mismanagement. The scams reported target both the project sponsors and those who fund the projects. Simply put, […]
In the first three months that small business equity crowdfunding was allowed, only 17 of the 117 businesses that registered offerings on SEC-approved platforms met their minimum funding requirement, according to a NextGen Crowdfunding press release. By ‘small business equity crowdfunding’ I am referring to public offerings up to $1 million sometime referred to as […]
It was bound to happen. A crowdfunding platform called First Asia Alliance apparently misrepresented investments, may have mishandled investors’ money and now the owners may now be bankrupt. Crowdfunding is a ripe opportunity for fraud and we know that mismanagement is rampant in some non-business crowdfunding platforms like Gofundme. Fortunately, this failed crowdfunding project was in Asia so few […]