COVID Relief Easing Certain Crowdfunding Rules Ends on August 28!

This week, I’m traveling to Puerto Rico to cover the Bluetide Caribbean Investment Summit for Impact Entrepreneur Magazine. (See a related story here.) As a result, I didn’t have time to produce a podcast for today’s newsletter. I’ll also be sharing the podcast I would typically share on Thursday on Friday—it’s a special one.

 
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Big News! I’ve confirmed with the smartest people I know that an important bit of COVID relief expires on August 28, 2022. If you are a social entrepreneur looking to change the world for good, read on!

One of the biggest barriers to investment crowdfunding is the requirement for financial disclosure. Under the rules that return to full effect on August 28, you must provide financial statements reviewed by an auditor if you hope to raise more than $107,000. An auditor must complete a review before the offering can begin. And it is pricy. A review can easily cost $10,000.

If you raise mor...more

Frankly, I don’t remember when a guest and I covered so much important ground in so little time. Don’t miss my conversation with Christopher Lustrino, the founder and CEO of KingsCrowd.

SuperCrowd22

Chris will be speaking at SuperCrowd22, our two-day virtual conference on impact crowdfunding and community capital. This event is for you!

“One of the cool things about building our business is that we get to watch how the entire world of equity crowdfunding is forming, what investor sentiment is like, what their behavior is like, what startup founder behavior is like,” Chris says.

“This is an incredible place to be in the world at this moment in time,” Chris continues. “So, it’ll be fun to dive in and tell folks more about what it is that’s happening all around us as this industry develops.”

KingsCrowd is tracking every deal in the sector, so he has a great perspective on the industry. Don’t miss it!

Readers can register now for half price! 

Convergence of Crowdfunding and Venture Ca

Michelle Thimesch Works to Fix Capitalism By Empower Women and BIPOC Entrepreneurs

Devin: What do you think of within that skill set as being your superpower?

Michelle: I am a very practical problem solver. The analytical thinking from the legal training side is something that definitely helps evaluate things. I’m a practical problem solver. I believe there are solutions to all problems. So for me, it’s about communication, openness and problem-solving. I guess that’s multiple superpowers, but I see it under the umbrella of communication.

You could be forgiven for thinking Michelle Thimesch is a bit scattered. She is working on several major projects right now, but they are all closely aligned in solving a single problem. She’s no more scattered than a laser-guided missile.

She is the CEO of Crowdfund Mainstreet, which she founded with Jenny Kassan. She also organized an investor network called Angels of Mainstreet. Most recently, she raised a fund to create Opportunity Mainstreet in B...more

Your investments work for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. What are they doing? Does that work align with your mission and values?

Hard Work

Investing is hard. Like, really hard.

It’s easy, of course, to buy a stock. Especially today. It has never been easier. Many online brokerages don’t even charge commissions anymore. It’s so easy.

But really investing to earn a return over time that will help you achieve financial goals, like being able to retire someday. That is seriously hard work.

One way to make it easier is to hire other people to do it. There are easy ways to do this, like buying mutual funds and ETFs. An ETF is an exchange-traded fund that trades like a stock but represents ownership in a portfolio of stocks, similar to a mutual fund.

Choosing funds is almost as tricky as selecting stocks. Broad funds like those that track the S&P 500 index or the Nasdaq 100 invest in many individual stocks. Funds are not required to disclose every stock they own—only the top ten la...more

Big Announcement

We're organizing an industry-wide virtual impact crowdfunding conference and you’re invited!

At SuperCrowd22 you will learn, connect and grow with people like you. And all for a song.

Let’s start with the song. If you are a member of CfPA, you can save $124 and register for just $75! Click here to register now. 

You can join CfPA for just $10 per month. If you're not a member and don't want to join (are you nuts?) you can register for the conference for $149 ($50 off just for being a friend of CfPA). Click here to register. 

What is this conference all about?

SuperCrowd22 is the biggest event of the year at the intersection of investment crowdfunding and impact investing, what I call impact crowdfunding.

Investment crowdfunding is a freshly legal way to invest your money, even if you don’t have a lot. Rich people have always been allowed to put money in startups or to back the local bar or diner with a few other rich friends. Investment crowdfunding created ...more