Ms. Career Girl

Why The Hell Should I Get Involved in Equity Crowdfunding?

by · Dec 3, 2014

This is a guest post by Krissa Curran, female entrepreneur, serial #sidehustler and mid-20s career girl. In this post she gives us the low down on equity crowd-funding, and talks about how in order to reap rewards, you have to first dive in! 

 

So when people think about investing, buying shares or stocks in a company, heck when people think about start-ups — especially technology-based ones! — chances are they have some slick, Wall Street banker or Silicon Valley Zuckerberg-type geniuses pop into their heads. The Jordan Belfort wolves and Peter Gregory types from the eponymous HBO hit TV series, “Silicon Valley”, played by the late Christopher Evan Welch. Slightly eccentric, modern-day mad scientist type “corporates” who seem to just “get it”. Guys that have been coding or investing in small stocks since their mid-teens (I actually know a few of these!), who can read fluctuations on the NASDAQ exchange like a musician can read sheet music, an anchorman can read weather, or a photographer can read and manipulate light.

But the good news is, thanks to the rising popularity of crowdfunding and most recently equity–based crowdfunding, all this doesn’t have to seem so remote, so abstract, so cold and so intimidating anymore. At least, I hope not after the end of this article. After all, I’m a 27-year old “third culture kid” who owns a travel-tech start-up. Yes, I’m a career woman. No, I don’t code myself. But yes, I do lead and manage a team of very talented developers who do! And not only have I managed to get my head around at the very least the basics of all this, I’ve actually kickstarted my own equity-based crowdfunding campaign as well!

 

So here’s what I know and what I can tell you:

All over the start-up world we’re starting to see entrepreneurs using equity crowdfunding, or “crowdinvesting”, to seek their next round of funding. In short, what these new business owners are all asking their friends, family and friends of friends (potentially the whole wide world) is to give them money in exchange for shares (equity) in their company.

 

Unfortunately, most people still don’t get what this all means. Are there risks? If so, what are they? What are the benefits? And how can I ensure they’re worth it?

 

Since I – and my wonderful team at Friends of Friends Travel (FOF Travel) – are running our own equity crowdfunding campaign we thought we might as well explain it a little more by answering a few common questions we’ve gotten recently.

Krissa Curran

Krissa is most notably the CEO & Founder of social travel start-up Friends of Friends Travel (FOF Travel) that's already been featured in TIME Magazine, the NY Times, The Times and C|Net (CBS News). She is a Digital Marketing Consultant on the side and also teaches yoga part-time. With a Filipino mom, Scottish dad, American and Filipino Citizenship, plus Hong Kong Permanent Residency, Krissa is what some would call a Third Culture Kid or Global Nomad. Everything she does "puts people and experiences at its heart". Her favourite words: "Grateful" and "Namaste". Currently tweeting @krissa_curran and @foftravel.