A HUGE thank you to Senator Scott Brown for the shout-out at today’s Wefunder Crowd Investing Forum at MassChallenge. He mentioned that he supports startups saying, “I already use RaceMenu.”
Senator Scott Brown at the podium with RaceMenu hat in hand. Picture taken by BostInno - our RaceMenu overlay added. See the full article on BostInno by clicking on the photo.
We met Senator Brown last year at a triathlon. Did you know he qualified for the Triathlon World Championships in New Zealand? (Note: unfortunately, he can’t attend since it is the week before the Fall election). Before the panel got started, we were lucky enough to have the Senator stop by our area to talk to us. He even suggested a number of race directors and races that we could potentially support.
Speaking of support, did you know that it is illegal to invest $100 in a start-up company? According to Wefunder.com, “Congress is currently debating whether or not YOU should have the right to invest in businesses that you believe in. If you don’t have $1,000,000 in assets or earn more than $200,000 a year, current law effectively prevents you from investing in new businesses that you think will be successful.” Senator Brown was here to talk about his Democratizing Access to Capital Act (S. 1791) in support of your right to invest in small businesses, like RaceMenu. The benefit of an act like this is to boost the local economy through individual support of small, local business. Without seed money, small businesses have a difficult time getting loans.
The bill will update the current law to allow people like you and me to invest small amounts into small businesses, helping them get the capital they need to grow. BostInno has been covering the crowdfunding push from the start, so make sure to check out Walter Frick’s post about today’s event. They also took that great picture above of the Senator with his RaceMenu hat at the podium (we added the detail).
Akhil Nigam, founder and president of MassChallenge, with Senator Scott Brown.
Opponents of the bill are worried about internet fraud, citing lack of transparency or controls. They are concerned that small investors will get hurt by not-so-honest people (think Sudanese Princes and Zero Risk Investments). Senator Brown’s act will combat fraud through several avenues, including limiting the amount money invested each year, SEC registration of crowd investing sites, and background checks into management. If passed, this act has the potential to create jobs and boost the economy through providing needed funds to entrepreneurs.
The forum was moderated by Jeff Howe, Associate Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University and the man that coined the term crowdsourcing – the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call. We snapped this picture of him and hope he forgives us for posting it.
Moderator Jeff Howe, who is an Associate Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University and the man that coined the term crowdsourcing.
You can learn more & sign the petition at the WeFunder website.
If you want to read the bill, check it out here – Democratizing Access to Capital Act.
Learn more about Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding at Crowdsourcing.org.