Page 33 - Flathead Beacon // 3.25.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM
BUSINESS MONTHLY
MARCH 25, 2015 | 33
CROWDFUNDING
Continued from page 31
fore, and project funding can follow. Other crowdfunding websites in- clude GoFundMe, Indiegogo, Patreon,
and many more.
On Kickstarter, which started up in
2009, the site provides the platform to connect the people with ideas – ranging from films, games, and art to businesses, technology, and design – to backers who would help turn those dreams into real- ity through financial contributions.
Once a project creator sets a funding goal and a deadline, people can pledge money to make the project come to life. The creators maintain 100 percent own- ership of their work; backers do not prof- it financially. Instead, project creators thank backers with various rewards depending on how much is pledged for the project.
For example, when it came to Knox’s mug, someone pledging $20 would re- ceive a mug delivered within the Flat- head Valley. A $60 pledge meant two mugs, and $40 meant a mug could be shipped to Canada.
According to Kickstarter, 44 per- cent of the projects on its site meet their funding goals.
“Kickstarter was a great format for me. They did exactly what they said they were going to do. They have a great community of people that support them,” Knox said. “The Kickstarter
Bonsai Brewing Project was funded by a Kickstarter campaign. BEACON FILE PHOTO
would adjust Montana laws to allow crowdfunding for startup businesses.
This would allow for low-dollar in- vestments from large numbers of peo- ple, though according to Jennifer McK- ee, communications director for the state Commissioner of Securities and Insurance and Auditor’s Office, these in- vestments would be different than those solicited from sites such as Kickstarter.
Instead of contribution fundraising, HB 461 would allow for people to buy eq- uity shares in a business.
“They’re not contributing,” McKee said. “They’re buying.”
Currently, if anyone sells a share of a future and growing business, they would need to register with the state, McKee said. That would change if this bill became law.
While researching his Cortiça mug idea, Knox said he knew he could find in- vestors, but he wanted to maintain own- ership of his product. He also found that with the marketing, making the video for the website, and general work of keeping up with nearly 1,500 investors, Kickstarter isn’t a free pass to easy cash.
“I would completely recommend it to other people. I think with my product I could have gone out and find private in- vesting in it for sure, but I would have been giving away part of my share, part of my company, to make that happen,” Knox said. “I would still highly recom- mend it for individuals. It’s not free money, by any sense. You work for it.”
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format for me was a homerun, for sure.” Other local businesses have accessed the world of online crowd-funding to get off the ground. One of the notable examples is the Bonsai Brewing Project in Whitefish, which was fully funded in August of 2013 and raised more than
$17,800 to finance the brewery.
The website has also helped finance
many artistic projects in the valley, in- cluding the decade-long documentary on Hungry Horse.
According to Kickstarter, Montanans have been on board with pledging projects since 2009. Of the more than $1.6 billion that has been pledged by more than 8.2 million people on Kickstarter for more than 80,000 creative projects, Montanans have pledged $4,400,764 for 645 projects.
Crowd-sourced funding has also made its way to the state Legislature, where Rep. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena, has proposed House Bill 461, which
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