

Show HN: Our Equity Crowdfunding Platform Is Officially Live - acremades
http://www.rockthepost.com

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gamblor956
They appear to be using the Regulation D exemption to SEC registration, so
generally among the other restrictions:

\- no soliciting or advertising the offering to the general public (though
state exceptions to this limitation apply for offerings < $1 million)

\- all investors must receive restricted shares (shares which are not publicly
tradeable for at least 6 months without registration)

If seeking investment of greater than $1 million, generally...

\- company financial statements must be audited

\- no soliciting or advertising the offering even pursuant to state exceptions

 _Note that Reg D precedes the crowdfunding bill, so the restrictions will
probably change/go away when the appropriate federal agencies finally issue
regulations promulgating the new crowdfunding rules._

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MisterBastahrd
So this is completely worthless to the average person on the street, since you
have to be an accredited investor in order to participate. This is no more
"crowdfunding" than getting on a private jet is "crowdboarding."

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hnwh
Why do you need to access my connections, and send messages and invitations as
me? <http://d.pr/i/Ikf2>

Not signing up..

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acremades
We don't automatically send anything through LinkedIn. However, we have a
feature that allows an entrepreneur to send an invitation to someone else via
LinkedIn's API. In order for that to function we need the permissions you are
referring to. When we have more time we will probably reduce the number of
requested permissions for general users.

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kybernetyk
First: Cool idea.

> Minimum investments from $1,000-$5,000.

Hmm ... imho that's too much for 'casual for the fun investing'. I'd be
willing to 'invest' $250 into some cool idea just because I like it. But $1k
is over my pain barrier for mindlessly throwing money at stuff and most
probably lose it.

Also are there already startups signed up? I can't find a way to browse active
projects.

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acremades
We have over 6,000 registered startups and 3 are currently in preview mode
before accepting investments in 6 days. One of them won the “Audience Choice
Award” at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC.

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ph0rque
I'm assuming that the accredited investor requirement is still in place (i.e.
this isn't the new JOBS investment opportunity)?

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acremades
Correct. We are operating via Regulation D.

<http://www.sec.gov/answers/regd.htm>

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mdda
Hmmm. The video pitch seems to put them in an investment banking/advisory
role, whereas their Ts&Cs disclaim everything :

"For investors, you can rest assured that the deals you're seeing on our
platform are highly vetted, and they're top-notch. We've done the homework,
we've done all the due diligence, we've done the background checks..."

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tptacek
There is something jarring about the concept of jewelry designers pulling in
mid-six-figures from accredited investors.

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nodesocket
Why is the maximum amount an individual can invest $5000? Even trying to raise
$100,000, that is 20 people. Is this a limit baked into the law?

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acremades
Maximum and minimum amounts are set by the startup. On average $1k-$5k is the
lower range of investments.

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marcstein
Congrats!

