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The New JOBS Act, Crowdfunding, and Shoes Waiting to Drop

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The New JOBS Act, Crowdfunding, and Shoes Waiting to Drop
Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software | Apr. 26, 2012, 1:13 PM

It’s less than three weeks since the new JOBS act opened the door to exciting new crowdfunding initiatives. This could be a sweeping change, an end to antiquated laws requiring startups to get investment mainly from so-called accredited investors. And it could be another deregulation causing a lot more problems than it solves. For the curious, here’s a quick reading list I’ve compiled, full of excitement, eager anticipation, fears, contradictions, and contention. 1. Gene Marks has a good summary in Drilling Down: What Small Business Should Know About Crowdfunding on the New York Times. This one is positive and optimistic. 2. For a scathing indictment of the whole idea, how it’s actually more of the deregulation that caused the great recession, try Why Obama’s JOBS Act Couldn’t Suck Worse, by Matt Taibbi on Rolling Stone. (Don’t you love the title? Nothing ambiguous about that.) 3. For a more long-term academic/intellectual view, try Yale Professor Robert Shiller’s Democratize Wall Street, for Social Good, also on the New York Times. 4. Jason Calacanis, founder of Mahalo.com and a very well-known and vocal successful entrepreneur, raves about the underlying idea of crowdfunding in The Two Most Important Startups in the World, posted a couple of months ago, before the new bill passed. 5. Bob Rice, New York venture capitalist, posted Forget Crowdfunding: Why JOBS Matters on the gust.com blog. A couple other posts on the subject on that blog — which is the major platform for angel investment — are Antone Johnson’s train wreck post, in which he fears the worst from crowdfunding before the bill passed; and then his somewhat-relieved revision in his back on track post a week later.

6. Last but not least (since we’re on my blog at the moment) is my What Worries Me About Crowdfunding on the Huffington Post. What worried me then, before the bill passed, still worries me now. I could go on with the reading list, but it’s already too long. So which is it? All hail the new era of startups let loose from the nasty bureaucratic constraints? Or the opposite, run for the hills because chaos is coming? Obviously somewhere in between the two. Also obviously, a lot will depend on who does what in crowdfunding, and how quickly, and how well. If this new world starts with some very visible unsuccessful but popular deals, for which a lot of people lose money, that’s one scenario. If the regulations manage to control the scams and somebody builds a good crowdfunding site with some reasonable precautions, then that’s another scenario. So I’m waiting for that the shoe to drop.

Summary It’s less than three weeks since the new JOBS act opened the door to exciting new crowdfunding initiatives. This could be a sweeping change, an end to antiquated laws requiring startups to get investment mainly from so-called accredited investors. And it could be another deregulation causing a lot more problems than it solves.

Description For the curious, here’s a quick reading list I’ve compiled, full of excitement, eager anticipation, fears, contradictions, and contention:

1. Drilling Down: What Small Business Should Know About Crowdfunding by Gene Marks on the New York Times

2. Why Obama’s JOBS Act Couldn’t Suck Worse, by Matt Taibbi on Rolling Stone

3. Democratize Wall Street, for Social Good, by Yale Professor Robert Schiller on the New York Times

4. Forget Crowdfunding: Why JOBS Matters, by Bob Rice on gust.com blog

5. What Worries Me About Crowdfunding on the Huffington Post

Tags: Crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing, Jobs Act

Posted by Luis Enrique Morales

Apr 26, 2012 11:33 pm GMT Viewed 1154 times

Author: Tim Berry Source

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