Crowdfunding: Financing Your Small Business was a presentation given by Manolis Sfinarolakis, the Founder of Reality Crowd TV Media Corporation, at the University of Hartford. In this interactive workshop, learn practical strategies for using Crowdfunding to finance your small business. We’ll review examples of companies that have successfully implemented campaigns as well as brainstorm ways for participants to use Crowdfunding as a financing resource. This workshop will benefit small businesses selling products and/or services, as well as non-profits. Instructor: Manolis Sfinarolakis, Reality Crowd TV Media Corporation

1. CROWDFUNDING: FINANCING
YOUR SMALL BUSINESS
By Reality CrowdTV Media Corporation
Presenter: Manolis Sfinarolakis, Founder, Reality CrowdTV Media Corporation

2. AGENDA
 Introduction to the Seminar Speaker (5 Minutes)
 What is Crowdfunding? (5 Minutes)
 The 9 Stages of Crowdfunding (5 Minutes)
 What’sYour Business? (10 minutes)
 Donation & Rewards Crowdfunding (10 Minutes)
 Equity & Debt & Royalty Crowdfunding (10 Minutes)
 Successful Crowdfunding Examples (15 Minutes)
 Interactive Session: Group Discussion (15 Minutes)
 Interactive Session: Audience Business Consultation (45 Minutes)

4. INTRODUCTIONTOTHE SEMINAR SPEAKER
 Manolis Sfinarolakis, Founder, Reality CrowdTV Media Corp.
 Member of Crowdfunding ProfessionalAssociation (CfPA), Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory
Advocates (CFIRA), and National Crowdfunding Association (NLCFA)
 Multiple speeches given on the topic of Crowdfunding in states across the U.S., including
Connecticut, NewYork, Georgia, Denver, Seattle,Texas, Washington D.C., and Florida
 Insurance Industry experience withThe Hartford Insurance Group within the Internal Audit
Department. Received SEC Press release on October 23rd onTitle III Equity Crowdfunding.
 Big 4 Accounting Firm experience with Deloitte &Touche. Auditing S-1 documentation for
broker/dealer that raised 1.2 billion during IPO.
 BS in BusinessAdministration, Concentration in Accounting from University of Connecticut

5. WHAT IS CROWDFUNDING?
 “Crowdfunding is converting social capital into actual capital through the
internet.”

7. THE 9 STAGES OF CROWDFUNDING
 Successful campaigns take at least 3 months of pre-launch activities before they
launch their project (to go into detail later in the presentation):
 Business Planning
 Intellectual Property
 Social Media
 Public Relations
 Campaign Strategy
 Networking
 Team Building
 Website Development
 Profile &Video

8. WHAT’SYOUR BUSINESS?

9. DONATION CROWDFUNDING OVERVIEW
 Used mainly by charities, medical emergencies, or natural disasters.
 Top websites used for donation based crowdfunding:
 YouCaring.com
 DonorsChoose.org
 No rewards offered, straight donation.
 Must have a compelling story that inspires action.
 Highly dependent on social capital and relationships.
 Amplified by PR and Social Media execution ahead of time.
 If 501(c)3, tax benefit to the donors.

10. REWARDS CROWDFUNDING OVERVIEW
 Contribution in exchange for a reward. Used by many different non-profits,
businesses, artists, film makers, and entrepreneurs. The crowdfunding of choice
for Startup companies. Capital raised without giving up equity / taking on debt!
 Top websites used for rewards based crowdfunding:
 Kickstarter.com
 IndieGoGo.com
 Highly dependent on social capital and relationships.
 PR is most important, followed by social media.
 Video must be top notch to tell a compelling reason why they should invest in the
person’s project, especially if it is a for profit enterprise.
 Must reach 30% of funding within the first week of the campaign (90% success).

11. EQUITY CROWDFUNDING OVERVIEW
 Investment in exchange for equity. Title II,Title III, andTitle IV of the 2012 JOBS
act.
 Title II allows for the general solicitation of Accredited Investors for investment in
small businesses via the internet / crowdfunding websites.
 Title III will allow for the general solicitation of Un-Accredited investors for
investment in small businesses via the internet / crowdfunding websites.
 Title IV allows for general solicitation of both Accredited and Un-Accredited
investors, however, it is state by state crowdfunding and takes months to close.
 Top websites used for equity based crowdfunding:
 Angellist.com
 Realtymogul.com

12. DEBT CROWDFUNDING OVERVIEW
 Investment in exchange for bond. Title II,Title III, andTitle IV of the 2012 JOBS
act.
 Title II allows for the general solicitation of Accredited Investors for investment in
small businesses via the internet / crowdfunding websites.
 Title III will allow for the general solicitation of Un-Accredited investors for
investment in small businesses via the internet / crowdfunding websites.
 Title IV allows for general solicitation of both Accredited and Un-Accredited
investors, however, it is state by state crowdfunding and takes months to close.
 Top websites used for debt based crowdfunding:
 Patchofland.com
 LendingClub.com
 CircleUp.com

13. ROYALTY CROWDFUNDING OVERVIEW
 Investment in exchange for future revenue (royalties) of the company / individual.
 Both secured (collateral) and unsecured (based on trust).
 Top websites used for royalty based crowdfunding:
 UpStart.com
 Empowrr.com
 Bolstr.com
 Royalty based crowdfunding is not only focused on the business, but rather, the
confidence in the management team running the business. They are investing in
the future prospects of YOU.

15. SUCCESSFUL CROWDFUNDING EXAMPLES
 Case Study: The Pebble Watch:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-
iphone-and-android

16. SUCCESSFUL CROWDFUNDING EXAMPLES
 Case Study: Chups LLC: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2029729541/a-
ketchup-revolution

17. SUCCESSFUL CROWDFUNDING EXAMPLES
 Case Study: Bohemian Guitars:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/366997931/bohemian-guitars-oil-can-
guitars

19. STAGE 1: BUSINESS PLANNING
 Must have a business plan for your business and must be willing to disclose it if
you are looking to do Equity, Debt, or Royalty based crowdfunding.
 Software tool: Funding Roadmap
 Login site for demo: Funding Roadmap
 This stage really gets you to understand all of the necessary pieces to the puzzle:
 What resources are at your disposal?
 Who can you ask to help you with your campaign?
 How many contacts, both in social media, email, and phone do you have?
 Do you know any media outlets, bloggers, newspapers, that would be willing to help?
 Is there budget that you have to get the help you need if you can’t find others in your
immediate circle?
 Why does my business exist? What is my mission? How can I inspire others to help?

20. STAGE 2: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 Protecting your intellectual property is the most important thing you can do.
 Intellectual property comes in the form of logo’s, trademarks, copyrights, patents,
legal incorporation, etc.
 Intellectual Property attorney’s can be very expensive.
 Crowdfunding website that helps with no upfront cost intellectual property, if you
end up going through their crowdfunding website: KarmaKrowd.com
 State of Connecticut: Secretary of StateWebsite
 If you don’t have the resources, don’t let that stop you: If you don’t tell anyone
about your business or idea…no one will ever know…Action above all wins out!

21. STAGE 3: SOCIAL MEDIA
 Social Media 2.0: Converting Social Capital into Actual CapitalThrough the
Internet.
 Class focusing on this topic in its entirety is on May 20th, next week! Check out our
meetup group for details here.
 Important Considerations:
 Use management tools to help you schedule your content (Hootsuite.com,
Bufferapp.com)
 You should only link to your site or other sites between 15 – 20% of the time. The focus
should not be on Social Broadcasting, but rather, Social Engagement.
 Have conversations with your customers and potential customers about every day
issues. People want to see personality behind a brand. Not a broken record / spammer.
 Build relationships and brand ambassadors that eventually will influence other people.

22. STAGE 4: PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Message Map & Communications Plan.
 Identifying keywords in your industry and searching for bloggers, newspapers,
reporters, news stations, and radio stations who cover these topics.
 Strategic Use of Press Releases to get more leverage about your company. Use of
services like MarketWired.com. Instant SEO boost as 200+ other websites
includingYahoo Finance, Market Watch, Reuters, etc. link back to your site.
 Have a media kit ready when the time comes to pitch to journalists, reports, etc:
 Bio and inspiring personal story
 Professional pictures
 Statistics of your industry to make the job of the reporter easy to write about you
 Your social mission and how your company benefits society

23. STAGE 5: CAMPAIGN STRATEGY
 Think of a crowdfunding campaign like a political campaign. You must be active,
visible, and persuasive. What ways can you as a business get the word out?
 Tools to get the word out:
 Google Hangouts – Connect w/ people via internet video. Create a show to brand your
business
 Live Events – host your own within your industry or network to join other events.
Crowdfunding events are always looking for people who are actively crowdfunding to
have as featured guests.
 Industry Events – network with others in your industry or become an exhibitor at an
event.
 Existing Customers – will you decide to divert some of your revenue from existing
customers into your crowdfunding campaign? That might just bring you the viral
momentum you need to get to the 30% of funding in the first week!

24. STAGE 6: NETWORKING &TEAM BUILDING
 Socializing your network: Provide the first token of value (explaining what crowdfunding
is).
 Add people to your crowd: You must become a lead generating machine by never leaving
the site of a conversation without receiving their contact information.
 Do as much as you can WITHOUT the funds: People are inspired to help you when they
see the hard work and effort you put into your business / cause.
 Crowdfunding Campaign job descriptions: Have an outlet established where you can
bring people onto your team to help you:
 Social Manager
 Community Outreach
 Public Relations Manager
 Reward your team with your knowledge: Everyone has compensation to offer to
another. If you don’t have a budget, then share your knowledge with your team w/ time.

25. STAGE 7: WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
 Strategy: Ability to be the one stop shop to connect with you and your content
across multiple platforms (join your crowd on social media, newsletters, etc.)
 Landing Pages: Used to capture site visitor information (pop ups that ask you to
fill out a contact form for a free piece of content, etc.). This allows you to connect
with them and bring them into your crowd.
 Pre-launch: Prepare statement of work for developer to realize that your primary
objective is to capture information and connect through social media.
 During-launch: Prepare statement of work for developer to realize that your
primary objective is to drive traffic to your crowdfunding campaign.
 Post-launch: Prepare statement of work for developer to realize that your
primary objective is to continue to monetize through social, newsletters, e-
commerce etc.

26. STAGE 8: PROFILE &VIDEO
CrowdfundingCampaign Profile: Must tell a compelling story through a combination ofVideo,Text, and
Rewards. Clearly articulate:
 Who &What of yourself, your team, and your business
 Where &When of yourself and your business, as well as when donors can expect their rewards.
 Why should anyone care? Make sure your video / profile captures your passion for your project.
 How Much are you trying to raise and how will the money be used to bring your business forward. Be
completely transparent with costs.
Video Production: MUST have a video and SHOULD be professional. A webcam without any editing may
not be compelling enough to tell the story of your company and your personal journey. Campaigns with a
video much more successful.
Feedback: MUST receive as much feedback about your video, profile, and rewards as you possibly can from
unbiased sources (your mom loves you no matter what ). Additionally, model other successful campaigns.
Length ofVideo: 3 – 4 minutes in length. Must capture attention within the first 10 seconds (attention
spans limited!)

27. STAGE 9: FULFILLMENT
 Rewards: Take a full accounting of the cost of fulfilling rewards before you price
the rewards for your contributors.
 Free Rewards: Creating information products for lower level rewards is a cost
effective yet valuable reward for your contributors.
 Manufacturing: Take into account the cost to manufacture, prototype, and ship
the rewards out to your contributors.
 Timing: Give yourself adequate time to fulfill the rewards. If you are running into
delays, keep an active dialogue with all contributors to ease their concerns.
 Intellectual Property Concerns: Ensure that you have the rights to offer the
rewards you are offering. Everything you offer must be appropriately protected!

28. INTERACTIVE SESSION: AUDIENCE
BUSINESS CONSULTATION
 Recap from each group of lessons and insights learned.
 General questions on “how to” crowdfund.
 Let’s talk about someone’s business and apply what we learned.

29. RESOURCES
 Title II Equity Crowdfunding Final Rules: http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2013/33-
9415.pdf
 Title III Equity Crowdfunding Proposed Rules:
http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370540017677#.Uti
6DBBdV8E
 Regulation A Proposed Rules:
http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370540518165#.Uti
6IhBdV8E
 Request A Business Card from Manolis for a free consultation.