

Crowdfunding for your business - Profounder - datums
https://www.profounder.com/raises

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happybuy
A great idea and looks like a good companion to Kickstarter.

However the problem that this site (and Kickstarter) don't seem to solve is
the problem of awareness generation/ initial marketing. For many businesses
this is the hardest first problem to crack, so if Profounder provided
techniques and assistance for this, it would be a lot more helpful.

The site seems to be premised on the business already having a large audience
("let your community help") - if this is the case I think its relatively easy
to turn such an audience into a viable business - the funding in these cases
should be straightforward.

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rprasad
Profounders's blithe disregard for American securities laws is very amusing.
Probably will not be so amusing for those involved...

Securities offerings have to be registered. There are exceptions, but one of
the big requirements for taking advantange of most of these exceptions is that
you not publicly solicit investors. And Profounder is all about publicly
soliciting investors. (Kickstarter avoids those problems because your kick
does not buy you an ownership interest in the company/project.)

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danaprofounder
ProFounder offers two products: Private Investing and Public Investing. With
Private Investing, entrepreneurs can raise capital from friends, family, and
other community members who they already have a relationship with and these
people can get unlimited financial upside based on a % of revenue. This is a
security. Given that it's a security, we help entrepreneurs easily comply with
all necessary federal and state regulations that apply. Compliance is not too
challenging because all of the entrepreneurs are raising less than $1M from
people they have a relationship with, so the security has exempt status. And
you're right - there is no public solicitation.

With Public Investing, anyone in the general public can invest. This is not a
security as investors do not have financial upside -- through revenue share
agreements, they are repaid their principal and if they are repaid before the
investment term is up, their share of the revenues for the rest of the term
goes to a non-profit. Given that this is not a security, entrepreneurs can
market it as widely as they'd like.

I hope that helps clear up some of the confusion. Glad to hear that you're
also a securities law buff!

Dana ProFounder Co-Founder

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rprasad
Good to know you've addressed that stuff. It wasn't clear from your site.

