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BREWDOG HAS BIG PLANS FOR CANAL WINCHESTER BREWERY

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Everything in America is bigger: cars, farms, Big Gulps and even BrewDog. The Scotland-based brewer, which plans to open its U.S. headquarters in Canal Winchester this summer, recently filed papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showing that it expects operations here will eclipse those in the United Kingdom, where BrewDog is the No. 1 craft-beer maker.

 

The company will offer a little more than 1 million shares of stock in a crowdfunding program to raise up to $50 million. BrewDog is spending $30 million on the headquarters and brewery it is building here.

 


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REGULATION A+ ‘MINI-IPOS’ ON THE WAY AS RULE CHANGE ALLOWS REGULAR JOES TO INVEST IN STARTUPS

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SAN FRANCISCO — Want to get in on the ground floor of the next Facebook or Uber? Startups can now raise money through new, so-called mini-IPOs that will be open to the Average Joe, not just rich accredited investors, as a result of new rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission that will go into effect Friday.

 

The new Regulation A+ rules will give up-and-coming startups a new way to raise money aside from pitching venture capitalists or holding an actual initial public offering, with the average person able to get in early on the next Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB) or Uber before its value skyrockets.

 


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NEW RULES LET COMPANIES SELL STAKES TO INVESTORS OF MODEST MEANS

NYT_logoGrowing companies seeking to raise up to $50 million have a new financing option, starting Friday: a process that will open some private businesses to a wide pool of new investors.

 

More than three years in the making, the regulatory change, an expanded version of a rule known as Regulation A, is intended to let promising companies — the kinds typically backed by venture capitalists and wealthy angel investors — raise money by selling equity stakes to people of more modest means.

 


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JOBS ACT EXPERT ALMERICO SAYS REGULATION A+ A GOOD START

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Now that the smoke has cleared after the Regulation A+ announcement, we’re beginning to get a better understanding of the impacts it will have on alt-finance.

 

JOBS Act expert and crowdfunding attorney Kendall Almerico is a frequent speaker at industry events and is the co-founder and CEO of Fundhub, a leading industry platform for both companies and investors.

 


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NOW YOU CAN INVEST IN VIRTUAL REALITY START-UPS

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Getting a slice of a virtual reality or e-commerce start-up has been limited to people with real money–accredited investors. But as of Friday, a new Securities and Exchange Commission rule enables companies like Virtuix, which makes a suite of VR products, to raise capital from the Main Street crowd.

 

It’s the latest piece of the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act to be enacted, and the purpose is to open new sources of capital to small businesses. The rule, officially called Title IV, will lead to a “mini-IPO” market, some experts say.

 


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U.S. SEC REFUSES TO STALL ‘REGULATION A’ RULES ON SMALL OFFERINGS

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WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – Montana state regulators lost their bid this week to temporarily stop new “Regulation A” rules governing small public offerings from taking effect on Friday. In a June 16 order, the Securities and Exchange Commission ruled it was in the best interest of the public to deny Montana’s request for a stay, noting the new rules were mandated by Congress.

 

“To grant a stay now would thwart Congress’s goal of increasing capital formation opportunities,” the SEC said. Both Montana and Massachusetts are suing the SEC after the agency voted in March to greatly scale back states’ rights to police Regulation A deals before they are sold to the public.

 


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ALMERICO WASTES NO TIME IN LAUNCHING REGULATION A+ SITE

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Leading crowdfunding attorney and vocal Regulation A+ supporter, Kendall Almerico was ready to go on the first day Regulation A+ offerings were allowed to be publicized.

 

On Friday, Mr. Almerico unveiled BankRoll, a website allowing startup and emerging companies to fundraise from the crowd. Upon SEC review, BankRoll will be able to launch ‘Mini-IPOs’ for his clients.

 


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Q&A WITH KENDALL ALMERICO ON TITLE III EQUITY CROWDFUNDING RULES

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Kendall Almerico has been one of the most vocal proponents of equity crowdfunding and the JOBS Act for the past three years. In addition to launching Bankroll, a funding platform for Regulation A+ Mini-IPOs the day that portion of the JOBS Act went into effect, Kendall’s law practice is centered on advising and providing legal services related to all forms of crowdfunding. We reached out to Kendall to find out his take on the just-released Title III equity crowdfunding rules.

 

Now that you have had a chance to read the SEC equity crowdfunding rules released last week, what are the biggest surprises?

 


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NEW CROWDFUNDING PLATFORM BANKROLL TARGETS REGULATION A+ & REGULATION D ISSUERS

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On June 19, 2015, it became legal for businesses to raise up to $50 million by conducting an online Mini-IPO under a new exemption known as “Regulation A+.” On that same date, two attorneys, Anthony Zeoli and Kendall Almerico, revealed the launch of Bankroll – a portal that looks to facilitate SMEs to raise capital using Reg A+, alongside Regulation D using both 506(b) and 506(c) offerings.

 

Almerico and Zeoli have both been outspoken advocates of equity crowdfunding. Zeoli, a Crowdfund Insider contributor, was the author of state legislation to legalize equity crowdfunding in the state of Illinois.

 


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CROWDFUNDING ISN’T JUST FOR COOL TECH GADGETS. JUST ASK BERNIE SANDERS. (INFOGRAPHIC)

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Some of the biggest early crowdfunding wins may have been for tech gadgets — Pebble smartwatch’s two campaigns raised more than $30 million combined — but its power extends far beyond the ability to raise serious money for high-tech startups and their high-tech gadgets.

 

Take Bernie Sanders. The candidate for the Democratic nomination for president may not use Kickstarter, but he is certainly raising money by soliciting large quantities of small donations (the definition of crowdfunding) even if the campaign isn’t labeling it as such.

 


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CROWDFUNDING ISN’T JUST FOR COOL TECH GADGETS. JUST ASK BERNIE SANDERS. (INFOGRAPHIC)

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Some of the biggest early crowdfunding wins may have been for tech gadgets — Pebble smartwatch’s two campaigns raised more than $30 million combined — but its power extends far beyond the ability to raise serious money for high-tech startups and their high-tech gadgets.

 

Take Bernie Sanders. The candidate for the Democratic nomination for president may not use Kickstarter, but he is certainly raising money by soliciting large quantities of small donations (the definition of crowdfunding) even if the campaign isn’t labeling it as such.

 


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CROWDFUNDING SURVIVES A CRUCIAL LEGAL CHALLENGE FEW KNOW ABOUT

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Regulation A+ is the portion of the JOBS Act that allows a company to raise up to $50 million in new capital through an online “Mini-IPO.” It came roaring into the investment world a year ago with the promise of changing the way small businesses get funded. The law allows companies to economically raise funds from the “crowd” and let everyday people, not just the rich and powerful, invest in small private companies for the first time in 80 years. One of the ways Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made this law affordable was by exempting companies from having to comply with state Blue Sky laws. Those are state by state securities laws that require a company to register and often undergo extensive merit review by each state’s securities regulators.

 

Imagine the legal bills of going to the 50 different states to file extensive paperwork, have a securities regulator review and request changes, then make sure those changes were okay with 49 other state regulators who also were requesting their own changes. This would be a process that took months, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and effectively make Regulation A+ unusable.

 


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4 LOCAL BUSINESSES PERFECT FOR THE NEW EQUITY CROWDFUNDING LAW

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On May 16, 2016 the long awaited (four years, five months and six days after the law was signed by the president, but who’s counting) JOBS Act equity crowdfunding law goes into effect allowing startups and small businesses to raise new capital up to $1,000,000 online through an equity crowdfunding portal. Entrepreneurs can now legally raise money from “the crowd” by giving everyday people a chance to own a part of their business. For the crowd, the chance to invest a small amount of money online in a new or growing young company, opens a new world of opportunity that was never available before.

 

I am frequently asked in my law practice: “Is my company a good fit for crowdfunding?” While nearly any U.S. or Canadian based company can use this groundbreaking law, there are businesses that are a near-perfect fit. Before we get to those, there are a few basics and statistics to ponder.

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EQUITY CROWDFUNDING’S UNLIKELY PROOF OF CONCEPT: BERNIE SANDERS

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Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign has demonstrated exactly why equity crowdfunding under the JOBS Act will work, when done properly. Before anyone accuses me of displaying my political leanings in this story, please understand one thing: if I decide to vote for a bald, white, Jewish guy from Brooklyn, I’ll write in Larry David.

 

That being said, I admire that Bernie Sanders has done exactly what equity crowdfunding under the JOBS Act allows small companies to do: take small amounts of money from large numbers of people to fund something, all the while thumbing one’s nose at the rich, powerful and elite. The parallels between his campaign funding, and equity crowdfunding under the JOBS Act, are remarkable.

 


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RAISING CAPITAL THROUGH REGULATION A+? YOU STILL NEED TO MARKET YOUR SOCKS OFF.

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Ever since Regulation A+ became the law in June, I have been inundated with calls from companies excited about the prospect of raising up to $50 million in new capital online through a Mini IPO (initial public offering).

 

Potential clients I speak to understand that Regulation A+ offerings need approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and require an investment of legal, compliance and accounting fees. But when I explain to them that committing to a full-blown marketing plan is likely required to raising significant capital, I usually get blank stares. Once the silence subsides, I generally hear something like this: “Why do I need a marketing budget? Can’t I just put my Mini IPO online and people will invest?”

 


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WHAT THE NEW EQUITY CROWDFUNDING RULES MEAN FOR ENTREPRENEURS

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The SEC has finally released rules for Title III of the JOBS Act, the equity crowdfunding law. Nearly three years and seven months after the potentially game-changing bill was first signed into law, equity crowdfunding will be available to startups and small companies in 180 days. Yes, we get to wait another half a year before anyone can actually use equity crowdfunding, but at least now we know it will happen.

 

For those who have run out of Ambien, the hundreds of pages of new rules will provide a welcome sleep aid. But for professionals who plan to use these rules to help companies raise new capital, it is required reading. Bring on the Red Bull.

 


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4 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU HOPE TO RAISE $50 MILLION WITH A REGULATION A+ MINI-IPO

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Regulation A+ went into effect on June 19, 2015, with the promise that small companies could raise up to $50 million in new capital through an online mini-IPO with investments from anyone in “the crowd” and not just from wealthy accredited investors. By giving access to the general public, this section of the JOBS Act promised to be a game changer for the American economy, and for small businesses everywhere.

 

So why, three months after this law went into effect, is very little being heard about anyone raising money under the new law? One requirement of the SEC filings is that your company’s financial records are in order and that the last two years of financial statements need to be audited by an independent CPA or auditing firm for the SEC to approve a Regulation A+ offering. Not surprisingly, few small businesses were ready for this requirement when the law went into effect, and many are still trying to get these records in order and audits completed to file their mini-IPO offering for SEC approval.

 


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WHY THE RECENTLY PASSED LAW ALLOWING MINI IPOS MAY NOT BENEFIT YOUR BUSINESS

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Regulation A+ became law in June with the promise of small businesses having the ability to raise $50 million through an online mini initial public offering. The novel concept of a young company being funded by the general public and having “the crowd” — not just accredited investors — invest online could revolutionize the capital-formation process in America.

 

As an attorney whose practice revolves around obtaining funding for small businesses, potential clients ask me every day if Regulation A+ is a good fit for their business. The answer is always that it depends. To help explain, I called upon a man at the forefront of the Regulation A+ industry, Scott Purcell. Purcell is the founder and CEO of FundAmerica Technologies, which provides a bevy of services to those who make a business of online capital formation pursuant to JOBS Act equity crowdfunding.

 


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COMPANIES CAN NOW ‘TEST THE WATERS’ BEFORE PURSUING A MINI-IPO

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Rather than spending large sums of money to roll out a mini-IPO with hopes of raising up to $50 million, a company can use a revolutionary provision of Regulation A+ from the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) to “test the waters” before hitting the market. In other words, a company can legally gauge interest from prospective investors before spending more than $100,000 to see if there is sufficient interest in their stock offering to move forward.

 

Before the JOBS Act was enacted in 2012, companies and their representatives were generally prohibited from talking to prospective investors until they had filed their IPO documents with the SEC. Most securities lawyers also understood federal law to restrict companies from soliciting offers or even indications of interest for an IPO, even after the initial documents were filed with the SEC, until the company filed a preliminary prospectus with an estimated offering price range with the SEC. As a result, hundreds of thousands of dollars had to be spent on legal fees, compliance, due diligence and accounting before a company could talk to the people who might invest.

 


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RAISING MILLIONS WITH EQUITY CROWDFUNDING WILL COST YOU, BUT HOW MUCH?

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The recently released Regulation A+ is the first section of the JOBS Act that allows a company to raise capital from the general public. By opening up private company investments to the “crowd,” Regulation A+ promises to be a game changer for how emerging companies are funded. It’s the first nationally available form of equity crowdfunding to non-accredited investors.

 

This will not be as easy as a Kickstarter campaign, however. Raising capital with Regulation A+ will involve more than going online, creating a crowdfunding campaign and watching the money flow in. Regulation A+ involves the sale of equity or debt in your company and is governed by securities laws. This means (cue maniacal laughter) attorneys’ fees, accountants’ fees and compliance costs. Raising $50 million under Regulation A+ is going to require your company to invest money in the process.

 


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6 THINGS YOU SHOULD DO NOW IF YOU WANT TO RAISE FUNDS WITH REGULATION A+

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The SEC has opened the doors to JOBS Act equity crowdfunding with the recent passage of Regulation A+. In less than 60 days, this revolutionary new capital raising law will allow a small business to raise up to $50 million per year from both accredited and non-accredited investors. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Go online, create a Regulation A+ crowdfunding campaign, and then start cashing millions of dollars in checks. Not so fast.

 

The SEC has 453 pages of rules and regulations to follow. This is not as simple as logging into Kickstarter, shooting a cool video, writing a pitch and posting a crowdfunding campaign. Regulation A+ involves the sale of securities in your company. As a result, there are a lot of laws and rules to follow.

 


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SEC: STARTUPS CAN NOW RAISE $50 MILLION IN ‘MINI IPO’

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The SEC on Wednesday approved game-changing final rules in the implementation of Title IV of the JOBS Act, known as “Regulation A+,” which will allow small businesses and startups to raise up to $50 million from “the crowd.”

 

As I reported more than a year ago, this little-known provision of the JOBS Act will allow a startup company or emerging business to hold a “mini IPO” from the general public, not just accredited investors, and should be a complete game-changer for the way businesses are funded.

 


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SHOULD YOU CONSIDER HIRING A CROWDFUNDING CONSULTANT?

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If you start a crowdfunding campaign, don’t be surprised when you start getting solicited by email from people who want to help you crowdfund successfully. Are these potential donors? Fans of your project who want to help you spread the word because they love what you are doing? Writers or bloggers who could take your campaign to viral status through their vast readership?

 

Hopefully, these email solicitations come from one (or all) of those people. Unfortunately, many will come from a recent phenomenon that is cropping up in the crowdfunding world: the crowdfunding consultant. A crowdfunding consultant will, for a fee, advise you on launching, running and promoting your campaign. Some of these crowdfunding consultants are very good and can provide valuable help, particularly for campaigns trying to raise more than $100,000. Others are basically worthless and will take anyone’s money just to repeat things you could learn for free reading my Entrepreneur.com articles.

 


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BEFORE YOU CROWDFUND AN INVENTION, CONSIDER PATENT PROTECTION

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Crowdfunding has become a successful way for an inventor to raise the money needed to create, manufacture and distribute a new product. You just need to look at the successful crowdfunding campaigns of the Pebble Watch or the Coolest Cooler to see what the power of the crowd can do for a new consumer product. The days of begging friends, family and angel investors to fund a new invention are over for someone with a great new idea and access to “the crowd.”

 

But access to the Internet is a mixed blessing. Millions of people can now quickly see, evaluate and potentially donate to help an inventor get his or her product off the drawing board. But amongst those millions of people are a few bad apples who will see a great idea and try to steal it. Even the great Steve Jobs was once quoted as having said, “We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”

 


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SEC DELAYS EQUITY CROWDFUNDING PIECE OF JOBS ACT FOR ANOTHER YEAR

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The Securities and Exchange Commission recently released a rulemaking agenda revealing that it plans to finalize the Title III Equity Crowdfunding rules and the Title IV Regulation A+ rules from the JOBS Act by October 2015. Given that these rules will then require 60 days to be published in the federal register and become law, it appears likely that the earliest date small businesses will be able to utilize these JOBS Act provisions to raise capital will be the beginning of 2016.

 

This announcement comes nearly three years after the overwhelming bipartisan passage into law of the JOBS Act, a historic piece of legislation designed to help small businesses raise funds to launch and grow. The announcement is also a remarkable 700 days past the deadline the law itself contains mandating the date that the final crowdfunding rules were supposed be released by the SEC.

 


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WILL THE SEC REDEFINE WHO CAN BE AN ‘ACCREDITED INVESTOR’?

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For years, federal law has only allowed “accredited investors” to invest in most private-securities offerings for startup and growing businesses. This will change to a certain degree with the enactment of equity crowdfunding under the JOBS Act, but there will still be a large number of private investments limited to accredited investors.

 

This month, the Securities and Exchange Commission will consider revising the definition of who qualifies as an accredited investor. Unfortunately, some of the proposals the SEC is considering would make qualifying as an accredited investor more difficult, and thereby limiting the pool of investment money that presently is available to small businesses.

 


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HOW TO INVEST FOR EQUITY IN A STARTUP

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When making an equity investment in a startup, there are many issues to consider. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to release its final JOBS Act equity crowdfunding rules, and entrepreneurs will be allowed to sell equity in their companies through online crowdfunding portals to more than just accredited investors. The law promises to be a game changer for startups. As a result, investors will have easily accessible investment choices at their fingertips.

 

Here are 10 questions to raise about making an equity investment in a startup company. I pass these along from my personal experience as an investor, as well as my 25-year history as an attorney helping people start and fund businesses.

 


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WANT TO MAKE EQUITY CROWDFUNDING LEGAL? 3 EXPERTS SOUND OFF.

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The JOBS Act became law on April 5, 2012, with the promise to open a new world of funding for startup businesses through equity crowdfunding. Entrepreneurs were excited that Congress passed a law creating a Kickstarter-like tool to raise capital by selling stock online. Equity crowdfunding had promised to bring ideas to life, businesses to fruition and the American Dream back into play.

 

Then, nothing happened. Almost two-and-a-half years since the law was passed, there is frustration in the entrepreneurial world because the SEC has not released final rules allowing JOBS Act equity crowdfunding to begin.

 


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POTENTIAL GAME CHANGER FOR FUNDING AWAITS FINAL APPROVAL FROM SEC

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Regulation A+, a little-discussed provision of the JOBS Act, would allow a company to raise up to $50 million selling stock to the general public through a mini-IPO that would not be overly expensive or burdensome from a regulatory perspective. Earlier this year, I boldly predicted that this provision could have a game-changing effect on how new and emerging companies raise capital once it went into effect.

 

As the law was written and the rules were proposed by the SEC, it might not cost a company much more to raise $50 million under Regulation A+ than it would cost to raise $1 million under the equity crowdfunding provisions of the JOBS Act.

 


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CROWDFUNDING CAN BE REALLY EFFECTIVE — IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING

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Most people do not understand crowdfunding. “I built it, but they did not come” is a common complaint. Some people are shocked and unable to understand why nobody donated to their crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo or GoFundMe.

 

Crowdfunding is hard work. On many sites, the vast majority of people who try crowdfunding fail to meet their goal. But for those who plan ahead, prepare properly and execute a plan the right way, the chances of success are much greater.

 


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CROWDFUNDING GROWING AT A STARTLING RATE, NEW REPORT SAYS

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Just a couple of years ago, providing answers to some of the most common questions on crowdfunding was based evenly between limited anecdotal evidence and my gut feelings as an attorney with keen business instincts.

 

But as with any fledgling industry moving towards maturity, more and more data has started to appear that makes answering these questions a bit easier. One recent mountain of data on the crowdfunding world that just arrived contains a plethora of information — read on as I distill some of it for you.

 


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ENLIST TWITTER FOR CROWDFUNDING SUCCESS

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Here is the worst-kept secret in crowdfunding: Social media is vital to its success. Twitter is perfect for crowdfunding if used correctly because of its reach and the speed with which news can be spread. But like everything else in the world, it is only effective if it’s used correctly.

 

Here are five basic rules to harness Twitter for your crowdfunding campaign:

 


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WHY OCULUS DIDN’T BETRAY BACKERS WITH $2B FACEBOOK BUYOUT

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When I penned my tongue-in-cheek-titled article “Will Equity Crowdfunding Laws Be the Death of Kickstarter?” I addressed a misconception that equity crowdfunding under the JOBS Act would have a negative effect on rewards-based crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter, because the JOBS Act has nothing to do with rewards-based crowdfunding.

 

Despite this, a recent New York Times editorial and a Bloomberg column, “Attention Suckers: Please Send Us Your Money,” show that even the media fail to grasp the huge difference between rewards-based and equity crowdfunding. Both articles offered harsh criticism for crowdfunding as a whole and for Oculus, a company that utilized rewards-based crowdfunding to raise capital for a virtual-reality system it was building. When Oculus was recently acquired by Facebook for $2 billion, the Bloomberg article accused Oculus of pulling off a “scam” because the supporters of its Kickstarter campaign did not get a share of the profits from the Facebook buyout.

 


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YOUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN IS DOOMED WITHOUT THIS

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To be successful in rewards-based crowdfunding, effective use of social media is critical. Gaining financial support through social media is not as simple as posting a picture of your lunch on Facebook or retweeting the latest joke from Jimmy Kimmel. Successful crowdfunding through social media requires planning, dedication and determination. A few tips from your favorite crowdfunding expert also can’t hurt.

 

The process of using social media for crowdfunding starts weeks before a crowdfunding campaign launches. Having up-to-date profiles on the three major social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter) is imperative. Building followers before you launch is even more important. A typical rewards-based crowdfunding campaign lasts only 30 to 60 days, so it is too late to try to build a following on social media during the campaign. Adding quality contacts on social media must start weeks, if not months, before the campaign launches.

 


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THE JOBS ACT PROVISION THAT COULD CHANGE IPOS FOREVER

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There is excitement on “Main Street” about equity crowdfunding democratizing the investment process. Most people are unaware of another provision of the JOBS Act that could have a much larger impact on entrepreneurs and small businesses: Regulation A+. This provision will allow entrepreneurs to raise up to $50 million in a simplified form of an initial public offering.

 

Depending on how the SEC rules look when finalized, raising $50 million under Regulation A+ could have a similar cost and require nearly the same regulatory compliance required to raise only $1 million under the JOBS Act “equity crowdfunding” proposed rules. If the SEC keeps its proposed Regulation A+ rules intact, I will give this JOBS Act provision an A+ grade.

 


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6 TIPS TO CREATE A TOP-NOTCH CROWDFUNDING VIDEO

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One major key to crowdfunding success is by creating a good video that sells your campaign to potential donors. In fact including a video will up your chances of success to 50 percent, according to Kickstarter. You don’t need to be the next Steven Spielberg or have a huge budget to create an amazing video. All you need is that electronic marvel in your hand that creates bathroom-mirror selfies and endless Facebook posts of the food you are eating. With a good smartphone and a few tips, you can create a video that will help you raise money and get your startup dream off the ground.

 

So turn stop asking Siri questions, ignore your incoming texts, pause your Candy Crush game and turn your smartphone camera to video. Follow these six rules and you will be on your way to crowdfunding success.

 


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WILL EQUITY CROWDFUNDING LAWS BE THE DEATH OF KICKSTARTER?

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There have recently been some angry grumblings from the blogosphere about the government wanting to stick its fingers in the crowdfunding pie. The concern across the internet seems to be that new regulations will destroy the rapidly-growing crowdfunding industry that brought us the Pebble Watch and the Veronica Mars movie.

 

I am here to paraphrase Mark Twain and assure you that the rumors of Kickstarter’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

 


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TAKE A STEP BACK. SET A REALISTIC GOAL FOR YOUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN.

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If I had a dime for every person who didn’t understand the concept of setting a realistic crowdfunding goal, I could crowdfund the next Pebble Watch and a second Veronica Mars movie.

 

As a crowdfunding expert, many people call or write to me about great ideas that are perfect for rewards-based crowdfunding. Inevitably, after hearing their ideas, I close my eyes tight, scrunch up my face, hold my breath and ask the magic question: How much do you want to raise?

 


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