May 3, 2013
ACA Summit 2013: Angels as Curators of Deals
 We now live in the age of angels—business angels, that is, where every day more and more affluent individuals are providing needed capital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups. Some of these angel investors band together and organize into angel groups or angel networks, sharing valuable business insights and knowledge, and pooling their individual funds into a much larger investment-capital base. With the surprising market shift happening all over the world and across industries, the unique perspective of business angels in assisting startups and fueling innovation comes just at the right time. In the midst of sweeping changes in these unchartered territories, angels huddled together once again to spread their wings and test their flight plans in San Francisco April 17-19, at the 2013 Angel Capital Association (ACA) Summit. “Navigating Change for Angel Success” could not have been (more)…
April 23, 2013
With New SEC Chair in Place, Any Chance Equity Crowdfunding Will Happen in 2013?
 After three months since being nominated by President Barack Obama, the U.S. Senate on Monday approved Mary Jo White as the new chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. How will this affect the final steps of implementing the last two laws of the JOBS Act? Our prediction is that she will conclude Title 2 of the act which was due July 4, 2012 and which allows general solicitation under Reg D, 506 but not Title 3 of the JOBS Act for equity crowdfunding. The latter prediction is based on the SEC DC Circuit SEC Dodd Frank defeats stemming from insufficient cost/benefit analysis. Last March, Ms. White received bipartisan support from the Senate Banking Committee with a strong 21-to-1 vote in her favor, thereby sending her nomination practically unhindered to the full Senate for a vote. Monday, April 8 she (more)…
April 15, 2013
2013 Forecast Shows Crowdfunding to Reach $5.1 Billion in Transactions
 Research firm Massolutions came out yesterday with a crowdfunding industry report based on Research Form 582. It said that crowdfunding sites globally will will reach close to $5.1 billion in transactions for 2013, double from $2.7 billion in 2012. That is an 81% growth in 2012 versus a 64% growth in 2011. Excerpt from the research published by Massolution Interestingly enough, LendingClub offers peer-to-peer loans of up to $33,000 and last month transacted $125 million with a projection to llend up to $1.5 billion by year end. The industry behemoth of crowdfund lending is triple the size of second place firm in the US, Prosper, which has lent $400 million over the last few years. “While the growth in 2012 funding volumes was primarily driven by both lending-based and donation-based crowdfunding, lending grew a compelling 111% to a total volume (more)…
April 5, 2013
Stocks Slump as US Adds Only 88,000 Jobs in March
 The ADP employment report on Wednesday should’ve given hints. The initial jobless claims report on Thursday should’ve told people it was coming. Any doubts about what went on with the labor market in March were put to rest when the Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered its non-farm payroll report on Friday. The agency said that the non-farm payrolls only increased by 88,000 during the month, a far cry from the 193,000 the economists were expecting. The silver lining of the report was that the unemployment rate actually ticked down to 7.6 percent from 7.7 percent in February. It was the lowest unemployment rate figure in four years. Economists had expected the rate to remain flat. The dark lining was that the unemployment rate dropped not because of an abundance of new jobs, but because more people quit looking for work. (more)…
April 4, 2013
Initial Jobless Claims and ADP Report Show Hiring Slows to End Q1
 Reports from the Labor Department on Thursday showed that first time filings for jobless benefits rose more than expected, marking the third consecutive week of increases, indicating that the labor market slowed at the end of the first quarter. The federal agency’s report showed initial jobless claims, a gauge of new layoffs, increased by 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 385,000 during the week ended March 30, representing a four-month high for the figure. Economists were expecting claims to drop to 350,000 from an unrevised 357,000 the week prior. A Labor Department spokesman said that the Easter holiday and spring break vacations make it difficult to make seasonal adjustments. This could have an impact on upcoming revisions. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure of jobless trends, increased 11,250 from and unrevised 343,000 the week earlier. It was a four-week high (more)…
April 1, 2013
2013s Top 10 Investor Events To Raise Money For Entrepreneurs
 If you’ve got a small business or start-up that needs investors, attending crowd funding and angel investing events will provide you the opportunity to meet with and market your ideas to potential investors. These events will also provide you the opportunity to learn from the successes of others who have “been there and done that,” not only what things they did right, but also what mistakes they made and overcame or are facing and looking for solutions to. Here’s a list of the top investor events this next couple of months where you can find investors that can cut a check for your business. We are proud to be able to work with a few of these event organizers. FundingPost Venture Capital and Angel Events Atlanta, March 28; Chicago, April 11; New York, April 18; Las Vegas, May 2 FundingPost (more)…
March 14, 2013
A Storm is Brewing for Global Funds
In spite of prior delays, last year on August 29, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued its first proposals for rules under the Jobs Act that would relax general solicitation for accredited investors. Signed into law on April 5, the Jumpstart Our Business Start-ups (JOBS) Act makes revolutionary changes to federal security laws that are over 70 years old. The changes include allowing issuers to advertise certain securities to accredited investors more freely, prepare IPOs to go public with discrete filing as well as relaxing the Sarbannes-Oxley Act compliance cost for five years for firms with less than $1 billion in revenue. On August 29, the SEC proposed rules in which stock offerings may be marketed to the general public through any advertising mechanism without restriction—the biggest restriction is reserved for the public, and not for the seller, however. (more)…
January 28, 2013
JOBS Act: Interview with Candace Klein, CEO of SoMoLend
 To probe the legal intricacies revolving around the JOBS Act and how these new laws might impact the crowdfunding scene in the next months leading to and right after the much-anticipated full implementation of crowdfunding for equity, David Drake spoke with Candace Klein, CEO of SoMoLend. Drake: Candace, you are a founder of the leading organizations in crowd funding and also CFIRA’s co-chair with Vincent Molinari from Gate Technologies. You are a powerhouse and a trained securities attorney now in debt-based crowdfunding. You were one of the first 5 founders of CFIRA and CfPA and currently sit as the founding Chair Person of CFIRA. In addition, you are one of the youngest members and some research showed me that you had actually won 25 out of 27 startup competitions you entered in the past. That is impressive. What would you like (more)…
January 25, 2013
JOBS Act: Interview with Arnon Shafir, CEO and founder of give2gether
 To probe the legal intricacies revolving around the JOBS Act and how these new laws might impact the crowdfunding scene in the months leading to and right after the much-anticipated full implementation of crowdfunding for equity, David Drake spoke with Arnon Shafir, CEO and founder of give2gether. give2gether is quite a revolutionary crowdfunding site because it combines aspects of game theory with crowdfunding campaigns. The founders say that by doing this, they raise more money and have higher donor participation rates. In this interview, I explore how their model works. Drake: Arnon, your firm has grown to be the fastest growing donation-based firm in Israel and I have been very impressed with both your growth and your work. You have doubled in revenue every few months and you are using gaming and economic game theory to optimize your crowdfunding technology. (more)…
January 2, 2013
JOBS Act: Interview with Scott Purcell, CEO of Arctic Island
 To probe the legal intricacies revolving around the JOBS Act and how these new laws might impact the crowdfunding scene in the next months leading to and right after the much-anticipated full implementation of crowdfunding for equity, David Drake spoke with Scott Purcell, CEO of Arctic Island. Drake:Scott, you are a co-founder of the leading organizations in crowdfunding and have taken a leadership position on crowdfunding for equity in the US. The law is changing through your work with us. The US is the first country in the world taking a leadership position and changing the law for crowdfunding. This is a momentous change in how capital flows. How do you feel about the progress the crowdfunding for equity portion of the bill this has taken to date? PURCELL: All entrepreneurs wish others would move as fast as they do. (more)…
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