By now, most everyone in Silicon Valley has heard of crowdfunding where groups of people fund a wide variety of projects.
Completing a successful Kickstarter or IndieGoGo donation-based campaign is now often an essential prerequisite for early funding for a startup. Yet, crowdfunding is now morphing into CrowdFinancing and becoming an accepted mainstream fund raising mechanism. CrowdFinancing is about to completely change the world of fundraising as we know it. In the United States, the passing of the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act brought a legal framework for CrowdFinancing and the Japanese government is also looking into CrowdFinancing. Established industries, such as real estate, film, consumer products and solar, are now looking to CrowdFinancing as an essential funding tool. As CrowdFinancing moves to the mainstream, developments such as public CrowdFinancing sites and broker dealer issues are arising as well. New opportunities in ancillary markets such as online escrow and money transfer solutions are also appearing. Our panel will discuss these and other aspects of today’s CrowdFinancing environment.
Gene Massey is Chairman and CEO of MediaShares and its subsidiary, QwikShares. These companies offer innovative crowdfinance and crowdfunding solutions for marketing and transacting online stock sales. MediaShares’ methodology helps companies with online fans, customers, and affinity groups raise capital by selling their shares directly to their massive online communities. Gene is also known as an Internet marketing specialist and has owned and operated a Los Angeles advertising and marketing company. Gene attended the University of Georgia.
Michael Raneri is Chairman and CEO of Venovate Holdings. With more than 20 years of experience in executive positions with four leading online brokerage firms, he is uniquely qualified to help lead the next generation of financial industry innovation. Michael holds four patents for online brokerage and email technology inventions. From his experience in early online stock trading at Quick & Reilly, through helping to create Schwab.com and building Zecco into a national brand, he has been using the latest technology to offer disruptive financial services. Michael received a BS in Economics and Sociology from Fairfield University.
Roger Royse is the Founder of Royse Law Firm. Royse Law Firm is a California business and tax law firm. Roger is an organizer of the Silicon Valley Foodtech and Silicon Valley Ag-Tech groups. He is a frequent speaker, writer, radio guest, blogger and panelist for bar associations, CPA organizations and business groups. Roger is a Northern California Super Lawyer and is AV Peer-Rated by Martindale Hubbell and is a recipient of the Inter-continental Finance 2013 500 Leading Lawyers Award. He is a participating instructor of corporate law for the Center of International Studies (Salzburg, Austria), has been an adjunct Professor of Taxation for Golden Gate and is a Fellow of the American Bar Association.
Phil Keys is an Analyst for Blue Field Strategies. Blue Field Strategies is a strategic consulting firm working with US and Japanese companies in the telecom, media and technology sectors. Prior to Blue Field Strategies, Phil spent 14 years as a US correspondent for Nikkei Business Publications covering the technology industry in Silicon Valley. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Phil also attended International Christian University in Tokyo.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
| REGISTRATION / NETWORKING: | 5:30 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. |
| PROGRAM: | 6:00 P.M. – 8:15 P.M. |
| NETWORKING: | 8:15 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. |
$15: Early Bird Discount for first 30 registrations by Sun November 2nd (11:00 pm)
$20: Early Registration by Sun November 16th (11:00 pm)
$35: Late Registration by Wed November 19th (12:00 pm)
$50: Walk-ins (Seats are limited and may not be available)
Food, including sushi and beverages, will be served.
