2021 CfPA Chairman's year-end address
Friday, December 31, 2021
Dear friends,
Thank you for another year far surpassing my hopes both personally and professionally.
The CfPA continues to be highly-regarded here and abroad as a generous and vital organization expanding access to capital and opportunity for entrepreneurs, small businesses and investors. Our work in 2021 helped Crowdfunding reach new highs, extended our global voice, and expanded our capacity domestically. We saw over $500M raised using RegCF offerings where even non-accredited investors finally got a piece of the pie. We saw RegA+ offerings land over $2B. For these, and so many other reasons, it continues to be an honor to be a part of a leadership team on the cutting edge of Alternative Finance. CfPA’s reputation continues to be enhanced by the many professionals who freely contribute their time and expertise to advancing the association and the industry. There have been so many noteworthy moments and I look forward to seeing even more debut in ’22.
In 2021...more
2019 CfPA Chairman's public address
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Dear friends,
A vast majority of you reading this letter are part of the Crowdfunding community—whether you know this yet or not, your knowledge, initiative, collaboration...and pocketbook have made our industry touch more lives than you might imagine. We at the Crowdfunding Professional Association thank you for all your imagination, hard work and follow-through, and celebrate with you the continued growth enjoyed by communities everywhere. I want to preface this letter by making certain my fellow volunteers at the CfPA are aware just how fortunate we are to have their gift of time, knowledge and leadership—thank you, again.
At its simplest, Crowdfunding lives at the intersection of crowdsourcing and alternative finance, and even until recently was seen more as a funding method for ventures too risky for conventional capital or for entrepreneurs lacking loan-worthy collateral or relevant experience. But in just six+ years since passage of the JOBS Act, Crowdfu...more
2018 CfPA Chairman's year-end address
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Dear members, friends and colleagues,
Unlike students “getting back to school” each fall, the best work of our association’s many volunteers tends to commence at the start of each new calendar following a frenetic year-end rush both professionally and personally. So, welcome back—I hope your 2018 was prosperous, and your holiday break inspirational and renewing.
Before outlining our goals for 2019, I need to first thank and congratulate all for a pivotal year that commenced with the necessary and successful recruitment of what many have confessed to me is an enviable assembly of alternative finance pioneers and thought leaders—over 34 remarkably generous board members, advisors and committee members, tripling all previous leadership. I am humbled to have gained your mindshare and commitment toward pursuing the CfPA’s noble mission. However, I emphasize “toward” because, as an organization, our ultimate fulfillment remains just over the horizon—we have much to...more
3 Ways to Get Cheap Tickets, 10 Good Reasons to Attend and 5 Bad Reasons Not to Join SuperCrowd22
Devin Thorpe
3 Ways to Get Cheap Tickets to SuperCrowd22
Let’s get this out of the way quickly. There are three ways to get cheap tickets to SuperCrowd22.
- Save $100 here. Everyone is eligible.
- Pay what you can here. If you can’t afford the full price or even half price, pay what you can. No questions asked. We don’t want the cost to keep you from attending.
- Become a CfPA Member. You can join for just $10 per month and cancel at any time. We hope you’ll stay for a long time. Benefits include free or discounted admission to future events. Members can purchase tickets to SuperCrowd22 for just $75%
Register for SuperCrowd22!
10 Good Reasons to Attend SuperCrowd22
There are countless good reasons to join us for SuperCrowd22; here are just ten:
- Meet people like you. Every day you get up determined to make the world a little better. Wouldn’t it be great to increase your circle of friends who do the same thing!
- Learn from experts. The roster of speakers is nearly 100 people long, including the smar
NFTs: What constitutes a bubble bursting?
On March 14, 2022 I wrote about putting a 4k Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT up for sale (all proceeds to charity) on OpenSea to point out structural deficiencies in "NFTs 1.0" and concluded that it was "exhibit #1 that these 'digital art' NFTs represent a bubble about to burst." (Note: It didn't sell) https://crowdfundingecosystem.com/kb/article/psychedelic-safari-bored-ape-nft-for-sale-proceeds-to-charity
On that day, the floor trading price of a BAYC NFT was $233,301. The bubble continued to inflate for another six weeks until April 30 when it reached $420,430. But as of this writing, August 30, it's down to $114,335 which is a 50.99% DROP from my March 14th posting and a 72.80% drop from the peak.
Now for Exhibit B: NFT trading on OpenSea is crashing. See: "Trading volume on top NFT marketplace OpenSea down 99% since May" https://fortune.com/2022/08/29/nfts-opensea-crypto-winter-bubble-blockchain-web3
It appears all those OpenSea wash traders are spending the summer months w...more
Why Reg.A is the Superior Crowdfunding Choice over Reg.D or Reg.CF
Despite being around for years now, there’s still major confusion from issuers regarding the benefits and drawbacks of Regulation A (Reg.A), Regulation CF (Reg.CF), and Regulation D (Reg.D) crowdfunding offerings. What option is right for you? In this podcast, Mike Brette, the CEO and Founder of Small Cap Equity Advisors goes over why he believes Reg.A is the superior choice in most instances, plus provides advice as to what issuers should be doing (and what they shouldn’t be doing as well) in order to achieve a successful capital raise.
Reg.A, Reg.D, Reg.CF… What’s best for you and/or your company? And how much will it all cost you? Based on the reasons Mr. Brette provides in this podcast – both pro and con, he makes a strong case that regardless of the size of your raise, you should strongly consider the Reg.A option right from the start.
Restricted stock, “dead money”, valuation determination, accreditation of investors, liquidity issues, possible advertis...more
Calling All Social Entrepreneurs: Urgent Reminder
COVID Relief Easing Certain Crowdfunding Rules Ends on August 28!
This week, I’m traveling to Puerto Rico to cover the Bluetide Caribbean Investment Summit for Impact Entrepreneur Magazine. (See a related story here.) As a result, I didn’t have time to produce a podcast for today’s newsletter. I’ll also be sharing the podcast I would typically share on Thursday on Friday—it’s a special one.
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Big News! I’ve confirmed with the smartest people I know that an important bit of COVID relief expires on August 28, 2022. If you are a social entrepreneur looking to change the world for good, read on!
One of the biggest barriers to investment crowdfunding is the requirement for financial disclosure. Under the rules that return to full effect on August 28, you must provide financial statements reviewed by an auditor if you hope to raise more than $107,000. An auditor must complete a review before the offering can begin. And it is pricy. A review can easily cost $10,000.
If you raise mor...more
Female Founders still only getting a fraction of funding
Dealmaker
The illusion in the start-up world is that anyone can have a great idea and bring it to fruition with grit, determination, and a lot of hard work. A key part of bringing a founder’s vision to life is securing funding in order to build a product, app, or service. Without capital, the founder’s vision will forever remain only a vision.
So raising capital is tantamount to success. It’s never just been about grit and a good idea. Connections, networking, and getting in front of the right people are all key to getting your idea off the ground.
And after you’ve made these connections and gotten in front of the right people - then what? Does the funding go to the best idea or the strongest founder with the most solid plan?
Statistically speaking, the answer to that is a resounding "no."
In 2021, female founders got 2% of all venture capital (VC) dollars - which was the lowest percentage since 2016. And since 2011, the highest that statistic has ever been was 2.7%.
And not only are female foun...more
