{"id":28624,"date":"2017-10-16T16:17:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T20:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/creator\/?p=28624"},"modified":"2020-02-26T14:28:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T19:28:46","slug":"startengine-works-the-crowd-for-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/startengine-works-the-crowd-for-funding","title":{"rendered":"StartEngine works the crowd for funding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In just a year, StartEngine<\/a> has helped 50-plus companies raise more than $35 million in capital. The company, headquartered at Los Angeles’s <\/span>WeWork La Brea<\/span><\/a>, has become one of the most active platforms for crowdfunded investment in the US. One of the first movers in the space, StartEngine remains on the leading edge of online public offerings large and small. The model has been so successful that now they\u2019re launching a new campaign\u2014for themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to explain that we\u2019re raising money for ourselves!\u201d says StartEngine cofounder and CEO Howard Marks. The equity offering<\/a> kicked off October 13 with shares starting at $500, and a goal to raise $5 million.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As recently as 2015, investing in private companies was restricted to high net-worth individuals. But as regulations in the Obama-era <\/span>JOBS Act<\/span><\/a> (signed in 2012) have gone into effect, these restrictions have loosened. An early mover in the space, StartEngine became one of the first approved platforms that lets anyone invest in a private company.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People who invest care. They want to understand why we\u2019re doing this, what our past is and what our future is. There\u2019s as much trying to make money, but also an emotional investment.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marks refers to this as the \u201cdemocratization\u201d of capital: <\/span>companies get access to funds without depending on venture capital, and the average person can tap into investment opportunities once limited to only the very wealthy.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGetting money is hard,\u201d Marks says. \u201cIf you\u2019re a grad from Stanford and a white male, it\u2019s pretty easy, frankly. We change that model upside down and say instead of these intermediates, let\u2019s get thousands to invest in me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The platform launched in January 2016 with an unexpected bang: the campaign for Elio Motors (which makes three-wheeled \u201csuper-economic\u201d commuter vehicles) amassed a whopping $17 million from 6,600 investors.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were shocked,\u201d Marks says. \u201cWe got scared because how do you top that? But it also allowed us to believe that what we were doing mattered. It gave us a sense that if we stay focused and be humble, we can be significant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before founding StartEngine, Marks held top positions at gaming companies, including CEO at Acclaim Games, which was bought by the Walt Disney Company.  <\/span>Lacking any background in finance, Marks says his reading habit has helped him learn the language of lawyers and accountants. Lately, he\u2019s also drawn inspiration from another book, a biography<\/a> of Elon Musk: \u201cTalk about someone who walks into an industry he has no idea about and destroys everybody!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In just a year, StartEngine has helped 50-plus companies raise more than $35 million in capital. The company, headquartered at Los Angeles’s WeWork La Brea, has become one of the most active platforms for crowdfunded investment in the US. One of the first movers in the space, StartEngine remains on the leading edge of online […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":902,"featured_media":28632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43903,43911],"tags":[513,39218],"class_list":["post-28624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-stories","category-member-spotlight","tag-innovation","tag-small-businesses"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStartEngine works the crowd for funding<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"StartEngine brings the crowdfunding approach to investment. 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