Crowdfunding Legislation Thoughts

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Chief Gadd

Last week President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act; legislation that will enable new sources of funding for entrepreneurs.

The JOBS Act pulls from the technique of “crowdfunding,” the collective cooperation of people who pool their money and resources together to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Under the legislation small businesses will be able to use the Internet to raise up to $1 million in small investments from multiple sources. It will allow larger companies to offer up to $50 million in stock to the public without registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), up from the previous threshold of $5 million. It also will encourage more companies to go public, by exempting them from some SEC regulations in the first five years after an initial public offering (via Portfolio.com.)

Overall, I believe this is a great initiative for entrepreneurs and small businesses. It will open up new avenues of funding that carry less legal, corporate and financial overhead. However, my largest concern is for the unintended consequences that may occur. There are currently no regulations in place to manage the potential new surge of funding.  One article asked a fair question, will this bill make more people like Steve Jobs or Bernie Madoff?

Crowdfunding has been used successfully by those in the nonprofit sector and supporters of the JOBS Act have high hopes for the model’s usage in the entrepreneur arena. Over time we will need to learn how to self-regulate with advisory services and other protective measures. Enforcement of these developing regulations will be tough.

In order to gain support from ordinary citizens, individuals will need to see their personal investments working. The question remains unanswered, “Will people initially lose large sums of money investing in startups?” Hopefully there will be numerous success stories from the JOBS Act before anyone experiences substantial losses.

Check out some of the other thoughts on the JOBS Act.  Some are for it, and some against, as is usually the case.

What impact do you feel the JOBS Act will have on developing startups? Do you foresee regulations being enacted quickly?  Which side of the debate are you on?

Thanks, Kevin…

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Changes for the Textbook World

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Chief Gadd

A year ago, there was little talk about replacing textbooks. Sure, many students asked to get rid of the bulky hardback textbooks and publishers were quietly working on ways to get their material online, or in some form that was digital. There were also some startups working on a new interactive model, like Inkling and Venture Highway. But e-learning progress took a giant leap with the big Apple announcement a couple weeks ago.

The federal government has now proactively become involved in the movement. Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the Digital Textbook Playbook, which aims to address the issue of hardware and broadband accessibility within schools and student homes. While the focus of this initiative is on K-12, it will impact and push the higher education market, too. If the initiative is even moderately successful it will create a generation of students heading to our universities asking for digital content, just as they experienced in high school. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski comments, “Digital learning is critical to the future of education in our country and to our global competitiveness.”

But the challenge of replacing textbooks is bigger than simply putting the content online or in a digital format. Publishing companies have to rethink how the content is delivered, displayed and complemented with other technology tools and resources. Students today don’t just consume the content differently, they learn differently. This is the course of development that Venture Highwayhas taken since our beginning and what we continue to strive for.

One advantageVenture Highwayhas is that we produce our own content and integrate it directly within class exercises and online tools and resources. Being in the classroom and getting instant feedback helps us to move and change quickly. The power of digital publishing is rooted in its ability to make changes to content, tools, resources or the platform immediately.

The Digital Textbook Collaborative hopes to have K-12 school transitioned to digital textbooks within the next 5 years. We look forward to growing alongside the quickly accelerating e-learning movement, hoping that goals can even be reached before the 5 year time stamp.

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2012 Looks Bright for Columbus Entrepreneurs

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Chief Gadd

What successes are you planning for in the upcoming year?

If you’re an entrepreneur in Columbus, the 2012 forecast is looking mighty bright. Entrepreneurs’ Organization released their 2012 Global Entrepreneur Indicator Report last week and our local standings may pleasantly surprise you.

The report is a semi-annual survey of members of Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a non-profit with more than 8,000 entrepreneurs across 40 countries. There were 46 local entrepreneurs included in the survey.

Here is what Columbus-based entrepreneurs are saying about the local business climate:

-74% reported an increase in net profits the past six months, and predict an increase in revenue during the coming six months.
-72% indicated they expect to add full-time employees within the next six months.

-38% stated that access to capital has increased in the past six months.

Follow Entrepreneurs’ Organization online for more updates and to engage in conversation around the survey results — @EntrepreneurOrg.

Thanks, Kevin…

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