Here's the Pitch: How to Pitch Your Business to Anyone, Get Funded, and Win Clients

CHAPTER11

Crowdfunding

Pitching to the People

“The crowd makes the ball game.”

—Ty Cobb, American Major League Baseball Player

If you're raising funds for your start-up, you can't afford to ignore the crowdfunding revolution. Individuals, businesses, and nonprofits of all types are successfully using crowdfunding to fund part or all of their ventures, raising anything from several hundred to several hundred thousand dollars.

At its most basic level, crowdfunding involves the posting of a project on an online crowdfunding platform and asking family, friends, and members of the public to back it. You set a fund-raising target with a deadline by which the funds must be raised. Potential backers can then review your project and pitch and decide whether or not to support you.

There are thousands of crowdfunding success stories from all over the world and an ever-increasing number of crowdfunding platforms. The iPod Nano TikTok Watch Wrist Strap is probably one of the most well-known example of successful crowdfunding. Scott Wilson attempted to raise $15,000 on the popular crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to fund the production of two Nano watch kits. Scott exceeded his target and went on to raise an incredible $942,000 within three months without having to give away equity or take ...