crowdfunding
Donald Trump gets into crowdfunding
May 7, 2013: 3:57 PM ET
The Donald is willing to fund anything (literally).
FORTUNE -- Donald Trump is putting his stamp of approval, but not his name, on a new crowdfunding platform that is scheduled to launch tomorrow. He's also an investor in the site, and each week will personally contribute to one or more projects that strike his fancy.
It's called FundAnything, and was the brainchild of The Learning Annex founder Bill Zanker.
"People in tech and some Brooklyn hipsters know about crowdfunding, but it hasn't been brought to the masses yet," Zanker explains. "This is a very big idea -- like eBay or online dating -- and we're just in the beginning stages."
In many ways, FundAnything resembles existing crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. It offers users a way to raise money from other users, and takes a matchmaking commission (5% for fully-funded projects, 9% for projects that don't meet their goal). What's different, however, is that FundAnything neither screens projects nor has any real exclusions. For example, FundAnything projects could include tech inventions, new uniforms for a school sports team, helping out someone with a medical emergency, etc.
The other difference is Trump's involvement. Not only will he personally back new projects each week -- tomorrow he'll unveil the recipients of his first personal investments -- but he'll also promote those choices via his Twitter feed (which currently has 2.2 million followers).
Zanker understands that Trump is a polarizing political figure, but does not believe such sentiments extend to the business world.
"Everyone knows Donald is a genius businessman," Zanker says. "We're not talking about politics here. If you want to fund anything, there is no better person in the world to have supporting you than Donald Trump."
As for FundAnything's business model, expect the commissions to be just the start. Zanker says the site is planning live events -- such as how to raise money for real estate ventures -- and that it already has people on the ground to expand into non-U.S. markets. When asked if the site would expand to equity-based crowdfunding once the SEC sets such rules, Zanker was noncommittal.
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Venture capital vs. crowdfunding: Let's get real
Not all money is created equal.
By Roger Ehrenberg
Crowdfunding is all the rage. Even the SEC recently blessed one type of crowdfunding for which there was risk of an enforcement action. Several in the early-stage ecosystem have called for venture capitalists to "up their game," as alternative paths to financing create competitive threats to both incumbent firms and the venture model itself. I think drawing parallels between crowdfunding and VC investment is MORE
Apr 3, 2013 8:28 AM ET -
My crowdfunding concern
The revolution will not be crowdfunded.
FORTUNE -- Tuesday was Y Combinator Day, a bi-annual showcase for startups that have received the blessing of VC shepherd Paul Graham. And the buzzword this time around was crowdfunding.
Here is how CNet's Daniel Terdiman described the scene:
Over the course of the day, 47 startups took the stage for the three minutes under the spotlights. And no less than five of them were either described as MORE
Dan Primack - Mar 28, 2013 1:01 PM ETPosted in: crowdfunding, Venture Capital -
Interested in crowdfunding? 5 priceless pieces of advice
Startup crowdfunding is due to change drastically this year. Here's advice from Ronny Conway, Ben Horowitz, Kevin Rose, and others.
By Kurt Wagner, reporter
FORTUNE -- Investing successfully in startups takes more than a pocketful of cash. That's the message venture capitalists and securities regulators hope to transmit to those interested in equity-based crowdfunding, a new form of investing currently awaiting regulatory approval. Ordinary investors will soon have the opportunity to invest MORE
Feb 25, 2013 10:30 AM ETPosted in: Andreessen Horowitz, Ben Horowitz, crowdfunding, investing, JOBS Act, Marc Andreessen, startups -
SEC: Unleash the crowdfunders
Regulators propose ending solicitation restrictions on startups and investment funds.
FORTUNE -- After some delay, the Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed rules that could help unleash the burgeoning crowdfunding movement.
In short, the SEC proposed ending a ban on general marketing of such securities as private company stock. The proposal also would apply to private investment funds, including hedge, venture capital and private equity funds. Accredited investors still would be the MORE
Dan Primack - Aug 29, 2012 3:44 PM ETPosted in: crowdfunding, Venture Capital -
Crowdfunding the farm
Fquare hits the heartland.
FORTUNE -- A new crowd-funding site launched today, but it has nothing to do with tech or consumer goods start-ups. Instead, it's focused on the American farmer.
The site is called Fquare, and is designed to buy land from farmers and then lease it back to them at an interest rate of between 4% and 6%. Very similar to existing sale-leaseback structures for farmland, except that the capital MORE
Dan Primack - Aug 22, 2012 11:34 AM ETPosted in: 4quare, crowdfunding -
Exclusive: Clayton Christensen gets into crowdfunding
"Disruption" expert buys into the investment industry's next big thing.
FORTUNE -- Last month we noted that CircleUp, a new crowd-funding platform for small retailers and consumer brands, had launched with $1.5 million in venture capital from Maveron and individuals like David Topper. What we didn't know at the time was that the round's largest investor actually was Clayton Christensen, the noted Harvard Business School professor and author of books like The MORE
Dan Primack - Jun 13, 2012 11:33 AM ET -
SEC warns against crowd-funding
Hold your crowd-funding horses
FORTUNE -- The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued the following statement:
On April 5, 2012, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was signed into law. The Act requires the Commission to adopt rules to implement a new exemption that will allow crowdfunding. Until then, we are reminding issuers that any offers or sales of securities purporting to rely on the crowdfunding exemption would be unlawful under MORE
Dan Primack - May 15, 2012 12:27 PM ETPosted in: crowdfunding, SEC -
The screwy logic of crowdfunding
Why can't VCs use crowdfunding?
By Charlie O'Donnell, contributor
Fact: Thanks to the new crowdfunding legislation, it soon will be easier for any entrepreneur trying to build Instagram for Cats to raise $10 million than it is for an experienced venture capitalist to raise a new fund.
In fact, thanks to increased scrutiny of investment funds in a post-Madoff world, this imbalance will probably get bigger and bigger. The laws are written MORE
May 11, 2012 2:43 PM ET -
Two big crowd-funding questions
Crowd-funding questions on the horizon.
FORTUNE -- Ever since the JOBS Act passed earlier this month, I've been inundated with PR pitches about new crowd-funding platforms. So many, in fact, that I'm surprised a crowd-funding platform hasn't been formed to help seed all the other ones.
To me, there are two big questions for this burgeoning boom:
1. How on earth are these platforms going to police fraud, as the JOBS Act requires MORE
Dan Primack - Apr 25, 2012 11:30 AM ETPosted in: crowdfunding, Venture Capital
