Craig Stephens
@CraigStephens
Founder of Access IPOs and Retire Before Dad
Anatoc Media LLC
I run AccessIPOs.com, a website helping ordinary investors own VC startups and participate in IPOs. Former IRS IT consultant. Blog, YouTube.
The larger Reg A crowdfunding deals I've followed tend to be high-risk. The companies have gone to crowdfunding, in part, because they've likely struggled to convince VCs to invest. That they can go to the crowd to raise is great, but I fear investors are participating because of exceptional marketing and storytelling rather than investment fundamentals.
I've seen and invested in some deals where existing customers who know the product are invited to invest. This is a positive trend that investors are hoping will increase with traditional IPOs (Reddit offered shares to customers, for example).
But the Reg A+ IPOs haven't caught on, and private companies pursuing the traditional IPO are waiting longer. Plenty of VC dollars out there for strong business models.
