This first article discusses the future of kickstarters as crowdfunding as a sophisticated investment opportunity. It has struck me several times that crowdfunding has yet to really take off, providing options beyond investment in products that are early in production and fundraising for the community.
“Unlike most crowdfunding platforms, the entrepreneurs don’t have to raise the money directly. We received commitments from some of the well-known angel groups. We already had several institutions, which is unusual for a seed-stage company. We’re using a civic channel to get to 50 or 100 investors, people who can write $25,000 to $100,000 checks. Part of the reason is it allows us to do more market research since most of them work for companies we would like to work with over time.”
I foresee this being the way of the future, an opportunity for people to invest in an easy to access portfolio that goes beyond stocks. Those that are taking advantage of this opportunity will be successful early adopters, but it will be interesting to see how this develops over the next sext several years.
The second link is just a brief article I found related to this topic. It pushes back on the reliance of startups on crowdsourcing.
Therefore, if you’re putting all of your eggs into the crowdfunding basket, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Crowdsourcing is great, but it is a popularity contest – only the most popular of startups will receive funding. It is important to keep options open, but it is also important to keep an eye on the market. Promoting a startup at the right time is key to riding the wave that may leave a founder with enough financing to reach success sooner than competitors.
http://tech.co/5-challenges-most-entrepreneurs-dont-anticipate-2017-03