FOREWORD

I couldn’t agree more with the first sentence of this book: entrepreneurs are heroes.

Although big businesses advocate for their interests with powerful PACs and armies of corporate tax attorneys, small businesses often struggle just to survive. Yet in spite of all of the challenges they face, they have always been the backbone of our country’s economy.

Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms and employ more than half of private sector employees. Sixty-four percent of new jobs were generated by small businesses over the past fifteen years.

For our economy to thrive today, it is crucial that entrepreneurs continue taking risks to start new companies.

Since the recession, less credit has been available to small businesses. To boost our nation’s economy, we need to make it easier for entrepreneurs to access capital so that they can build their businesses and hire more employees.

Trillions of dollars are invested by Americans, but almost none of that investment goes to small business. This book gives entrepreneurs the information they need to access capital from a larger number of smaller investors, opening up vast untapped resources and democratizing investing. It is a one-of-a-kind resource for entrepreneurs who want to bring in investment capital on their own terms—no matter whether nonprofit or for-profit, early stage or seasoned, on the coast or in the heartland.

In 2012, the federal government increased the legal options to facilitate investment crowdfunding. Jenny Kassan is one of the nation’s leading experts on the law governing these creative tools.

The widespread use of the strategies presented in this book will unleash a new wave of entrepreneurism across America.

This book is a must-read for entrepreneurs in need of more resources and for any American who wants to invest in the vibrant small business sector of our economy.

Congressman Ro Khanna