International Crowdfunding

A financial and collaborative tool for spurring global economies

Presented by Ruben Cantu CEO, CORE Media Strategies

Presented at The First International Entrepreneurs Investment

Forum on Entrepreneurship & Investment for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development

What is Crowdfunding?"Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or

venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet."

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230912

Origins of Crowdfunding• 2009 with sites like Kickstarter,  the

internet community went wild in getting their ideas posted and forming a community of followers that would support them and their new idea for a company. 

• Other notable sites are Indiegogo and GoFundme

• Kickstarter has raised over 1 billion dollars by more the 7 million people since its launch.

• GoFundme now the largest crowdfunding site surpassing Kickstarter. 

Things to consider when starting a crowd fund

1. Your team and execution plan, just as in any business.

2. List of current supporters and their potential investment.

3. Finding the right platform (website) - each site has a different

following and interest.

4. Get in early pledges to kickstart funding, (we call them “pre-pledges”)

you want to get at least 20% within a week of your launch.

Things to consider when starting a crowd fund

5. Have a clear message and a clear solution6. The campaign execution

a)      The build upb)      Create an effective marketing strategy that helps grow your audiencec)      Build a relationship with your funders and deliver more value in return for their

supportd)      What are the metrics that you are planning to reach and what are the

contingencies if you don’t?e)      What is the length of time for your campaign, why?

7. How does this build in to your capitalization strategy, what percentage of the larger plan is this fund and how much equity you will give away in order to raise these funds?

How is the world positioned to best utilize this form into order to spur more startups.

• Now with the internet anyone anywhere can contribute to a cause or company they feel passionate about, new ideas can spur anywhere and joint partnerships can be created from people in different countries.

• This means that international t r a d e , re g u l a t i o n s a n d commerce will have to begin to adapt to these new types of economic tools in order to allow for their communities to spur wealth.  

The importance of a strong community in a campaign

• Many people launch an idea online and think that is enough, they believe that if you post online people will find you and care. It does not work that way.

• Real successful crowdfunding campaigns are built on existing followers and a community that is passionate about creating a change.

• Entrepreneurs must become evangelists and create disciples. Often they don’t, this is why they fail.

• A strong start in your campaign eases concerns and builds confidence in a successful outcome

Crowdfunding as Customer Development

• More importantly when you are able to build a following and a community, you are able to interact with them much faster which helps you iterate and improve on your idea/product and company.

• A lot of entrepreneurs don’t take advantage of using their community to find out what resonates with them.

• If you want your company to be successful, find or build a community that you are passionate in serving.

• Audit the adjacent markets and find out how to become flexible enough that you can learn through (building, measuring and learning.)

An idea is sometimes greater than product

• While ideas are a dozen, the beauty is that they are also nimble and only cost you imagination and time.

• You don’t need much in order to adapt and change.

• A lot of bootstrap entrepreneurs lose their shirt in sunk costs on a product or design that they failed to validate.

• Locking the right customer and market segment is so critical early on

• With 3D printing and rapid prototyping you can get a customer to validate their interest based on your design and feature/value set. 

Crowdfunding could save the world…

Based on the Millennium Development Goals 

• Could crowdfunding help support tools, products or service based companies who are focused on eradicating extreme poverty and giving jobs and training to communities who never had this access?

• How can we help address literacy and education through social enterprise and crowdfunding?

• Who has the next idea on how to build a company funded by the community who is focused on giving back and invest in its future?

• http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/

Current regulatory climate on crowdfunding

• While cultural norms traditional don’t bode well for crowdfunding currently there are countries who are looking at this as a possible solutions by modifying their approach and reaching compromise.

• They understand one thing, their economy rests with the future youth and entrepreneurs.

• These young people are willing to take risks and collaborate internationally with other cultures to innovate and experiment with new solutions for their people. • http://www.crowdvalley.com/news/crowdfunding-potential-in-middle-eastern-islamic-countries

Case Study

Case Study

Thank you ruben@coremediastrategies.com

@rubencantoo