As a venue for industry networking, the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA) occasionally highlights the participation or biography of our association members. CfPA membership is designed to be inclusive and open to individuals and organizations sharing a professional interest in the field of Regulated Investment Crowdfunding.

Interview With Paul Lovejoy

CfPA: Can you tell us a little about your background and your interest in the field of regulated investment crowdfunding? 

Paul: I was a defrauded investor in 2008 and became deeply concerned about concentrations of wealth and too-big-to-fail banks. Seeking answers, I volunteered for the Obama campaign in Florida and became enmeshed in politics to try and understand how we got too big to fail banks and a financial crisis. However, by 2016 blame, gridlock and lobbyists eventually drove me out of engaging in politics any further.

While many investors typically feel that debt deals are “lower-risk” than equity deals in investment crowdfunding, I’ve always wondered if that’s really the case. As investors, we have plenty of options for where to put our money — like zero-risk savings accounts at banks currently offering 4.6% or even 5% interest! So, I decided to dig into the data on debt and revenue-share offerings to see if the interest rates are actually compensating investors for the risks they’re taking.

TLDR: to adequately compensate Reg CF investors for risk and opportunity costs, we estimate that the current average debt interest rate should be roughly 11.1% on pre-revenue deals and 10.2% on post-revenue deals. For revenue share notes, the break-even payback mu

San Francisco, CA (June 12, 2024) Radivision® and KingsCrowd today announced a strategic partnership to give retail investors the tools they need to participate in the growing private markets while delivering a new funding source to startups. This collaboration unites Radivision’s strengths as a streaming and social platform that connects retail investors to startup content and opportunities with KingsCrowd’s unparalleled expertise in private market data and analytics.

The partners’ shared mission is to demystify private market investing and give more people the confidence to participate in startup wealth creation, which has outperformed the public markets by 70% or more for most of the past 25 years. This is an especially vital need today. Shifts in the public markets since 1998 have disenfranchised Main Street investors while funneling outsized gains to the largest players, contributing to the widening wealth divide in the U.S. Radivision will soon offer its members the ability ...more

On behalf of the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA), I would like to express gratitude to @Devin Thorpe and @Chandan Saha for providing CfPA with the opportunity to co-host SuperCrowd24 and for giving the CfPA board and members the opportunity to share their perspectives and expertise and to connect with a community of attendees from all over the world. The event was highly engaging and informative (-- and provided a welcome diversion following the end of this year’s tax season). 

The agenda was packed, the speakers were amazing, and the topics were relevant across a wide range of themes. Personally, I was pleased to hear numerous discussions about the possible integration of regulated investment crowdfunding into the full capital stack of various businesses -- from small enterprises seeking SBA loans to major corporations managing complex divestitures – as it points to a future where crowdfunding and community-ownership could be an important pro-social subs...more

Attention all crowdfunding enthusiasts and aspiring changemakers! The highly anticipated SuperCrowdHour event for February 2024 is just around the corner, and we couldn't be more thrilled to welcome you!

Countdown Begins: With the event date fast approaching, mark your calendars for February 21, 2024, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Get ready to dive deep into the world of crowdfunding excellence!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=TLGGSFSdz8WDyigxODAyMjAyNA&v=HoQyB5CFHLA

Meet the CFPA Leaders: Join us as we host the esteemed Crowdfunding Professional Association (CFPA) leaders:

• Brian Christie, CFPA President
• Jenny Kassan, CFPA Vice President
• Brian Belley, CFPA Secretary
• Scott McIntyre, CFPA Chair

What to Expect: Gain exclusive insights, connect with industry experts, and learn how you can make a difference in the crowdfunding community. SuperCrowdHour is your gateway to unlocking new opportunities and achieving crowdfunding success!

Special Incentive: Remember, attendees who register for an...more

I wanted to share an interesting new program that I recently learned about - the Qualified Accredited Investor (QAI) certification from Doriot Venture Labs and IU Kelley School of Business.

The goal of this new certification is to evaluate an individual's expertise in venture capital and startup investing. It involves passing a FINRA exam and completing an investment simulation. Notably, this program is under review by the SEC to establish itself as a viable alternative to the traditional wealth-based Accredited Investor standard.

QAI has the potential to help level the playing field in the venture world. As the program materials mention, currently the top 20% most knowledgeable investors receive 80% of the gains. QAI could help provide a way for more people to demonstrate their sophistication.

I'm such a strong believer in what Doriot Venture Labs is doing that I invested in the company, and I'll also be participating in the first cohort for the new QAI certif...more

Cost of Investor Acquistion

Creating institutional capital investment pools with funding portals is hugely important. Honeycomb Credit has trailblazed that with a foundation. You can go to pension funds, banks, insurance companies, credit unions, etc with these kinds of proposals. Point to HoneyComb's success story, differentiate your portal.

Side-note: would love to start seeing partnerships between niche portals.

If you aren't ready to do that yet, and are starting off with founders in your direct network, I would fill your relevant social media channels (that you send to people) with accessible and engaging demos of your product from the investor's perspective. Of course, content for business owners is important too... but think about it this way: fundraising businesses will be sending your social media content to their investors as to explain how the process is going to go.

Educational content on why your niche and portal serve a critical need. Explain to investors, why their investm...more