2. Agenda
• What does she know anyway?
• Size of the current UK crowdfunding market
• How it interacts with traditional funding
• Why should you care?
• What makes a successful crowdfund?
• Q&A
• Membership of The Association of
Crowdfunding Experts – training, support,
marketing
3. Who are ya?!!
• Chartered Accountant 20 years;
• Trainer then corporate financier 10 years;
• Founder The Corporate Finance Network
– 9 years ago for regional firms
– Coached & mentored 100+ partners
– introduced CF to c40 firms
• Created Crowdfunding Options app 3 yrs ago
• Author The Crowdfunding Masterclass
• Founder Association of Crowdfunding Experts
4. The Crowdfunding Market
• Crowdlending 12% of all new lending in 2015
in UK to SMEs
• Equity crowdfunding is 15.6% of total UK
seed/VC equity market
NESTA & Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance – Pushing Boundaries Report
5. Old World vs New World
Idea/prototype/
proof of concept
Early stage trading
Establish growth
Major Expansion
Acquisition/Exit
Reward
Reward
Equity
Equity
Equity
P2P
P2P incl
bonds
P2P incl
bonds
Equity
Invoice
Trading
Invoice
Trading
Invoice
Trading
&
Supply
Chain
Invoice
Trading
&
Supply
Chain
6. The Next Generation of
Business Owners
• c.1m start-ups in the last 10 years
– 20% of all businesses in existence
• They expect to use all forms of finance in the
market, esp crowdfunding
• They crave advice – not just compliance
• Incubators, accelerators, business shows, website
forums, retailers/brands are ADVISING
• Does your firm have a future with these clients?
8. Case study of a start-up
• Virgin Start-up loan £7,000 to begin
manufacture
• Kickstarter £12,000 (Aug 2014)
• Angels Den £110k target, funded £150,000
13% equity (July 2015)
9. What makes a crowdfunding success?
Support of
(their own) Crowd
Own activity…it’s a lot
of work!!
Your passion &
enthusiasm in the
narrative
Credibility &
demonstrable
experience
The Quality
Your rewards – range;
worth; humour?
Or Business Plan
(equity)
The page:
video/graphics
Captivating & clear
10. But I’m an accountant!
• Project management & referring experts
– Social media & PR
– Videographers
– Graphic designers
• Writing the page content
• Writing the business plan & projections
• Throughout the campaign
– Offering moral support
– Answering queries
11. The Association of
Crowdfunding Experts
• Stand out as an expert
• Initial Training
– 1 day intensive Crowdfunding Masterclass
– An Audience With…
• Updates
– Ahead of the Crowd Newsletter updates
– Conferences
• Specify which types of crowdfunding you are
expert in
12. Membership Options
• Supporter member (ie in training)
– Based on size of firm, from £40 per month
– Requires mandatory Crowdfunding Masterclass
– http://ace-uk.eventbrite.co.uk
– 33% discount ACE2016
• Master member (expert)
– Must be able to evidence experience
– Lead generation from app and website
13. Crowdfunding:
what accountants need to know
• Free e-book
• Dates for courses mid June-mid July
– Watford; Swindon; Maidstone; Northampton;
Basingstoke; Gatwick; Harlow
– Other locations due to be announced for Autumn
• Membership criteria & pricing
• Get scanned!
Statue of liberty short $100k (one third of budget) in 1885
Governor used a 5 month fundraising campaign in Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper The World. “emotions of New Yorkers”
$0.15 to $250. More than 160,000 contributed raising $100k = $2m today
2008 – Obama $750m from small donors on his website. $600 million came from more than 3 million small donors whose average donation amounted to roughly $86
