Your Facebook friends would love an “Attaboy” from you when they post about their new jobs, or an “Awwww” when they share a puppy picture. But what will you do when they offer you shares in their startup company? That expansion of social media is on its way, as soon as securities regulators finish the rules for a new way to float private stock issues—equity crowdfunding. Congress, by passing the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business …Read More

Crowdfund Insider: You’ve been involved in crowdfunding for quite a while now and were instrumental in the creation of some extremely influential groups. What brought you in? David Drake: LDJ Capital invested in a conference series called The Soho Loft early summer 2011 (from the name of the Loft I had entertained to clients and customers in Soho for the first 10 years of the 21st century). We were hoping …Read More

Crowdfunding, which pools small donations from large amounts of investors, continues to make large, sweeping global inroads. From a donation site supporting the arts to a value-for-value trade to a platform that investors use to find a return on their investment, crowdfunding is becoming a highly sophisticated and radical game-changer. But as it moves towards a business model that attracts more traditional investors, risk also increases. In the United States, …Read More

Disappointing news came out of the SEC meeting yesterday designed to open the way for crowdfunding in the U.S. Rather than lifting the ban on general solicitation (we’ll explain that in a minute) in order to make it possible for more people to invest in American startups, the SEC proposed rules that would establish various different classes of investors, each perhaps with its own regulations. Needless to say, this move …Read More

The Securities and Exchange Commission now says it needs at least another week before it can detail its proposal to rescind longstanding prohibitions against startups advertising that they are seeking investors. The SEC had been scheduled to consider the changes at its open meeting today following a delay last week. Prior to missing this week’s deadline and last week’s deadline, both self imposed, the commission missed a July 4 deadline spelled out in the JOBS Act, a recently …Read More

A federal regulatory meeting Wednesday is expected to shed light on how aggressively startups can solicit investments and thus reach beyond venture capitalists and other established investors. At the meeting, Security and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro is expected to reveal how the SEC proposes to rescind longstanding rules that bar startups from advertising that they are seeking investments. She is also expected to unveil new proposed rules outlining how …Read More

Every revolution needs a leader.  But when it comes to revolutionizing the funding landscape for millions of entrepreneurs and small business owners, it takes a crowd. I got involved with crowdfunding legislation in November 2011 when the U.S. House of Representatives was preparing to vote on a bill that passed and subsequently – over the next several months – helped shape what was the final crowdfunding bill under the JOBS Act. …Read More

Last month a video game project called Ouya hit the million-dollar mark on Kickstarter in just more than eight hours. It was the biggest single-day crowdfunding total in Kickstarter history. The project went on to receive more than $2.5 million in pledges within 24 hours. With just a few days remaining in its campaign, it has 46,914 backers and a whopping $ $6,061,081 in pledges. Granted, Ouya is an exceptionally successful case, …Read More