Crowdfunding presentation at Minibar

Posted on January 30th, 2010 by Charles Armstrong

Last night I gave a talk about crowdfunding at Minibar London. The audience mainly consisted of people working on early-stage ventures. I took a straw poll about funding. Some had already raised finance from friends and family or institutional sources. Many more were planning to raise money in the coming year.

I tried to present an uncoloured account of my experiences raising money from friends and family, venture capital funds and most recently through crowdfunding; highlighting the pros and cons of each. In relation to venture capital I particularly wanted to draw attention to the negative impact of preference shares, stealth control mechanisms like “reserved matters”, increased complexity in governance and the pressure to exit prematurely that can arise towards the end of a fund’s life-cycle. In my experience there is not nearly enough awareness of these issues in the startup community.

I enjoyed giving the talk. Thanks to everyone who was there for listening so attentively and for the interesting conversations after my session. Thanks in particular to Christian for inviting me.

UPDATE – Here are my slides from the presentation.

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Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is an alternative approach to raising finance. It’s been developed over the last decade, principally in the film and music industries. Unlike traditional models which rely on large contributions one or two institutions crowdfunding is based on raising small sums from many number of people, who are typically linked by social networks or shared interests.

Find out more about Crowdfunding

Trampoline Systems

Trampoline Systems is an award-winning software business based in London (UK). The company is attracting attention from around the world for its SONAR social analytic technology and its vision of how corporations must evolve.