Crowdfund Investing For Dummies
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To promote your business idea, you have to be prepared to talk to people, such as your current customers, to explain that they can learn about your crowdfunding campaign at the broker-dealer or crowdfunding platform website that you choose. However, the JOBS Act forbids you from requesting investments directly. Don’t break the law! Here’s what to avoid:

  • Do not market your crowdfund investment offering to anyone who isn’t part of your social network. Focus just on your concept instead.

  • Do not state the terms of the offering, even if this person asks. If someone is interested in finding out more, encourage her to join your social network so you can then legally get her connected with your funding portal.

The vast majority of your investors will use your video pitch in making their decision, but preparing yourself to pitch your idea in person is very important. You should be ready to deliver your pitch in any situation and at any time (maybe even in an elevator!).

Answer these questions when drafting your spoken pitch:

  • What is the problem you’re solving, and why is it a relevant problem? (Include a sentence about market size.)

  • Who are you?

  • What is your solution?

  • How will you earn money?

  • What is the competitive landscape?

  • Why are you and your team the best people to solve this problem?

  • Where can interested parties go to learn more about the specifics of your offer?

Oh, and by the way, you need to answer all these questions in three minutes or less. In fact, the three-minute version is the long version; you should also create a one-minute version for social situations. Human beings have short attention spans, so you need to find the most compelling part of your story and really polish, sharpen, and shorten it down to the key points with the greatest impact.

How can you say the same thing with higher-impact words? How can you say the same thing with fewer words? This is your advertisement for your company, and you may get only one shot, so don’t be boring! Keep it brief and compelling so that people want to hear more.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Sherwood Neiss, Jason W. Best, and Zak Cassady-Dorion are the founders of Startup Exemption (developers of the crowdfund investing framework used in the 2012 JOBS Act). They deeply understand the process, rules, disclosures, and risks of capital formation from both the entrepreneur's and the investor's points of view.

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