Crowdfunding - We're on to Something Big for Artists

When Adva Mobile undertook our Crowdfunding exercise, we knew we were testing a new idea. Raising money for a project by convincing a large group of friends, family, business partners and even total strangers to contribute a small amount of money wasn't a totally new idea, however past successful efforts were oriented towards cultural, philanthropic or creative projects. Crowdfunding for a commercial project was indeed testing a new idea.

Now we have the Crowdfunding Bill, part of the Jump-Start Our Business Start-Ups, or JOBS Act, through Congress and signed by the President. For those of you who haven’t been following the JOBS Act, it is a bill that will make it easier for startups and small businesses to raise funds, especially through online Crowdfunding.

The Crowdfunding exercise we underwent using IndieGoGo (like KickStarter) differs from those contemplated by the JOBS Act bill because, under the JOBS Act, we can now reward investors with equity. I believe Equity Based Crowdfunding  will fundamentally alter, in positive ways, small businesses, including those small businesses known as "Artists".

Touring Bands and Recording Artists should watch the early efforts of Artists who attempt Equity Based Crowdfunding projects very carefully. While fans may be willing  to donate small contributions for a nationwide tour, SXSW concert, or studio session, the significant money needed for large marketing campaigns, previously only available from large labels, may now be available to a much larger pool of Artists. Crowdfunding without equity through campaigns with KickStarter and IndieGoGo are still available to the Artist, so Equity Based Crowdfunding represents an alternative when more significant capital is needed.

The "crowd" also provides benefits beyond capital to Artist businesses. For example, a touring band that raises money via Crowdfunding may now have 150 new passionate fans as shareholders, who can serve as a great sounding board for new ideas and as brand evangelists -- a critical asset in Artist promotion.

Equity Crowdfunding will go a long way towards alleviating Artists' capital access needs, and benefit investors in the process. The capital markets have finally entered the 21st Century and the future for Artists looks bright.

Adva Mobile Crowdfunding - The Last Week

Here is the first screenshot we took when the Adva Mobile Crowdfunding Campaign began, and here's one today. We started this 31 days ago and in that time 34 people (and counting!) have donated almost $5,000 - incredible! It's been a wonderful experience seeing our friends, family and business colleagues so thoughtful, helpful and interested in the success of Adva Mobile. Of course, thanks so much to everyone who contributed, and those of you who wanted to but couldn't.

There are four days left, so it's a big push this week to make our goal. We're at http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Adva-Mobile-Campaign so if you're inclined to help out, great! Every contribution helps.

We'll write more about he experience as we wrap up the Campaign, but overall, it's encouraging to see that Crowdfunding can be a financing tool for commercial enterprises such as Adva Mobile. The use of Crowdfunding for creative endeavors is well documented, so it was an experiment to see if it could be used to help small businesses. Really glad to see that it can.

We Need Your Help - Adva Mobile Goes Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a new financing tool and works exactly opposite from traditional venture financing. Instead of a few individuals each providing a large amount of capital, crowdfunding creates a community of many individuals providing small amounts of capital -- typically less than $100. Websites that help organize Crowdfunding campaigns are common today, and many are having terrific success raising money for a variety of projects -- everything from art, film projects, technology such as Adva Mobile, causes, businesses, photography -- anything that a community can help fund to get something done. Adva Mobile is working with a popular Crowdfunding management site called IndieGoGo that manages Crowdfunding campaigns for all types of projects.


Since we launched in early 2009, we've grown to over 1,400 bands that recognize the value of the service we are providing. It's going great, however these bands and new partner prospects are telling us that our Mobile Web designs and Portal user interface, while delivering compelling capabilities, are not modern and cool and is, in fact, lame and old. We need to fix this, and are going to raise the money to get you Artists new mobile designs that are sleek and modern (even for free users of our service) and a better user interface to manage mobile fans, assets and campaigns.

There are more details about our campaign on our IndieGoGo page at http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Adva-Mobile-Campaign but we are going to raise $6500 through many small donations from friends, business interests, and Artists such as yourselves to redesign the user interface of our Artist Portal and new mobile web templates for your sites. For Artists, there are terrific rewards should you contribute, including big discounts on our premium services. I hope you have the time to look at our program and contribute to our success. Every contribution helps. Thank You.