10 Oct 043: Crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies with Jason Best, co author of the JOBS Act and crowdfunding expert
In this episode I talk to Jason Best, one of a handful of people who co-authored the JOBS Act and helped legalize equity and debt based crowdfunding in the USA.
Jason has spoken at The White House, South by Southwest, TEDx, the World Bank’s Global Forum on Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship and the Angel Capital Association.
We discuss how the biggest change to securities laws in over 78 years is already creating billions of dollars of new investments.
Find out how crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies can work together.
0:46 – Introducing Jason, his career, and some background on his role in the JOBS Act.
2:37 – Defining crowdfunding from Jason’s perspective.
4:32 – Differentiating between the types of crowdfunding and how the idea came about for Jason.
5:54 – Getting started and working against a framework that has been in place for decades.
9:29 – How the execution of the JOBS act has developed since it was signed in 2012.
12:02 – Projections for crowdfunding moving forward and the demand Jason has seen from investors.
14:14 – How the SEC has worked through this process with caution with regard to aspects like accredited investors.
15:54 – Details on Title II, III, and IV “flavors” of crowdfunding.
18:31 – Where Jason is focusing with his global advisory practice.
19:41 – Misunderstandings about that a startup really is and expanding the geography of tech centers in the world.
23:34 – Recapping the different portals of crowdfunding and the Fintech industry that’s grown up within that; comparing the regulations on typical stock exchanges with the framework being built for crowdfunding.
25:36 – Important data that Jason has seen emerge.
28:51 – Comparing crowdfunding with the emergence of ICOs.
31:23 – The role of decentralizing the capital raising process and blockchain technology.
33:02 – Using ICOs within the crowdfunding framework.
35:38 – Where Jason sees crowdfunding progressing over the next 5 years.
37:56 – How branding may play into the future of crowdfunding, even for larger companies.
40:02 – The scope of the potential in the Fintech industry and comparing it to the emergence of online stock trades.
42:35 – Speculating on the role of decentralized investing moving forward.
46:52 – Opening the crowdfunding landscape up to a global audience; the rapid-fire questionnaire.
Resources and Links Mentioned:
Crowdfund Investing For Dummies by Sherwood Neiss, Jason Best, and Zak Cassady-Dorion
Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council