40billion.com Helps Small Businesses Raise $25 Million in Funding Through Social Networking
Two Prominent Business Attorneys Join 40billion.com as Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel
ATLANTA, Georgia - August 16, 2010 -- 40billion.com, the first social funding network for small business entrepreneurs, recently announced it passed $25 million in funding requests. 40billion.com also announces the appointments of Daniel Pugh as chief operating officer and Brent Wadman as vice president & general counsel.
"More entrepreneurs are using our Internet-based microfinance platform to get business loans because their communities and networks of friends and relatives will help them when banks will not," said Cornelius McNab, CEO and founder of 40billion.com. "To help us handle the tremendous growth in demand that is expected, we welcome Dan as head of operations and Brent as head of legal."
Daniel Pugh was previously general counsel of Synthetic Genomics, Inc., a biotechnology startup; associate with law firm DLA Piper and of counsel to Davis Wright Tremaine. He has represented entrepreneurs and venture capital funds and advised numerous private companies.
"With traditional small business and entrepreneurial funding so limited, 40billion.com's social micro-funding efforts will facilitate job growth and economic recovery nationwide," said Pugh. "I am extremely pleased to be part of this venture."
Brent Wadman was previously assistant general counsel of Infogroup, Inc., a publicly-traded marketing solutions provider for businesses; owner of Wadman Law, a corporate litigation boutique specializing in corporate formation and commercial transactions; and, attorney at Ameritrade, Inc., a publicly-traded financial services company providing online trading and investing.
"I am excited to join the high-caliber 40billion.com team," said Wadman. "I am a strong believer in the services 40billion.com provides and its mission of connecting and facilitating relationships between entrepreneurs, small businesses and investors."
About 40billion.com
40billion.com, Inc. is the first Internet-based microfinance company serving American small businesses. 40billion.com's scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks - including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts - and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. 40billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.40billion.com.
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EXCITING COMPANY NEWS
40billion.com Announces Free Business Consulting Program
Recognizing that starting a business can be an overwhelming task, filled with many choices that determine the outcome of your long-term success in business, 40billion.com has recently announced a limited program of FREE consulting for select startup business.
"The key to any successful business is planning and financing the effort" said Warren Neuburger, CEO of 40billion.com, Inc. "We are extending the knowledge and resources of our team, which include over 100 collective years in a variety of businesses, to helping entrepreneurs get their company started on the right foot. We believe that this is a good investment for the company, and best of all, for our registered users, the service is absolutely free."
The new program, launched in the Summer of 2009, offers free consulting services to a selected group of companies that meet certain criteria. The criteria include such things as being registered on the 40billion.com web site, starting a “Raise” (fundraising profile) on the web site, the type of business being started, and the demonstrated need for help. The first step in the process is to fill out the simple online application, which helps to identify the specific areas where the entrepreneur believes he needs help. These problem areas are then matched against the experience database of 40billion.com executives to determine if there is a strong fit. Once a fit is determined, the entrepreneur is contacted with the complete details of the
consulting process, including schedules for meetings and conference calls, and other next steps.
The all-star team of business consultants include: a former IRS agent and NCUA examiner with a law degree; a former CEO, COO, and President of several public and private companies with 25 years management experience in 6 industries; an inventor with 4 patents; a Fortune 1000 manager and software engineer that has worked with IBM, Time Warner, AT&T, and Pitney Bowes; a Yale graduate; and an MIT graduate with an MBA.
LIMITED TIME OFFER ONLY
Get Started Today!
Apply for free consulting services from 40billion.com by completing the form at www.40billion.com/consulting . If selected, 40billion.com will provide you up to 4 hours of FREE business consulting services (worth $2,500), starting as soon as this week!
Wondering whether it is better to lease or buy, or confused about the difference between incorporating and forming an LLC? Questioning how to get the most out of your PR and ad budget, or just have some technical questions about building your web site? We are here for you! Get free advice from experienced professionals who can help you get your business to the next level. Apply now! http://www.40billion.com/consulting (sign-in required)
40billion.com Launches New Features to Help Small Businesses Find Funding
Innovative Tools Help Small Businesses Access Loans and Resources by Networking Online
ATLANTA, Georgia - July 28, 2009 - 40billion.com (http://www.40billion.com) launched new features to enable small business entrepreneurs to raise capital and access startup resources through friends, family, and others in their communities and social networks.
Most small businesses startups fail due to lack of adequate funding and resources, and there is a $40 billion gap in seed funding. By combining innovative tools with the power of the Internet, 40billion.com aims to bridge the gap and enable millions more small businesses to succeed.
About half of all new businesses seek financing from the entrepreneur’s friends and family, but it can be difficult to communicate business ideas and to manage funding relationships with many people. 40billion.com simplifies everything by enabling entrepreneurs to create business plan profiles and launch fundraising drives that are viewable anywhere via the Internet. And it is free to sign up and get started.
Entrepreneurs can broadcast their business ideas and funding requests to friends and family, even post them on popular social networking websites, and the service allows many people to make loans or gift contributions ($25 up to $10,000) in support of a business, while easily tracking and receiving notifications online.
Furthermore, lenders and borrowers may download a promissory note template, which they can use to formalize business loans in a more professional manner. Loan interest rates are negotiated between the lenders and borrowers, and 40billion.com emails notifications when funding offers are received and reminders when payments are due.
As an incentive, entrepreneurs may offer product discounts and freebies in exchange for low- or no-interest funding and other much-needed resources. Soon, for added confidence, those providing the funding will be able to track how the entrepreneur spends the funds that are raised.
There are additional features available exclusively for members, including the ability to schedule online business plan presentations, an open database of service providers, a job board for posting and browsing startup jobs, and a discussion forum (a.k.a., The Elevator) where everyone can share ideas and tips about what works and what does not. Members can even follow a company as it progresses, by signing up to receive alerts whenever the entrepreneur posts company updates.
Advantages over banks and other lending websites
No credit score required: raise money for a business, while keeping personal finances and credit score private
Private profiles: protect ideas and limit viewing to invited participants only
$99,000 maximum: raise more funding than many other sites allow
Gift contributions: provide an additional funding option, besides loans
Targeted business network: leverage other entrepreneurs and lenders with similar interests to raise funding, find service providers, post jobs, and acquire customers
Spending tracker: lenders track how the funding is spent by the entrepreneur, in order to increase peace-of-mind, transparency, and accountability
Advantages over conventional friends-and-family loans
One-to-many: manage and track hundreds of relationships, transactions and communications at the same time; no need to make a hundred individual loan payments every month
Email reminders: get reminders automatically when payments are due, and get notifications when new company updates, transactions, or offers are posted
Public profiles: expand access to funding and resources by connecting with thousands of people who visit 40billion.com every month
Targeted business network: leverage other entrepreneurs and lenders with similar interests to raise funding, find service providers, post jobs, and acquire customers
Spending tracker: lenders track how the funding is spent by the entrepreneur, in order to increase peace-of-mind, transparency, and accountability
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About 40billion.com
40billion.com helps entrepreneurs raise funding for new businesses through friends and family rather than through traditional financial institutions. Using the Internet-based service, entrepreneurs connect with their social network - friends, family, friends of family, colleagues, and others in their communities - to raise capital. 40billion.com’s scalable platform facilitates the funding requests and transactions to make it easier for an entrepreneur to manage many funding relationships. 40billion.com is patent pending. For more information, visit http://www.40billion.com.
How to Raise Money and Funding Through Your Friends, Family, and Social Networks
Looking for funding to start a new business? Need to raise startup capital, but don't know where to go? In this article, we'll discuss the best way to increase access to funding by leveraging your social networks with thousands of friends and family.
There is a $40 billion gap in startup funding for American entrepreneurs every year! Furthermore, the economic downturn has led to a credit crunch (more like a crisis), in which banks and venture capitalists have reduced access to affordable funding. So where can hardworking entrepreneurs with innovative ideas go, if they don't have the money or resources to get started?
50% of small business entrepreneurs raise money through friends and family to fund the first phase of their startup. Many businesses get started with financing from the entrepreneur’s friends and family, but it is often difficult to manage these relationships.
So what steps should you take to raise funding for your business through friends and family? How can you increase your access to capital and resources by leveraging your social network?
STEP 1: TURN YOUR IDEA INTO A BUSINESS PLAN
In a recent poll of over 140 people, we found that a good business plan is the #1 most important factor in deciding whether to fund a friend’s or relative’s business. The best thing you can do as an entrepreneur to increase your chance of success is to turn your idea into a concise business plan or presentation. Download this business plan presentation template, which guides you to create your business plan presentation in just 13 simple PowerPoint slides.
STEP 2: CREATE A BUSINESS FUNDRAISING PROFILE ONLINE
After you’ve written a compelling business plan, you need to make sections of it available to your potential friends-and-family funders. Create a business profile online that everyone you know can easily access on the Web. The profile should provide insight into your vision and plan for the business, how much funding you need and why, what you have to offer funders in return (e.g., discounts on products or services you sell), and a memorable logo or video.
A few micro-finance (a.k.a. micro-lending or person-to-person lending) websites allow you to create your own profile page and use it for fundraising. For example, 40billion is a social funding network, where entrepreneurs can create business fundraising profiles for free.
STEP 3: INVITE FRIENDS & FAMILY TO PARTICIPATE, SPREAD THE WORD
After you’ve created your business fundraising profile, broadcast it to everyone you know! Invite your friends, family, community members, neighbors, and others in your social network to view your business profile, contribute towards your funding target, and spread the word to their friends and family too. Share your profile on Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and any other online social networking websites that your friends are on.
Chances are, you know at least 50 people that you can share your idea with and ask for support. The more people you share with, the better your chances of raising the funds you need. For example, imagine you need to raise $40,000, and you invite 40 friends and relatives to contribute $100 each, as a gift or a loan in support of your business. Each of those friends and relatives invites 40 more friends and relatives to contribute towards the $40,000 target. Together, 40 x 40 = 1,600 people helping to raise $40,000 for your business!
STEP 4: FOLLOW UP WITH A PITCH PRESENTATION
After you’ve sent out your initial invitations to all of your friends and family, follow up with everyone who shows any interest by scheduling a brief presentation and Q&A session.
Schedule a presentation (via online, telephone, or face-to-face) to provide more information about your business to potential friends-and-family funders. Invite these potential funders to watch, listen, and ask questions. Use the business plan presentation you created in STEP 1, and let potential funders see your vision and hear the passion in your voice to help them make the decision to support you.
STEP 5: USE MULTIPLE PAYMENT METHODS TO COLLECT FUNDS
Now that you have potentially thousands of people interested in funding your business, how do you make it easy for them to send you money and for you to track all the transactions?
A few business micro-funding websites facilitate fundraising by handling the transactions, so it is easier for an entrepreneur to manage having many funders (i.e., lenders and contributors). These websites enable the funders to transfer funds directly from their bank accounts or via credit cards to the entrepreneur, while making it easier for the entrepreneurs to track the transactions and how much is owed when.
STEP 6: KEEP IN TOUCH
After you get funded, what then? Be sure to thank your friends and family who supported you financially or helped you spread the word. Then, be sure to keep the lines of communication open by sending them regular company updates to let them know that their support has been put to good use, and you’re achieving those milestones that you set in your business plan.
These communications will go a long way toward maintaining good relationships with your friends-and-family funders, and they will be more likely to fund and support you again when you need more funding in the future!
ABOUT 40BILLION
40billion helps entrepreneurs raise money for businesses through friends and family rather than through traditional financial institutions. Using the Internet-based service, entrepreneurs connect with their social network - friends, family, friends of family, colleagues, and others - to raise capital. 40billion’s scalable platform facilitates the funding requests and transactions to make it easier for an entrepreneur to manage many funders. For more information, visit www.40billion.com.
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40billion.com "Priceless" Commercial
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40billion.com Launches First Friends-and-Family Funding Network for Entrepreneurs
New Service Helps Entrepreneurs Raise Money Through Social Networks of Friends and Family
ATLANTA, Georgia - July 30, 2008 - 40billion.com (http://www.40billion.com) officially launched today as the first friends-and-family funding network for small-business entrepreneurs. The service enables entrepreneurs to raise capital through friends, family and others interested in helping the entrepreneur to succeed.
Unlike traditional bank loans and other person-to-person lending services, 40billion.com does not require a credit report or minimum credit score and does not allow loan interest rates as high as 36%, which many small-business entrepreneurs cannot afford. Instead, the entrepreneur can raise money from people they know in exchange for discounts that they offer to those investors who become customers.
"40billion.com is a great way for me to finance my startup,” said Dave Mack Jr., who is developing an online social network for theatre artists to connect and find work. “It helps me raise money affordably from many people I already know, and without worrying about ruining my relationships with them.”
Many businesses get started with financing from the entrepreneur’s friends and family, but it is often difficult to manage these relationships. 40billion.com allows many investors to give small amounts of money and spread the risk. Furthermore, the service provides communication tools to increase transparency between the entrepreneur and her investors.
To obtain funding, an entrepreneur simply uses 40billion.com to start a “Raise” (a fundraising profile) and invites friends, family and others in her social network to invest and contribute towards the funding target. 40billion.com makes it easier for entrepreneurs to share their business ideas with friends and relatives, who may want to invest and help out. Furthermore, 40billion.com handles all the transactions, so it is easier for an entrepreneur to manage having many investors. Raises are private, so potential investors must be invited by entrepreneurs or other investors.
"We are addressing a $40 billion gap in funding for small businesses, and our goal is to help all those hardworking entrepreneurs that have good ideas but don’t have the money or resources to get started," said Cornelius Colin McNab, Founder of 40billion.com. "The economic downturn has led to a credit crunch, where banks and venture capitalists are tightening up, and entrepreneurs need alternative ways to gain access to affordable capital."
McNab, who is an inventor with three patents and holds an MBA from MIT and a degree from Yale, is confident that his company can bridge the funding gap by allowing ordinary people to become investors. “That’s how we got started. Investors contribute as little as $50 or $100 each, but these small investments really add up. If forty friends and relatives contribute $100 each, that’s $4,000 that the entrepreneur can use to incorporate a business, build a website, print business cards, lease space for three months, file a provisional patent, and create a prototype or sample inventory.”
Currently released as a beta version, 40billion.com soon will offer more funding options (including loans), social networking features, and a unique rating system to enhance the quality of entrepreneurs and build investor confidence.
Advantages of 40billion.com
- No credit report or sales history required
- Multiple funding options
- Private, invitation-only profiles
- Exclusive entrepreneur features, e.g., live presentations online
- Search-engine to find business resources
- Profiles with embedded videos and PowerPoint presentations
- Investors receive social returns, financial returns, and discounts
About 40billion.com
40billion.com helps entrepreneurs raise money for businesses through friends and family rather than through traditional financial institutions. Using the Internet-based service, entrepreneurs connect with their social network - friends, family, friends of family, colleagues, and others - to raise capital. 40billion.com’s scalable platform facilitates the funding requests and transactions to make it easier for an entrepreneur to manage many investors. 40billion.com is patent pending. For more information, visit http://www.40billion.com.
