A very powerful two-stage model is emerging in crowdfunding films, one that finally allows fans to participate economically. Sirius, the documentary from Dr. Steven Greer based on decades of work from the Disclosure Project, looks to be the break-out event for this new model.
In the first stage, Sirius used the contemporary perks-based crowdfunding to finance the production of the film, using both Kickstarter and their own donation mechanism. But the second stage is where it gets really interesting, thanks to their choice to use Yekra
for video-on-demand (VOD). Fans can participate in the distribution and
virality of the film, by signing up for the affiliate program,
receiving a commission on revenue generated via VOD. So in this stage,
your network can translate to real financial value.
[continue reading at Crowdsourcing.org]
Monday, April 22, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Building Community Projects With Crowdfunding
While a lot of buzz surrounds crowdfunded games and gadgets, a
growing trend is in the use of crowdfunding to build community oriented
projects. After seeing some real life examples, one might wonder why we
don't allocate a percentage of tax revenues to a pool, which is then
allocated by the public to crowdfund local, state and federal projects
-- the ultimate in empowering people to create their own future.
One of the projects which kicked off this community crowdfunding trend, raised $1.4M to build a Nikola Tesla Museum on the land formerly occupied by Tesla's famous Wardenclyffe Tower in Shoreham, New York. But community projects don't all have to be large-raise projects -- many of the smaller ones are making material and positive impacts. Perhaps a small sampler of the many that have occurred or are ongoing will serve as an inspiration to those who have a community need, but are looking for a mechanism to obtain funding. Keep in mind that crowdfunding can offer much more than money -- many projects involve obtaining human capital, especially community-oriented ones. You don't need to fund what other people are willing to help design & build!
[Continue reading at Huffington Post]
One of the projects which kicked off this community crowdfunding trend, raised $1.4M to build a Nikola Tesla Museum on the land formerly occupied by Tesla's famous Wardenclyffe Tower in Shoreham, New York. But community projects don't all have to be large-raise projects -- many of the smaller ones are making material and positive impacts. Perhaps a small sampler of the many that have occurred or are ongoing will serve as an inspiration to those who have a community need, but are looking for a mechanism to obtain funding. Keep in mind that crowdfunding can offer much more than money -- many projects involve obtaining human capital, especially community-oriented ones. You don't need to fund what other people are willing to help design & build!
[Continue reading at Huffington Post]
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Interview: The TechSmart Podcast with Lee Schneider
The TechSmart Podcast with host Lee Schneider recently interviewed author Kevin Lawton.
Out with high crowdfunding fees, in with app markets
The door is wide open for new leaders to emerge in crowdfunding, as the existing ones haven’t learned from the painful lessons of open source and web-oriented startups.
One of those lessons - replicable bits are a cover charge, not where the main value comes from. The core value derives from the enablement of a rich ecosystem. Or in web startup terms, the value lives not in the front-end logic, but in the back-end of the business. One needs look no further than Google, to understand this – it gives away a spectrum of free services and yet makes reams of money on the back side. And it’s eating Apple’s lunch in the smart-device market.
If you were to visit a current crowdfunding site, with all of the logos and color themes removed, what services or features in specific would truly allow you to differentiate the site from myriad others? For many of the ‘perks’ based sites, the answer is not many. As was the case early on in the search game, that holds only until a player enters the market who “gets it.”
Let’s look at crowdfunding from the perspective of a campaigner for a moment. If they have a successful raise on Kickstarter, they face site fees of 5% plus roughly 3 to 5% in 3rd-party payment processing fees. What cash-strapped party wants to pay 8 to 10% in overhead, from the get go? These fees will inevitably get crammed down, and sites which are counting on them will be disappointed. One of the top complaints about crowdfunding sites is their fee structure – not a great future indicator given the lessons learned.
[Continue reading at Crowdsourcing.org]
One of those lessons - replicable bits are a cover charge, not where the main value comes from. The core value derives from the enablement of a rich ecosystem. Or in web startup terms, the value lives not in the front-end logic, but in the back-end of the business. One needs look no further than Google, to understand this – it gives away a spectrum of free services and yet makes reams of money on the back side. And it’s eating Apple’s lunch in the smart-device market.
If you were to visit a current crowdfunding site, with all of the logos and color themes removed, what services or features in specific would truly allow you to differentiate the site from myriad others? For many of the ‘perks’ based sites, the answer is not many. As was the case early on in the search game, that holds only until a player enters the market who “gets it.”
Let’s look at crowdfunding from the perspective of a campaigner for a moment. If they have a successful raise on Kickstarter, they face site fees of 5% plus roughly 3 to 5% in 3rd-party payment processing fees. What cash-strapped party wants to pay 8 to 10% in overhead, from the get go? These fees will inevitably get crammed down, and sites which are counting on them will be disappointed. One of the top complaints about crowdfunding sites is their fee structure – not a great future indicator given the lessons learned.
[Continue reading at Crowdsourcing.org]
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Community crowdfunding models that can be done right now
While crowdfunding
has already proven itself to be very effective and without material
fraud in the U.K. and Australia, the rest of the World is stuck awaiting
regulatory change. In the U.S., it will still be some time before the
crowdfunding component of the JOBS Act
is finalized. But life has a way of pushing back, when we get too busy
reinventing the same ineffective systems that got us into the mess. It’s
time for us to look at where we’re naturally headed, and use that
perspective to define mechanisms which are available now.
From a macro perspective, if we look at the convergence of many trends in culture, finance, innovation, art and other areas, they share a number of common factors. Structurally, almost every static and hierarchical system is morphing into a dynamic social networking graph – we use the phrase “peer to peer” a lot, but the transformation is more towards a network of curators and communities. Even more exciting is another factor in common, the transition from brutal competition through a “co-opetition” phase and on our way to a paradigm of cooperation and contribution. Emerging, is the age of the co-creative sharing economy. One might even dare call that paradigm, community.
When we start with that mindset, some interesting doors open in equity crowdfunding. Notably, a lot of the things that get us into trouble with securities general solicitation issues, dissipate. Check out the following funding models variants, as examples. I’ll let you (and your lawyer) be the judge. If you look at upcoming events such as the One Spark crowdfunding festival, the beginning of what is presented below is already in the works.
[Continue reading at Crowdsourcing.org]
From a macro perspective, if we look at the convergence of many trends in culture, finance, innovation, art and other areas, they share a number of common factors. Structurally, almost every static and hierarchical system is morphing into a dynamic social networking graph – we use the phrase “peer to peer” a lot, but the transformation is more towards a network of curators and communities. Even more exciting is another factor in common, the transition from brutal competition through a “co-opetition” phase and on our way to a paradigm of cooperation and contribution. Emerging, is the age of the co-creative sharing economy. One might even dare call that paradigm, community.
When we start with that mindset, some interesting doors open in equity crowdfunding. Notably, a lot of the things that get us into trouble with securities general solicitation issues, dissipate. Check out the following funding models variants, as examples. I’ll let you (and your lawyer) be the judge. If you look at upcoming events such as the One Spark crowdfunding festival, the beginning of what is presented below is already in the works.
[Continue reading at Crowdsourcing.org]
Interview on "The Great Business Experiment" with John Lee Dumas
EntrepreneurOnFire's "The Great Business Experiment" has recently finished a 10-part series about Kickstarter and crowdfunding. John Lee Dumas has put together very informative and vibrant interviews, which are recommended for those interested in using crowdfunding.
Interview with author Kevin Lawton is #8 in the series and available for free via iTunes.
Interview with author Kevin Lawton is #8 in the series and available for free via iTunes.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Unlocking the global trillion-dollar crowdfunding market
Now here is the one percent you do want to hear about!
The world is on the precipice of creating a trillion-dollar crowdfunding market. In Australia, the ASSOB has offered a crowdfunding investment portal since 2005. In the UK, equity crowdfunding is already in progress, with investment platforms such as Crowdcube andSeedups. And in the Netherlands, crowdfunding is ramping up with Symbid.
The crowdfunding components of the American JOBS Act and the Italian Decreto Crescita are now in the process of finalizing the attendant regulation before securities crowdfunding goes live. Industry associations are popping up everywhere, including in India, Europe, Canada, and the U.S. (CFIRA, CfPA).
If you want to get an idea where things are headed, look at the travel list of the leading crowdfunding advisory team, Crowfund Capital Advisors. Recently, they’ve visited Colombia, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, Sweden, and Dubai, with upcoming visits to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Sydney. They’ve also secured a relationship with the World Bank to study crowdfunding as a way to unlock innovation in developing countries.
The world is on the precipice of creating a trillion-dollar crowdfunding market. In Australia, the ASSOB has offered a crowdfunding investment portal since 2005. In the UK, equity crowdfunding is already in progress, with investment platforms such as Crowdcube andSeedups. And in the Netherlands, crowdfunding is ramping up with Symbid.
The crowdfunding components of the American JOBS Act and the Italian Decreto Crescita are now in the process of finalizing the attendant regulation before securities crowdfunding goes live. Industry associations are popping up everywhere, including in India, Europe, Canada, and the U.S. (CFIRA, CfPA).
If you want to get an idea where things are headed, look at the travel list of the leading crowdfunding advisory team, Crowfund Capital Advisors. Recently, they’ve visited Colombia, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, Sweden, and Dubai, with upcoming visits to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Sydney. They’ve also secured a relationship with the World Bank to study crowdfunding as a way to unlock innovation in developing countries.
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