CfPA - Crowdfunding Professional Association » staff

While Waiting for SEC Regulations, Crowdfunding Leaders Focus on Investor Education

staff — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:18:48 +0000

Some crowdfunding industry leaders are using the lull before the fundraising practice is publicly viable to develop educational material for people who may soon be making their first investments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently drafting rules to allow start-ups to sell stakes in their companies to the general public, potentially raising large sums from crowds of small investors.

Until now, selling equity stakes has been limited to so-called accredited investors, people who presumably have the wherewithal and sophistication to know what they are getting into.

Higher Ed: Crowdfunding Group Launches Global Education Network

staff — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:16:02 +0000

In an industry that seems to be growing and changing by the hour—thanks, in part, to the 2012 JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act—a new associations is moving quickly to help crowdfunding professionals, industry partners, investors, and the general public make sense of it all.

The Crowdfunding Professional Association announced that it is rolling out a Global Crowdfunding Education Network that will provide online resources including breaking news alerts, legislative updates, and crowdfunding classes to professionals in the industry and others interested in learning more about it.

Crowdfunding is About Creating Jobs for the Right People

staff — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:31:41 +0000

Crowdfunding is not just about creating jobs, it is about creating jobs for the right people. In April of 2012, President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law, authorizing crowdfunding of equity and debt for the sake of creating jobs. The more time I spend studying crowdfunding and working with the leaders in the crowdfund community, the clearer it becomes that not only will crowdfunding create jobs, it will create jobs in the right places.

Recently, I sat down in a hidden valley near Park City, Utah with Candace Klein, CEO of Somolend and founder of the nonprofit Bad Girl Ventures, who explained that overwhelmingly, the people were polled about crowdfunding indicating a desire to raise capital are women, African Americans and Hispanic Americans. In other words, crowdfunded capital will flow to entrepreneurs in the communities that have been most disadvantaged in America.

Crowdfunding Stakeholders Leave DC Optimistic, Wanting Action

staff — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:39:42 +0000

The message from the industry was clear; We’ve examined the problem domain and we’re ready to go, but we need this important piece of legislation to go into effect.

A group of about a dozen industry representatives met with representatives from Capitol Hill, the White House, the Treasury, small business advocacy groups and others to convey their readiness for crowdfunding’s implementation.

CfPA PR committee chair Joy Schoffler was also pleased by the meetings. “The SEC was very positive at the meetings yesterday. They are very aware that they need to make (crowdfunding) work for entrepreneurs without being cost prohibitive.”

Crowdfunders Step Up Lobbying for SEC Rules

staff — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:27:56 +0000

Crowdfunding advocates raised the volume today on their call to push the Securities and Exchange Commission to finalize rules needed for business owners to raise equity through crowdfunding.

“This is a story about capital,” said Sherwood Neiss, principal of consulting and advisory firm Crowdfund Capital Advisors and a chair of the not-for-profit crowdfunding organization Crowdfunding Professional Association. He was one of about a dozen crowdfunding supporters making their pitch at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., today.

The SEC has already missed several deadlines to write rules to structure the implementation of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, known as the JOBS Act.

Will the SEC Kill Crowdfunding?

staff — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:06:17 +0000

Crowdfunding has the potential to provide new funding options for small businesses and stimulate job growth, and yet the S.E.C. has stalled on crowdfunding Rulings.

Other countries are off and running with equity crowdfunding, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Why is the U.S. still stuck in first gear and lagging behind the pack? Aren’t we innovators and leaders in entrepreneurship?

What’s going on with the S.E.C. crowdfunding Rulings, as spelled out in the JOBS Act? Why are they stalled? Will the S.E.C. abort crowdfunding before it gets a fighting chance?

Crowdfunding Industry Leaders Take To Washington To Speed Adoption

staff — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:55:06 +0000

After today’s press conference at the National Press Club one thing is clear. Crowdfunding industry stakeholders want movement toward implementation of the JOBS Act and they want it soon.

SoMoLend CEO Candace Klein spoke to a concern that tumult in the SEC’s leadership could delay crowdfunding’s implementation past Q4 2013. Vincent Molinari of GATE Technologies urged the SEC to allow a vote on Title II and to begin the public comment period on Title III. In his words, “It’s time we move to action.”

The press conference included Kim Wales, Woodie Neiss, Sara Hanks, Douglas Ellenoff and other industry thought leaders, all of whom shared how they planned to help the crowdfunding industry move forward. A wide array of the industry was represented with participants from the equity and debt sides as well as due diligence companies and VCs.

Crowdfunding Leaders to Press SEC on JOBS Act Rules

staff — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:49:03 +0000

Leaders from the crowdfunding industry in the U.S. are in Washington D.C. today to apply some gentle pressure on regulators who are now several weeks behind on issuing rules under which the nascent securities market will operate.

The group will meet with lawmakers, SEC regulators, and White House officials following Tuesday’s crowdfunding press conference, which took place in Washington D.C. from 10 to 11 AM EST. The crowdfunding experts — platform operators, trade association representatives, securities lawyers and seasoned investors — seek to speed enactment of the JOBS Act, which created a framework for crowdfunded securities in the United States when it was signed into law early last year.

“We are here today to showcase for Washington how we are ready to embark on Web 3.0, where social media meets community financing,” said Sherwood Neiss, co-founder of Crowdfund Capital Advisors, a consulting and advisory firm. “We hope the demonstration of [the Crowdfunding Professional Association] will give the SEC the confidence it needs to release the proposed rules so America’s job creators can get the capital they need to innovate and grow.”

Calls for Crowdfunding Rules Grow Louder

staff — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:45:12 +0000

Crowdfunding advocates, small businesses and venture capitalists held an all-day vigil in Washington on Tuesday with visits to Capitol Hill, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the White House to push for “immediate action” on rules that would make equity- and debt-based crowdfunding a reality in the U.S.

During a media briefing held at the National Press Club in Washington, Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, who hosted the gathering, said “the capital needs of entrepreneurs remain just as critical as when the JOBS Act was signed last April.” Now, she said, “the SEC must take the next step and finalize its rulemakings so the JOBS Act can fulfill its promise of helping to fund promising businesses, and bring the economy back to robust levels of growth and job creation.”

Crowdfunders Press the SEC: What Is Taking So Long?

staff — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:59:12 +0000

The crowdfunding community is going to Washington, D.C., tomorrow to bang on some doors. Its goal is to generate political impetus to persuade the Securities and Exchange Commission to write and finalize the rules necessary to implement the JOBS Act.

Tuesday, a range of crowdfunding backers, from investors to entrepreneurs who have launched crowdfunding sites to small-business advocates and venture-capital leaders, will descend on Washington and move around caravan-style to meet with representatives at the National Press Club, on Capitol Hill, the White House and the SEC.