Give Your Company the Gift of MORE MONEY This Holiday Season
Mr. Wonderful here –
Ho, ho! It’s Q4 and that means the holidays are right around the corner. I’ve always felt a little extra jolly when Howard and the team at StartEngine have filled me in on their end-of-year performance. But the holidays aren’t only a time to celebrate for Sharks, like me. If you’re a smart founder, you’ll recognize that this is the season when we investors have our wallets out – which also makes it one of the best times to launch your raise.
What’s Been Going on in Q4?
There may be an element of yuletide magic in the air, but the numbers don’t lie. Just take a look at the data from KingsCrowd*. In 2019, the equity crowdfunding industry added just over 80 new regulation crowdfunding offers in Q4 versus Q3. By 2020 and 2021, that number climbed to more than 200 new offers between Q3-Q4 of each year. So, not only has Q4 brought a bump to the industry for the last three straight years, the size of that bump has been growing.
Even more interesting for founders, though, is the end-of-year spike in dollars invested. Let’s go back to the numbers, shall we? In 2019 Reg. CF offers took home an extra $2 million between Q3-Q4; that Q3-Q4 difference grew to $7.5 million in 2020 and a whopping $9 million in 2021.
By the way, in recent years that Q4 pop has been even more pronounced on StartEngine. In the last quarter of 2021, Howard and the team secured over $42 million in Reg. CF commitment – which means they outpaced the industry with a $10M+ spike between the third and fourth quarter. See why I get into the holiday spirit?
You don’t have to be a Shark to like trends that point up and to the right.
Year-end jumps in e-commerce are well documented. Think that doesn’t have anything to do with your raise? Think again. While it may not be a one-to-one correlation, more e-commerce means more people in front of their computers with credit cards at the ready. That’s not just holiday fairydust – that’s opportunity. And if you’re smart, you’d better be brainstorming ways to capitalize on it.
So, how should you join the holiday festivities?
Three words: market your raise. Pour gas on the fire with holiday-themed incentives and perks, and don’t forget to run ads. On equity crowdfunding, user acquisition and investor acquisition go hand-in-hand – you don’t want to miss out on the time of year when potential backers and customers are spending the most time online.
Chalk it up to a Q4 boost in e-commerce or a little holiday magic – either way, as far as I’m concerned, the end of the year may be one of the best times to launch a raise. So if you haven’t already, give yourself an early present and apply to raise.
*Source = https://kingscrowd.com/markets/. A KingsCrowd Edge subscription is required to access this report. Kevin O’Leary is a paid spokesperson for StartEngine. View the details here.
