5 ms·

Crowd-Sourced Capital

17 points by siliconcalley 18y ago

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
gz 18y ago
Apologies but: hahaha. You are asking me for money and you'll owe me a favor and membership to a service which you admit isn't quite well defined yet? Under the current economic circumstances? And you cannot raise 25K on your own?! So when the 25K runs out, what? OK, I'd rather provide some constructive feedback. Please tell me why you are a skilled entrepreneur. Here is an idea: you mention running a social media company for 3 years. How did it grow under your leadership and how did the initial investors do? Alternatively you can just be funny: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/09/29/080929sh_shouts_borowitz http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/09/29/080929sh_shouts_bo... Sorry to be negative, nothing personal - best of luck to you.
mkn 18y ago
While I can appreciate this approach from a one-off perspective, it seems like it would make more sense to package this process up, like some of the micro-lending services. The key difference is that there's no fixed interest (compound or simple) on the investment, but the sky is the limit. Call it anyVC.com. You'd allow people to submit their startup idea, business name, contact info, anticipated operating expenses, fund-raising goal, and so on. Once anyVC.com had accepted the venture for presentation to it's users, anyVC posts these ventures with an "Invest Now" button. Or have an auction-type interface: X-many dollars at y% stake in company per dollar. You could just queue those up from smallest stake per dollar to highest. (Funds would probably have to be escrowed, so there'd have to be some serious legalese and possible snail-mail notary-public stuff going on to sign up to become a microVC. Maybe that's a show-stopper.) Then, the entrepeneur looks at his queue and begins accepting funds from the smallest-stake per dollar to the highest. This might limit certain exit strategies, like incorporation, unless anyVC.com aggregates the various micro-investments, paying out to the micro-investors when they want to cash out, minus a small handling fee. The firms would then be subject to some oversight from anyVC.com, and joint reports would be filed to the micro-investors via the web site, or via a private channel if security is an issue. (Maybe the micro-investors have to be under NDA or non-compete?) Has something like this been done? If not, have I overlooked something glaringly obvious that makes this impossible? Edit: This may make even more sense in a tight credit market.
- notphilatall 18y ago
  I think this is what http://www.vencorps.com/ http://www.vencorps.com/ is doing. In regards of your post to the OP: do it once, then refactor. :)
siliconcalley 18y ago
@mkn That's a great idea, but the point is that I don't have the money to build it. How do you raise money for a site to raise money? And I am extremely dedicated to this idea right now. @gz The idea is fully developed, I just don't want every aspect of my business to be public before I have a concrete product built. And to "so when the $25k runs out, what?" Isn't that question the cornerstone to every investment ever made? It's to bring you to a next round, just because the source is different, it doesn't mean the same rules don't apply. And it's not that I can't get angel money or VC, it's that I'd rather do it after I have a prototype. I didn't have any investors to my first company, it was a marketing company. It was a service, not a product. I would love to answer your question about why I think I am a skilled entrepreneur. I will do so shortly on calleynye.com. Thanks for the feedback :)
- aston 18y ago
  We gotta get you using the reply link. Also, g'luck!
  - siliconcalley 18y ago
    done and done. hehe.
- gz 18y ago
  Thanks for your response. Sorry if I was sarcastic but honestly that's how it spontaneously came out and certainly it's nothing personal. My point regarding the $25K was that some people may be concerned about your ability to raise capital so perhaps this is something you should address (otherwise put: why crowd-sourcing in the first place?). If your idea is fully developed then I misinterpreted the following statement on being stealthy: "I don’t want to build up one idea, just to iterate and have it be something totally different." I am looking forward to the blog post about your entrepreneurial skills. One more thing: you could perhaps say much more about your idea without revealing what it is: eg, how big of a market is it that you are entering? How many competitors? How are you differentiating yourself? How long will it take? What will your sources of revenue be? You get the gist... give potential investors more info so that they can place an educated bet. Good luck.
jasonlbaptiste 18y ago
You should try doing what we did when Publictivity first started. Find a potential customer or two, in this case it would also be a PR and/or marketing firm. Proposition them to pitch in $5000-$10000 each. Give them: a) the software free for life b) a small stake in the company c) direct line access to new features + beta testing Also: a) Put a pitchdeck online that you're comfortable with b) Put some sort of small FAQ so douchebags like @gz can't really say anything. Lastly, you should apply to YC for the upcoming session :-).
- siliconcalley 18y ago
  Those are all great ideas, Jason. Thanks! And I am applying to YC :D
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
jmacd 18y ago
This post violates all sorts of securities laws regarding fundraising.
- siliconcalley 18y ago
  no, taking donations is different than having investors who will receive equity.
  - jhancock 18y ago
    IANAL, but I agree with her. This should not violate security rules as she's not selling you securities ;). She can easily book the donations as payment for future services in case there are other accounting issues at stake. Good luck!!! I would LOVE to have access to the product as described in your post. FeedBurner and the like confuse the hell out of a small time blogger such as myself ;).
    - DabAsteroid 18y ago
      This should not violate security rules as she's not selling you securities ;). This clause might be a problem: the top 100 donations will receive a lifetime premium membership. If I donate X amount of money, I do not know if I will receive the lifetime membership. I could ultimately be outbid; or I might ultimately not be outbid. It is a game of chance; and unlike in the case of an auction, I pay whether I win or lose. That might make this an unlicenced gambling enterprise. IANAL, but I would guess that if you are going to offer for sale specified products or services, you need to guarantee that paying customers will receive those specified products or services.
      - siliconcalley 18y ago
        interesting point, i had not thought of that. will talk to my lawyer. thanks!
    - deleted 18y ago
      [deleted]
lemonysnicket 18y ago
someone has got to say it... how many donations will you get calley (ex-model right?) because people think you're hott?

17 points by siliconcalley 18y ago

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

gz 18y ago

Apologies but: hahaha. You are asking me for money and you'll owe me a favor and membership to a service which you admit isn't quite well defined yet? Under the current economic circumstances? And you cannot raise 25K on your own?! So when the 25K runs out, what? OK, I'd rather provide some constructive feedback. Please tell me why you are a skilled entrepreneur. Here is an idea: you mention running a social media company for 3 years. How did it grow under your leadership and how did the initial investors do? Alternatively you can just be funny: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/09/29/080929sh_shouts_borowitz http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/09/29/080929sh_shouts_bo... Sorry to be negative, nothing personal - best of luck to you.

mkn 18y ago

While I can appreciate this approach from a one-off perspective, it seems like it would make more sense to package this process up, like some of the micro-lending services. The key difference is that there's no fixed interest (compound or simple) on the investment, but the sky is the limit. Call it anyVC.com. You'd allow people to submit their startup idea, business name, contact info, anticipated operating expenses, fund-raising goal, and so on. Once anyVC.com had accepted the venture for presentation to it's users, anyVC posts these ventures with an "Invest Now" button. Or have an auction-type interface: X-many dollars at y% stake in company per dollar. You could just queue those up from smallest stake per dollar to highest. (Funds would probably have to be escrowed, so there'd have to be some serious legalese and possible snail-mail notary-public stuff going on to sign up to become a microVC. Maybe that's a show-stopper.) Then, the entrepeneur looks at his queue and begins accepting funds from the smallest-stake per dollar to the highest. This might limit certain exit strategies, like incorporation, unless anyVC.com aggregates the various micro-investments, paying out to the micro-investors when they want to cash out, minus a small handling fee. The firms would then be subject to some oversight from anyVC.com, and joint reports would be filed to the micro-investors via the web site, or via a private channel if security is an issue. (Maybe the micro-investors have to be under NDA or non-compete?) Has something like this been done? If not, have I overlooked something glaringly obvious that makes this impossible? Edit: This may make even more sense in a tight credit market.

notphilatall 18y ago
I think this is what http://www.vencorps.com/ http://www.vencorps.com/ is doing. In regards of your post to the OP: do it once, then refactor. :)

siliconcalley 18y ago

@mkn That's a great idea, but the point is that I don't have the money to build it. How do you raise money for a site to raise money? And I am extremely dedicated to this idea right now. @gz The idea is fully developed, I just don't want every aspect of my business to be public before I have a concrete product built. And to "so when the $25k runs out, what?" Isn't that question the cornerstone to every investment ever made? It's to bring you to a next round, just because the source is different, it doesn't mean the same rules don't apply. And it's not that I can't get angel money or VC, it's that I'd rather do it after I have a prototype. I didn't have any investors to my first company, it was a marketing company. It was a service, not a product. I would love to answer your question about why I think I am a skilled entrepreneur. I will do so shortly on calleynye.com. Thanks for the feedback :)

aston 18y ago
We gotta get you using the reply link. Also, g'luck!
- siliconcalley 18y ago
  done and done. hehe.
gz 18y ago
Thanks for your response. Sorry if I was sarcastic but honestly that's how it spontaneously came out and certainly it's nothing personal. My point regarding the $25K was that some people may be concerned about your ability to raise capital so perhaps this is something you should address (otherwise put: why crowd-sourcing in the first place?). If your idea is fully developed then I misinterpreted the following statement on being stealthy: "I don’t want to build up one idea, just to iterate and have it be something totally different." I am looking forward to the blog post about your entrepreneurial skills. One more thing: you could perhaps say much more about your idea without revealing what it is: eg, how big of a market is it that you are entering? How many competitors? How are you differentiating yourself? How long will it take? What will your sources of revenue be? You get the gist... give potential investors more info so that they can place an educated bet. Good luck.

jasonlbaptiste 18y ago

You should try doing what we did when Publictivity first started. Find a potential customer or two, in this case it would also be a PR and/or marketing firm. Proposition them to pitch in $5000-$10000 each. Give them: a) the software free for life b) a small stake in the company c) direct line access to new features + beta testing Also: a) Put a pitchdeck online that you're comfortable with b) Put some sort of small FAQ so douchebags like @gz can't really say anything. Lastly, you should apply to YC for the upcoming session :-).

siliconcalley 18y ago
Those are all great ideas, Jason. Thanks! And I am applying to YC :D

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

jmacd 18y ago

This post violates all sorts of securities laws regarding fundraising.

siliconcalley 18y ago
no, taking donations is different than having investors who will receive equity.
- jhancock 18y ago
  IANAL, but I agree with her. This should not violate security rules as she's not selling you securities ;). She can easily book the donations as payment for future services in case there are other accounting issues at stake. Good luck!!! I would LOVE to have access to the product as described in your post. FeedBurner and the like confuse the hell out of a small time blogger such as myself ;).
  - DabAsteroid 18y ago
    This should not violate security rules as she's not selling you securities ;). This clause might be a problem: the top 100 donations will receive a lifetime premium membership. If I donate X amount of money, I do not know if I will receive the lifetime membership. I could ultimately be outbid; or I might ultimately not be outbid. It is a game of chance; and unlike in the case of an auction, I pay whether I win or lose. That might make this an unlicenced gambling enterprise. IANAL, but I would guess that if you are going to offer for sale specified products or services, you need to guarantee that paying customers will receive those specified products or services.
    - siliconcalley 18y ago
      interesting point, i had not thought of that. will talk to my lawyer. thanks!
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]

lemonysnicket 18y ago

someone has got to say it... how many donations will you get calley (ex-model right?) because people think you're hott?