I attended an event on crowdfunding recently. Entrepreneurs are dabbling in anything and everything “crowd” lately – from attracting vendor and engineering talent to volunteers and now, funding. I’ve had friends test out Kickstarter which is an interesting model if you don’t need a lot of cash to jumpstart your project. It’s easier to get low-level investors on board since the commitment on the part of the ‘investor’ is minimal (mostly zero) and there’s a reward kick back. I’ve contributed as little as $5-50 to a Kickstarter project and did it because it was a cool idea and just wanted to help. You’d need a helluva lot of “me’s” to make it worthwhile at that level but there are others who will invest $100, $1K or $10K into the pool depending in their interest and wallet size. Other reward based crowdfunding platforms include IndieGoGo and RocketHub, all of which are operating in the new paradigm without a lot of rules and regulations, aka pre the implementation of the 506c Act. In a conversation on crowdfunding and alternative funding for start-ups, below are two videos (Part I and Part II) that discuss the pros and cons. Note that it IS a VERY Silicon Valley viewpoint and I haven’t met a whole lotta venture capitalists from major firms who want to deal with the aftermath of early investors no longer being one or two angels but being 25 random no-names instead. There are complications AND implications. On the panel included Gerd Goete, Siemens Venture Capital, Partner, Don Ross, HealthTech Capital, Managing Director and Founder, Sand Hill Angels, Board Director and Life Science Angels, Member Carol Sands, The Angels’ Forum, Managing Member, Graham Burnette, SBV Capital Partners and Red Planet Capital, General Partner and Royse Law’s Roger Royse. I didn’t get the sense…

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