Category: Company Education
So you did it! You launched an investment crowdfunding campaign and you’re going all-in on a local legion of microinvestors and brand ambassadors. Now what? As wild and new as it might feel to pull in capital from your fans, customers, and community, promoting your crowdfunding campaign isn’t all the different than promoting your business....
Growing up, I always enjoyed reading Calvin and Hobbes, a comic series by Bill Watterson. There were comic strips where Calvin would ask his dad questions like how ATMs work or what causes wind. In typical “Dad” fashion, Calvin’s father responded with explanations like there’s a little guy inside the ATM who hands out the...
Around here, we often say Vicinity is where financial capital meets social capital. Well, if you say something often enough, you should probably stop and make sure people know what you mean. What is social capital anyway? Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone has pointed out that the term was actually “independently invented” at least...
Angel investor. Probably the coolest title in the investing world. This moniker belongs to high net worth individuals who financially back a business, usually in return for equity in the company. With the cool name comes a pretty high level of risk. That’s why there have been laws allowing only individuals with large disposable income...
The investment crowdfunding industry is not losing any steam even during…well, you know… the feverish elephant in the room with a dry cough. Though you never know what will happen when the world unexpectedly halts for a few months, there is some rationale to why this little brother of crowdfunding might be showing some extra...
I’ll never forget pitching two angel investors with my first fully thought-out business plan. I’ve always been a dreamer, a creator, and an aspiring visionary known for the verbal tick, “What if…” But this was the first time I had put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard), pulled out my calculator (iPhone), and drawn up...
First, the disclaimer: If you can’t afford to lose 100% of your investment, then you shouldn’t invest – hard stop. Now the TLDR: When comparing the two, a debt investment can be less risky, provide regular paybacks, but also has less upside than an equity investment. If you are looking to make an equity investment...
Let’s be honest for a moment. When we eat out, 99% of us (disclaimer: fake stat we made up) don’t go beyond leaving a standard tip if we were impressed with our meal and service. And for places like auto shops, there’s a slim chance anyone leaves a tip at all. Say their service or...
When you hear the term “crowdfunding for small business,” it might sound like a recent phenomenon. But put aside Reg CF and tech startups for a moment because in reality, crowdfunding is as old as Irish ale. Crowdfunding can include everything from college beer fund donations to betting on flying cars in Silicon Valley, but...
Spreadsheets, bookkeeping, cash flows, balance sheets, financial statements…it’s tough to manage your finances as a small business. You may be a passionate owner with a tremendous product or service, but maybe your financial situation isn’t where you’d like it to be. That’s totally normal. Did you know small business accounts for a mind-boggling 99.7% of...
