21–30 of 62 posts
You honestly believe that will make something BETTER?
They blocked something as basic as consumer protection for over a year and would have kept doing it for years more if they could have.
It's an election year, forget it. Try again in 2013 maybe.
We are getting the news too late. Did you know that there are 7 bills that might change how startups operate? H.R.3427 - Startup Technical Assistance for Reemployment Training and Unemployment Prevention Act H.R.3571 - Entrepreneur Startup Growth Act of 2011 S.1965 - Startup Act of 2011 S.1826 - Startup Technical Assistance for Reemployment Training and Unemployment Prevention Act H.R.2941 - Startup Expansion and Inv…
We are getting the news too late. Did you know that there are 7 bills that might change how startups operate? H.R.3427 - Startup Technical Assistance for Reemployment Training and Unemployment Prevention Act H.R.3571 - Entrepreneur Startup Growth Act of 2011 S.1965 - Startup Act of 2011 S.1826 - Startup Technical Assistance for Reemployment Training and Unemployment Prevention Act H.R.2941 - Startup Expansion and Inv…
I'm not sure if Popvox has all the features you have in mind. Rather than starting a new web service from scratch, you might find it easier to request certain features from an existing one.
I have a lot of experience here because a) in 2005 I started something called "The Business Experiment" which was an attempt to have a purely crowd sourced business. ( http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/101/next-essay.html ) At the time, I spent a lot of my own money on lawyers trying to figure out how to give equity to people who aren't accredited investors. b)I have since raised $10.5M in venture capital for Backu…
I think this will be a common result. When these investments fail (as most of them will) the investors will cry "fraud" and "scam". The cost of defending against these lawsuits will end up overwhelming many of these fledgling start-ups. In the end, the "cost" of raising this money will be higher than it appears on the surface.
I think the need to stop SOPA and the need to legalize this funding model are apples and oranges. I would love to see some changes to funding laws but many of these laws exist to prevent the defrauding of smaller, less "sophisticated" investors. Simply making the investment legal wouldn't do much without modifying the disclosure requirements the start-up faces. These disclosures will remain very important to prevent…
Agree that it's largely apples and oranges. I think the poster was more calling attention to the fact that SOPA showed a lot of people that their voices do matter, and can affect change in government. So in that way, at least, they're related. Fraud is certainly a concern, and the reason that the laws were introduced in the 1930s in the first place. But the S.1791 bill has provisions for dealing with this through (re…
I'd also worry about crappy documentation / followthrough. What's to stop management teams from using such ventures to roadtest ideas and architecture and fit, "fail", then launch for real without the crowdfunders?
Nor need we go even that far. What about cronyisms in investment recommendation, management hiring, consultant hiring?
You or I might be able to assess the network reputation of various players and intermediaries. But there are a ton of investors who can't spell 'DNS' and lack the self-knowledge to know they can't.
I'm as anti-regulatory as anyone I've seen on this forum, but this to me looks like trouble. I'm sure you mean well, it _sounds_ like a good idea. But if you imagine the broader universe of potential funders and funded, you may begin to see the problems.
I have a lot of experience here because a) in 2005 I started something called "The Business Experiment" which was an attempt to have a purely crowd sourced business. ( http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/101/next-essay.html ) At the time, I spent a lot of my own money on lawyers trying to figure out how to give equity to people who aren't accredited investors. b)I have since raised $10.5M in venture capital for Backu…
From what you've seen, what are the prospects of aggregating mini-investment through a registered p.e. fund? Would the registration expenses be too high? If so, is it possible that this sort of thing might be enabled by right-sizing the current public securities regulatory apparatus?
As an added benefit, I think it is worth considering that allowing small-scale investments will help to educate a large number of Americans on the basics of investing and financial management. I think we'll all agree that we wouldn't want folks investing their life savings, but $1,000 isn't going to break the bank.
I have a lot of experience here because a) in 2005 I started something called "The Business Experiment" which was an attempt to have a purely crowd sourced business. ( http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/101/next-essay.html ) At the time, I spent a lot of my own money on lawyers trying to figure out how to give equity to people who aren't accredited investors. b)I have since raised $10.5M in venture capital for Backu…
> 4. But really, it won't work. People will lose money. There will be lawsuits and complaints. I think this will be a common result. When these investments fail (as most of them will) the investors will cry "fraud" and "scam". The cost of defending against these lawsuits will end up overwhelming many of these fledgling start-ups. In the end, the "cost" of raising this money will be higher than it appears on the surfa…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agree that it's largely apples and oranges. I think the poster was more calling attention to the fact that SOPA showed a lot of people that their voices do matter, and can affect change in government. So in that way, at least, they're related. Fraud is certainly a concern, and the reason that the laws were introduced in the 1930s in the first place. But the S.1791 bill has provisions for dealing with this through (re…
Fraud is _the_ concern. It isn't hard to imagine a crowdfunding bucket shop flacking shell companies to clueless investors who think they're buying a piece of the future. You can't fit much due diligence expense into a $2mm funding round. I'd also worry about crappy documentation / followthrough. What's to stop management teams from using such ventures to roadtest ideas and architecture and fit, "fail", then launch f…
No one is saying that regulation isn't important. And I didn't blindly throw my support into this without doing my research. I don't want to see individuals get into things they don't understand, but I do want people (who are properly educated and who understand the risks) to be able to make up their own minds, support their neighbors, and help bring new ideas to life.