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众筹让好设想与有兴趣的网上投资人相互结缘

(2013-03-13 14:56:17)
标签:

杂谈

分类: 社会与生活
Stephen Kaufman | Staff Writer | 2013.03.11
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/week_1/03072013_AP833158066615-300.jpg

现在有各种专为初创企业、非营利机构甚至教育寻找融资的众筹平台。

 

 

华盛顿——您需要商业贷款吗?您能说服社交媒体上的陌生人相信您的建造计划是一项明智投资吗?通过众筹,您可以将构想呈现给全球受众,利用他们的共同支持帮助您实现目标。

通过数以百计的在线平台,众筹项目涵盖从人道救援、艺术创作到科技企业创新等方方面面。这种相对新颖的微型融资工具藉助移动和因特网技术,也帮助那些也许无法从较传统渠道——家庭或地方社区——获得资金的人解决困境。

在3月7日美国国务院的网络连线访谈中,众筹资本顾问(Crowdfund Capital Advisors)的联合创始人舍伍德•奈斯(Sherwood Neiss)说:“我们正处在一场全球运动的转折点,它在打破小型企业的传统融资方式。”

非营利性众筹平台Kiva的联合创始人兼市场推销主管杰西卡•杰克利(Jessica Jackley)表示,每天有数以千计的人通过她的组织获得融资,人均筹资额为400美元。

她说:“我们看到到很多人给自己和自己家庭的生活带来惊人的改变。由于几百美元的贷款,他们逐渐摆脱贫困。通过我们平台融资的有牧羊人、裁缝、农民、售货亭业主、小餐馆业主、养鸡人及其它各种动物的养殖户。这些人每天都在辛勤工作,按规矩做事。他们所需要的只是能获得数额不大的资金。”

杰克利表示,除了传统现金贷款和捐赠以外,现在有多种吸引投资人的方式,包括以优惠价格预售订单产品,以及提供购股机会。

例如,2012年4月,初创科技公司Pebble Technology未能从企业投资者那里获得足够资金来生产智能手表,于是开始在Kickstarter.com网上发起众筹活动。该公司最初计划融资100,000美元,但凭借在手表生产后将以大幅优惠向投资人出售的承诺,吸引了大批投资人,一个月内便募集到超过1,000万美元资金,众筹活动就此宣告结束。

杰克利指出,成功融资的关键是首先确定可实现的业务目标,无论是购入设备、招募人员还是租赁办公场所等,然后确定需要多少资金来实现这些目标。

她说:“我看到在向投资人请求援助之前已经做了大量扎实工作并且首先给自己提出难题的人,获得的结果最好,最成功。他们知道融资的目的,具有除了资金以外的更宏观视野。”

奈斯称,对那些想要借助众筹募资的人来说,他们必须了解,他们要靠沟通和透明来使投资者相信其业务计划可行,并告诉投资者企业将如何使用营业利润,以及如何做出决策和确定重点。

他说,向任何人提出融资要求都是非常严肃的事情,需要担负很大的责任。要获得资金,就必须向投资者公开相关信息。

“你必须确保让投资人看到机会并了解相关的风险。你不能只将众人视为资金来源,而必须把他们当做带来知识和智慧的能够帮助将你的企业推入下一个阶段的人。”

他还表示,尽管出让股权会让创业家失去对企业的全部所有权,但是在刚起步时他们也许无力向贷款方支付固定利率的投资回报。

奈斯说,此外,“当你将切实将大饼的一角送给人家,让他们有机会拥有企业的一部分时,企业的成功变得与他们切实相关。”他说,实际上,他们可能成为企业的免费宣传员,让企业得到更多人的注意,加大知名度。

杰克利承认,有些人开始时会有一段“信心曲线”,他们对求助于别人感到不安,并且不确定他们是否能清楚说明为什么投资人应该对自己的项目感兴趣。

她表示:“事实是,世界上有很多人对于参与开创企业,一起分享他人的成长过程感到兴致勃勃。”

她说:“想想看,现在有十几个人都有相同的好点子。关键是看谁能实施,谁能去实现这个好点子。老实说,有时候能豁出去让自己面对公众、接受质疑和挑战的人往往能取得成功。”



Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/article/2013/03/20130311143939.html#ixzz2NOtr7wzu

Crowdfunding Matches Good Ideas with Online Investors

By Stephen Kaufman | Staff Writer | 07 March 2013
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/week_1/03072013_AP833158066615-300.jpg

There is a wide variety of available crowdfunding platforms to find funding for startups, nonprofits, even education.

 

Washington — Do you need a business loan? Can you convince strangers in the social media world that your construction plan is a wise investment? Through crowdfunding, you can take your ideas to a global audience and harness their collective support to help you meet your goals.

With hundreds of online platforms, crowdfunding projects range from humanitarian relief projects and artistic endeavors to tech startups. Made possible by mobile and Internet technology, this relatively new tool for microfinancing also helps to address the challenge of getting money into the hands of people who may not be able to rely on more traditional sources, such as family or local communities, for capital investments.

“We’re on the cusp of a global movement and … this is an opportunity to disrupt the way in which small businesses are financed,” Sherwood Neiss, co-founder of Crowdfund Capital Advisors, told a State Department webchat March 7.

Jessica Jackley, who is co-founder and chief marketing officer of the nonprofit crowdfunding platform Kiva, said thousands of people are getting funding through her organization every day, at an average of $400 each.

“You see individuals making amazing things happen in their lives and in their family’s lives. They are slowly lifting themselves out of poverty, thanks to a few hundred dollars in loans. We see goat herders, seamstresses, farmers, small kiosk owners, small restaurant owners, people raising chickens and all kinds of other animals. We see people doing very hard work every day and … doing everything right. All they needed was access to this small amount of capital,” she said.

Jackley said there are now many options for attracting contributors, including the pre-sale of inventory at discounted prices and opportunities to purchase equity in a business, along with more traditional cash loans and donations.

For example, in April 2012, the startup company Pebble Technology began a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.com after it failed to get enough money from business investors to produce its smartwatches. With the initial goal of raising $100,000, it attracted investors by offering them significant discounts on the watches once they became available and was able to raise more than $10 million in one month before it ended its campaign.

The key to success is to first decide upon an achievable business goal, whether it is purchasing a piece of equipment, hiring a staff member or obtaining office space, and then figuring out how much is needed to achieve that, Jackley said.

“I see the best results and I see the most success happen when people have done a lot of the hard work and they are asked the tough questions up front” before asking for investors. “They know why they’re [asking] for what they’re asking, and they know what they want above and beyond the money,” she said.

Neiss said it is important for those wanting to raise capital through crowdfunding to understand the need to convince contributors through communication and transparency that the business plan is sound and tell them how proceeds will be used and how decisions and priorities were made.

“Taking money from anyone is a very serious proposition and it comes with a great degree of responsibility. In exchange for that money, you have to go through disclosures,” he said.

“You have to make sure that investors see the opportunity, but understand the risks associated with it. And you have to look at the crowd as not just money but as people who bring knowledge and wisdom that can help you actually get your company to the next level.”

By offering equity, entrepreneurs will lose full ownership of their business, but they may not be in a position to pay lenders a fixed rate of return on their investment when they are first starting out, he said.

In addition, “when you give someone an actual piece of the pie or you give them the opportunity to own something within that business, they have a vested interest in the success of that company,” Neiss said. In fact, he said, they may become marketing agents for the company and bring it more attention and publicity through free advertising.

Jackley acknowledged a “confidence curve” for some people who are uncomfortable asking for help and unsure they can explain to contributors why they should be interested in their project.

“The truth is, there’s a global community of people that are excited to participate in these entrepreneurial endeavors and to participate in other people’s stories,” she said.

“Just imagine that a dozen other people have a good idea right now. It’s about who is going to execute that, who is going to get it done. And to be honest, sometimes being a little bit vulnerable and putting yourself out there … that sometimes is the person who will win,” she said.



Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2013/03/20130307143801.html#ixzz2NOtv2aGp

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