Crowdfunding is an incredible tool for entrepreneurs seeking capital at any stage of their business. Startup businesses can validate their idea through a rewards crowdfund, giving them great traction to share with potential investors through a follow-on equity crowdfund.

A successful rewards crowdfunding raise (typically offering pre-orders of a product), is becoming a common precursor to raising equity investments from prominent angel investors seeking an equity stake in the company.

Angel Investors and Equity Crowdfunding

Before crowdfunding, angel investments were often found within an entrepreneur’s own network. Family, friends, and close business associates were all pivotal in an entrepreneur’s search for capital, due to a ban on the p...

Crowdfunding has become the go-to resource for entrepreneurs looking to launch new products and businesses. It’s an incredible tool to gather support and test ideas on a smaller scale, before moving ahead full-force on a business. That said, it also requires entrepreneurs to put in plenty of work in order to be successful.

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding rewards crowdfunding projects that are failing to make good on their promises – delivering rewards late, if at all, and unable to detail their plan to supply the products pre-ordered by backers. Some would say that it is crowdfunding’s biggest problem to solve, and has led to heated discussion over who is to blame when a backer is left high and dry without the rewards the...

Entrepreneurs have quite a few options available when raising capital that generally fall into three categories — bootstrapping, debt and equity.

Investors want to find the right fit. They want the right location, market size, and traction, among other things.

Funding your business isn’t as easy as saying, “I want to speak to investors who will give me a big check for my great idea!”

Even the best ideas often require a long period of proving themselves before any investor is willing to support them with a check. Along the way, there are several forms of capital that entrepreneurs use to address their needs.

How Most Businesses Get Funded

The most common way companies get funded is to start with their own capital, known as bootstrapping. The...

It was recently reported that the co-Founder of WeWork Adam Neumann took over $700 million off the table from investors long before the company had gone public.

How do these Founders go about getting cash out of their startups long before the startups ever cash out themselves?

Why would investors let me take money off the table?

Investors will often dangle the option of providing some Founder liquidity only when the deal they are trying to get into feels incredibly competitive.

This happens only rarely, and only amongst investors who are open to providing some Founder liquidity (some are very against it!).

Generally speaking, it only helps the investor by allowing them to get into the deal but provides very little upside to the company a...

Marketing for a crowdfunding campaign isn’t exactly the same as traditional marketing.

Let’s say that marketing is cake. Traditional marketing is a standard cake you’d whip up from a box or simple recipe. Crowdfunding marketing campaigns, however, are their own kind of cake. They’re like a souffle. A souffle — when done right — delivers a kind of magical combination of lightness and richness. When done wrong, it just falls into a heap.

Souffles and crowdfunding can yield incredible results. But in both cases, you have to take a more nuanced approach to reach that outcome.

Baking Up Crowdfunding Success

A crowdfunding marketing campaign is different from traditional advertising efforts, and it needs to hit a specific sweet spot. The tone ca...

Venture capital funding is both the most commonly referenced and yet commonly misunderstood form of investor capital available.

Unlike banks or more traditional investment sources, venture capital funding is all about big risks and big rewards.

Simply put, venture capital funding involves a venture capital firm investing a large sum of money (typically starting at $2 million or more) in exchange for an equity stake in your company.

Venture Capital Funding Risks and Rewards

Unlike banks or more traditional investment sources, venture capital funding is all about big risks and big rewards.

Venture capital firms specifically look for companies that offer an exceptionally large growth opportunity, which you can think of as the type of company t...

Hello, On Income Statement, are Owner Distributions included in Expenses? or come out of Net Income?

Hello, What would be the easiest way to reflect a equity crowdfunding round on here? I'm looking at Revenue Share 5-10% of revenue to 3x investment. Should that be listed under expense? debt? investment?

What Is Startup Funding?

Startup funding — or startup capital — is the money needed to launch a new business. It can come from a variety of sources and can be used for any purpose that helps the startup go from idea to actual business.

What are the top sources of startup funding?

While we often hear about venture capitalists and angel investors when it comes to startup funding options, it turns out that’s just one of the six top sources of startup capital. Of the $531 billion raised in startup capital each year, $185.5 billion is from personal savings and credit, $60 billion is from friends and family, $22 billion is from venture capitalists, $20 billion is from angel investors, $14 billion is from banks, and $5.1 billion is from crowdfunding....

The success of your campaign depends on the number of people you can reach, engage and motivate during your campaign and the weeks leading up to it.

This is a tall order for an already busy entrepreneur. Many campaigners are now realizing the most effective way to run a crowdfunding campaign is by utilizing a Virtual Assistant—Like the ones at Zirtual.

Tim Ferris recently said: “The #1 resource we found for outsourcing is Zirtual… Do not run a Kickstarter campaign (or your life) without…”

By delegating crowdfunding work to your VA, you can focus on what’s important.

Your VA works behind the scenes and allows you, your product, and your launch to shine.

So, how exactly do you use a virtual assistant to boost your crowdfunding campaign effort...

As a startup founder, one of the most popular questions you’ll get is “Who are your investors?” The industry operates under the assumption that most startups are working with venture capitalists and angel investors, and for good reason. VCs and angels not only provide the capital to get your company off the ground, but the advice they can give and introductions they can make are often as valuable, if not more, than the money.

But, for young companies just taking off, getting through the doors of VCs and angels can be tough. Not to mention, no founder is ever keen on the idea of giving away a part of their company.

When you’re struggling to find VC funding, or want to maintain complete ownership, people will often recommend you try crowdfund...