Vlab - Crowdfunding: Disrupting Traditional Funding Models

Can your $1 contribution create a Big Business?  Yes, with crowdfunding.

$1.5 billion in 2011, crowdfunding is set to double this year [1].  Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdfunded 60,000 projects:  Half of the cash came as donations, while the other half came as an exchange for creative rewards or future product.

Now that the JOBS Act lets startups exchange Equity-for-Cash up to $1M per year, implementation will prove interesting.  Crowdfunding has vined its way through informal social networking sites, and these continue to fuel the rapid growth of this new economic engine.

• Will crowdfunding consume or complement existing capitalist models?
• How will alternative funding models accelerate disruption?
• Will it create massive opportunities for entrepreneurs and the economy overall?
• What does it mean to give equity to individual consumers and what's the impact on the company?
• Will VC's shy away from a Series A funding due to the startup's early-stage crowdfunding?

Moderator

Carl Esposti, Founder at Crowdsourcing.org

Panelists

• Slava Rubin, CEO & Co-Founder at Indiegogo
• Ryan Caldbeck, CEO, CircleUp
• Daniel Zimmermann, Partner, WilmerHale
• Don Ross, Managing Director/Founder and Board Member, HealthTech Capital and Sand Hill Angels

[1] Crowdfunding Industry Report from Massolution study on crowdfunding platforms.