Crowdfunding has been gaining a lot of attention in the medias space during the past few years, but the true power of the crowd in the finance sector still remains undercover for a large part. As the July’s Issue of the Venture Capital Journal debates crowdfunding (in the story “Meet Your New Competition“), it is clear that the recognition of this immense power is gaining a foothold, even in the traditional actors eyes.

And that’s just what we want, the recognition of this hidden power in the crowd, that could turn inefficient operations in many parts into a real win-win for stakeholders of the funding pyramid. This is not an exclusionary change, this is an empowering change for the better.

Yesterday, Alan Moore wrote on the many aspects of the crowd:

The power of the network means this, yesterday, an entrepreneur from Australia and a member of GrowVC reached out and I was happily advising his company to connect with others somewhere else in the world as I could see the benefit in the connection. I did not ask what is in it for me – I was just very happy to help.

The sense of community, in an empowered and self-serving pool of people, can lead to amazing things. None of which should be interpreted as charity, but rather a quid pro quo -sense of doing your part in the community. In a way the whole network of individuals can be seen as a driven force, working toward a larger vision. Maybe that’s of a fairer funding market or for entrepreneurs to be able to blossom – you should ask the community.

Another great point made by Alan, relating to the trust issue in communities and modern solutions such as Kiva.org and our own.

..which ever way you look at this however, I have to ask the question, what exactly are we protecting? The biggest culprits of economic mis-management exist inside corporations, not on the pavement (sidewalk) asking for some spare change, or trying to make ends meet by doing 3 jobs, or having a dream that requires the type of funding some might leave as a ’small tip’ at a swanky restaurant.

What exactly are we protecting? That’s a good question. To continue that trail of thought, one might ask, “And from whom or what?” Obviously there is no answer to these questions, but one might be inclined to think that the villains in question are change and progress. There is mounting evidence that the current models in the finance sector are unable to provide the results that more modern tools could, the inefficiency in the models is vast and unexplainable. Shouldn’t the transactions create added value, rather than simple transaction costs?

Can the crowd solve this? We simply don’t know yet, but isn’t it worth finding out?

The whole post by Alan Moore “‘Crowdfunding will never catch on’ – investment trainee age 46″

Giving something a shot, failing and then trying again through another route is a part of start-ups and entrepreneurial work ethics. You take risks in order to strike the BIG time and that can hold true for finding the right people and expertise for your venture too. Start-ups often go through several hires and partnership changes before the right talent is found. While most people would blame themselves for the wrong choices, the great thing about entrepreneurs is they can turn failure into lessons, laugh it off and move forward. On the topic of finding the expertise required by a venture and seeing the lighter side of start-ups, here is some entrepreneur humor which highlights what we’re talking about perfectly!

An entrepreneur attended an auction at which he won the bid on an old safe. With dreams of a large fortune inside, he was told that the business from which the safe originated was so long defunct, that no one had the combination. Undaunted, he called a locksmith to try to get the safe open.

The first locksmith told the entrepreneur that it would cost forty dollars to open the safe intact. However, tried as he might, he couldn’t open it, and told the wealthy man that he had lost his money in buying the safe.

The entrepreneur then contacted another locksmith, a crusty, bent old man with three days’ growth of white whiskers, who took a long look at the safe, noted its manufacturer and retired to his truck. Shortly, he returned with a power drill, a ruler, and a small, bent piece of metal.

The locksmith measured a few inches from the dial and marked an “x” at the “2 o’clock” mark. It took more than half an hour for the old man to drill through the safe’s door. He then took the bent metal, hooked it through the hole and fished around a few moments until a loud “CLICK” was heard. Turning the handle the door swung open slowly.

The safe was empty.

Disappointed, the entrepreneur turned to the locksmith and asked the charge for opening the safe.

“A hundred and twenty dollars,” replied the locksmith.

“A hundred and twenty dollars?!” shouted the businessman, “That’s outrageous! The other man only wanted forty! I want an itemized bill for it!”

“Okay.” The locksmith turned on his heel and returned to his truck. A few minutes later, the entrepreneur was presented with a dirty piece of paper upon which the locksmith had written:

Charge for drilling hole: $20

Charge for knowing WHERE to drill hole: $100.

(source: http://www.jokebuddha.com/Entrepreneur)

A premium for acquiring the very best talent and top notch expertise which could prove invaluable for your start-up is often worth it! Sure…in this case the safe was empty but it if it wasn’t (the idea was fundamentally a runaway success), then the locksmith who knew WHERE to drill would get you to your goal far quicker. With startups, speed of execution is of the essence and that can mean finding the expertise required whether in marketing, legal, technical areas or other areas where it can provide a boost.

The Grow VC community features experts from across functions with specialized skills and experience which could be just what an entrepreneur needs. Whether it’s looking for partners, advisors or service providers, the community is a one stop place where the right expertise can be found. If you’re looking for the guys who knows WHERE to drill the hole, then this (www.growvc.com)  is WHERE you’ll find them!

Globally recent times have been a roller-coaster in terms of economic stability. The world is still recovering from the crisis that started in the West while Europe is fighting it’s own battle and one would assume this may not be the best of times to start a new business or be an early stage startup. However, in the United States at least, figures would say otherwise.

A recent study published by National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) and the Temple University Fox School of Business said the percentage of venture and angel funds focused on investing in seed stage companies has increased 40% from 2009. Some of their findings from the survey conducted include:

• 51% of the funds plan to invest more money in companies over last year
• 40% increase in the number of funds able to raise new money in less than a year
• 10% increase in the capital raising climate over last year
• 34% of the funds reported their average investment was between $500,000 – $1,000,000 vs. 18% last year

Clearly the sweet spot for early stage startups seeking funding is the one for looking to secure up to 1 million dollars which has reasons to be positive. Not just because there are more investments within this area but also because the introduction of the crowd-funding model the Grow VC platform is based on offers some level of immunity to regional fluctuations in financial within regional economies. When those funding startups within the community driven funding model are spread across the globe, the risk of funds drying up when one region is affected by a financial crunch won’t impact the ability for startups (even within that region) to secure the capital they need to move ahead.

Typically early stage startups are prone to the availability of VC funds within their city or region. In times when there are ample funds to be invested life is good for entrepreneurs. When things take a turn for the worse in the region and investments are frozen, entrepreneurs struggle and many ideas don’t leave the drawing board. With both startups and investors spread across economies within a global environment an element of stability comes to play. Imagine a place where you can be partially shielded from the regional economic uncertainties. With the community driven funding model already here and in action….now is the best time to be an early stage startup.

Microsoft Biz Spark had its European Summit in Paris yesterday. No big surprises. Paris is Paris, i.e. no train information in English when trains don’t arrive, and coffee and Cola Cola is in tiny cups. And Microsoft is Microsoft, official speeches from Corporate Presidents and Vice Presidents, and they swear that they have entrepreneur and startup spirit and attitude (and if you don’t believe, here is a picture of Bill and Paul from 1970’s). And then there were startups that told they have a huge market potential, and they can cut customer’s costs and increase sales. Okay, I stop the cynical part, actually the summit was a nice surprise for me, a lot of interesting people, some really good discussions, and Biz Spark people also like to work with startups.

There were some really interesting startups. Especially I liked those guys that have got something to customers with their own very small money. So, something is already available, people really use it, and the funding plans are reasonable. Often those solutions are offered to consumers or SME’s. Then there were also startups that have used 1 to 2 Million (often partly public funding) to build a very smart solution for large corporations, they told they have nice testimonies from some corporate people, not yet sales, but the alpha version is ready soon. It is much harder to believe in those cases. Generally I would like to see more startups that really would like to be game changers, not only offer something to improve processes. If we expect really big success stories from Europe, we must also have guys that want to change the world. And of course, we must get the funding market together work so that it is possible.

Guy Kawasaki was the host and he had many good points as usually. We also got his latest book Reality Check. The first sentence I noticed from the book is “Venture capital is something to do at the end of your career, not in the beginning. It should be your last job, not your first.” I like that, it includes many relevant points. Now I must remind that we at Grow VC don’t feel to be venture capitalists, our VC stands for Venture Community, and we are more like community facilitators.

Maybe the most interesting part of the event was the last panel: “Building a virtuous ecosystem in Europe”. The panelists were Jan Muehlfeit, Marc Julien, Peter Jungen, Gearoid Mooney, Cliff Reeves, Chris Shipley, and Reshma Sohoni. I have heard now many panels, how to get European startups work better. European really believe that discussions solve problems. One interesting comment came from a London based venture capitalist, who two times wanted to remind there are much more drinking events for entrepreneurs in London nowadays. It is nice to know entrepreneur communities are more active. But Europe really needs really hard working entrepreneurs who are able to compete against all American, Indian, and Chinese.  They must get products out, be better everyday, and really do also some impossible things.

I think Chris made one of the most interesting comments in the panel. She said “you shouldn’t copy the Valley model, it is 30-year-old model and so traditional VC centric, things can be more virtual nowadays, people move out from the Valley but are still very connected there”. This is very valid comment. And it is in line with our Virtual Silicon Valley vision. This is not about Europe, Asia or US. We need more global solutions that right people and companies anywhere can work together and create success stories. Of course, local support can be useful and valuable, but people and companies must think globally if they really want to build success stories. And global thinking doesn’t exclude local acting, but it is a mind set to offer solutions and services that change the world.

Today we’re discussing the global phenomenon of the emerging East – cutting edge innovations are from outside the more commonly accepted centers of creativity and entrepreneurship. I’m your host Markus and I’m here with Grow VC founders Jouko and Valto, and our very special guest, Mohan Belani, Director of e27.

Main points from the Podcast:

Mohan introduces himself

• E27 and topical experiences

More information on Mohan on his LinkedIN

Member Highlight: Jobsket

• Practical applications
• LinkedIN?
• Valto’s experiences from homepage

More information on Jobsket in the community

Innovations and the Global Economy

• Experiences from Asia
• Opportunity, never a threat
• Government and institutional support
• Learning points

Thank you Mohan for joining us, it was a blast talking with you! Listeners, thank you for your support, we’re excited by the number of listeners. Make sure you give us some pointers or discussion points, once you get a great idea! Stay tuned!

You can now learn online about new startup funding models, and also more about Grow VC. You can also learn, why you need new funding models, what are problems at the moment, and how to get things work. This is the most comprehensive, detailed, and easiest way to learn the Grow VC model. You can watch and listen to the lecture HERE.

Startup School is a new concept for global online learning. Startup School wants to empower Entrepreneurs to teach and study from each other using a bottom up, grassroots-like approach to organizing and holding live classes online. With everyone’s help, they want to make it as powerful, fun and easy as possible for Entrepreneurs all around the world to share their knowledge and learn in a social way.

The Paper Bag Man has gone loose on the community!

Wanted: Undentified Community Alien

Have you seen him? He looks like any impeccably dressed person in a nice suit, but is unidentifiable due to the large, brown paper bag on his head. Be cautious around him, we do not know who he is or what he is hiding!

You get the point, right? I mean, ask yourself whether or not you would trust a person approaching you on the street with a paper bag on his head. Trust, credibility and accountability go hand in hand, and adding a picture to your profile is a simple step to improving your credibility and signaling this to all who view your profile. In a community built on on-going trust and transparency in operations, this is imperative to realize. From transparent and honest communication, to having professionals actors managing the community fund and all investment procedures, to not taking commission on direct investments – we are trying to ensure trust and credibility in the community, making Grow VC a safe haven for all business prospects.

In the Grow Venture Community, we share our passions and ventures with each other, why would we not share our faces? Furthermore, we feel that this also empowers the community to act on it’s own – the vision is that the community would be self-sustaining, in a way that development and progress occurs from within the community. As you develop networks and relationships within the community, mutual trust and respect are cornerstones of these interactions.

This humorous update does actually serve a purpose. We sincerely hope you do take our most humble suggestion and use a picture on your Grow VC profile – a picture that might resemble you a bit more.

Your humble guide,

Markus

Peer Financing conference takes place in New York City on next Friday (May 14). Grow VC will in the panel “The Future of Peer Financing: What are the emerging trends for startup financing.” It will be a panel discussion on what you can expect for funding your business from start to success. Learn from the people who are leading the charge how your business can be a breakout success using the leading edge ideas that are reshaping financing.

You can find more information, an invitation, and registration link in our service here.

We are the leading global startup funding community. We also want to meet people, entrepreneurs and investors, around the world. We want to get feedback and ideas from you, and we want to tell to you, how we try to help you, and how you could help the community to get the startup funding work better. Our world tour continues in May and June:

• Berlin, May 10 to 12, we speak in the Next Conference,
• NYC, May 14, we speak in Peer Financing conference,
• Paris, May 25, we participate in Microsoft BizSpark Summit,
• Singapore, June 1 & 2, we speak in Echelon2010 conference,
• India, June, exact dates are still open.

You are welcome to meet us in those events, but we are also happy to meet or organize event outside the conferences. Please just drop an email (jouko -at- growvc.com) and propose a meeting. You can also follow Jouko’s travel updates in Twitter and Plancast (@jahven). And you can also ask us to come to other places, and organize something there. Let’s build a global community together!

Go4Venture just published its latest, March, monthly report (not yet in their web site, but probably soon). They are always excellent summaries about the VC landscape based on numbers. Go4Venture has now some really interesting statements:

• “First, professional venture capital funds have become less relevant to the financing of innovation for the time being.“
• “Second, money being committed to venture capital transactions tends to be “smart money” (contrary to the view usually aired by professional VCs of course!), either by corporate investors which see strategic reasons to commit to a particular deal, or by long term investors which are prepared and able to ride an investment through peaks and troughs because they have time (not the 10 year horizon which VC funds have) and money, a lot of it.“
• “In short, it seems that the market is wondering whether professional VC managers add sufficient value to tip the balance of success of their portfolio companies.“
• “By driving new investors into the venture capital market, such shifts may prove beneficiary to the eco-system as a whole in the end.“

Those are very tough statements. But they match very well to our findings and feedback we have got from the market, business angels, and startups. All parties start to agree that new solutions are needed. And at the same time we must remember that this is not only important for some startups, but startups are more and more important for the economic growth. So, we have are talking about a big challenge, and new solutions to tackle it are really valuable for everyone.