What makes CROWDFUNDING

so POPULAR?

11 Reasons Micro-Financing is changing the way Entrepreneurs get to Market

The Social Network for

New Product Development

After raising more than $16B in 2014, trends show

the Crowdfunding industry surpassing Venture

Capital in terms of total funding provided by 2016*.

What can we credit for crowdfunding’s massive

success, even while it still stands in infancy?

*Forbes – “Trends Show Crowdfunding To Surpass VC In 2016” – 6/9/2015

The growth of the collaborative or “sharing”

economy has certainly aided the rise of

crowdfunding in the past few years, but

there are many more attractive features in

crowdfunding that entrepreneurs just

can’t get anywhere else.

Here are 11 reasons startups are choosing

the Crowd to get off the ground.

Crowdfunding Campaigns are a

great starting point for your project.

• Launch a campaign at any stage of development

• Get in front of customers as early as possible

• Leverage your successes or losses to learn and

plan the next steps

You can’t beat the convenience of

fundraising online.

• Plan and market without leaving your home

• There are hundreds of platforms around the world,

tailored to your specific needs

• Reduce overhead by doing everything online

Get direct access to your future

customers.

• Offer your product directly to your customers in

the form of a pre-order

• Leverage orders to get development moving

• Gather insights into your target customer

Launch with a Bang.

• Build hype and excitement for your launch

• Instill a sense of exclusivity by running a limited-

time, early-adopter campaign for your product

• Play on the emotions of your potential customers

Start building a community around

your venture.

• Create a sense of exclusivity amongst your early

supporters and backers

• Involve them in the creation process

• Reward them for their adoption and dedication

Reduce the amount of

capital involved.

• Avoid the time to find, reach-out, schedule, travel,

and meet with banks, VCs, Angels, and more

• Limit resources used on a crowdfunding platform

• Focus efforts and cash on marketing and design

Lower the risk of trying to get

to market.

• Going straight to your customers keeps you from

developing too much, too early

• Leverage their feedback and participation

• Build your offering around what customers want

Validate the needs of your customers and the market.

• Backers aren’t going to give money to a project

that they don’t see a future or demand for

• Use crowdfunding as a “test-pilot”

• Test your assumptions that there is a market need

Employ flexibility that you can’t get

anywhere else

• Instead of raising a large amount of money from

investors, raise enough to get off the ground

• Collect those funds in a shorter amount of time

• Give away equity, rewards, or take P2P loans

Keep complete ownership of your venture.

• Instead of giving away equity in exchange for

funds, accept pre-orders for your offering

• Answer only to your customers and your team

• Focus all efforts on your mission and goals

Bridge to the next step.

• Run a campaign, fill your orders, and move on to

your next project or keep going

• Continue offering orders on your website

• Leverage your success to attract venture capital

Does crowdfunding have flaws?

Of course, but the young industry’s

popularity should not be ignored.

Crowdfunding offers a multitude of features,

flexibility, and customer-development

opportunities that just aren’t present in any

other fundraising methods.

This is fueling the exceptional growth it

has already experienced.

What do you think makes Crowdfunding so

popular for entrepreneurs and creators?