If you are one of those professionals who likes to do his/her own thing, a 9-to-5 job is not for you. Till about a decade ago, many people with bright ideas of starting a business had to eventually give up their plans only because they had no source of funds.

1. Micro Venturing and Crowd Funding -
Hot Alternative Startup Funding Trends
Greentechnologies...anambiguousterm...itcouldimplythe latesttechnical breakthroughstosave the
environmentoritcouldmeanthe hottestfundingtrendsavailable toentrepreneurswhowanttoraise
capital hor theirnewInternetandsoftware start-ups.
The Internetremovedbarrierssocompaniesandindividualscouldmarkettheirproductsandservices
directlytoconsumers.Social networkingmade iteasytoapproachconsumersbecause now our
connections,be theyeversodistant,providewordof mouth referrals.Thensomewhere an
entrepreneurquestionedthe rulesandextendedthese conceptsintoanapplicationnoone expected - if
customerscan be soldonline,whynotseekfundingforprojectsandstart-upsonlinetoo?Andcrowd
fundingandmicroventuringwascreated.
What iscrowd funding?AccordingtoWikipedia,"crowdfunding,alsoknownascrowdfinancingor
crowd sourcedcapital,describesthe collectivecooperationof those whopool theirmoneyandother
resourcestogethertosupporteffortsinitiatedbyotherpeople ororganizations."
Crowdfundingwebsitesare sproutingup,suchasProfounder,Kickstarter,orRocketHub.These sites
focusprimarilyonfundingthe creative artsprojects.If the crowdwaswillingtofundcreative projects,
the obviousquestionwaswhynottechnologyandscientificprojectstoo?
Micro-venturingisaclose cousinof crowdfunding.Itallowssmall investorsaccesstoinvestinginstart-
up companiesatthe earlystages Business Funding, and entrepreneursare able tofindlarge poolsof
potential investors.Oftenthesewebsiteshave tobe approvedbythe SecuritiesandExchange
Commissionastheyare match makingbetweenprivate investorsandstart-ups,performingthe due
diligence onbehalf of investors,andhandlingthe legal filingsandpaperwork.
Andjustlike crowdfundingwebsites,these seemtobe sproutingupall overas well;websitessuchas
Micro VenturesMarketplace,the FundingStore,CapLinkedandCrowdCube.
One questionaboutcrowdfundingishow doesthe collective groupbenefitfromthe funding?Are they
simplypayingfora purchase far,far inadvance,similartopre-orderinganupcomingrelease?Isitmore
akinto charitable donationstosupportthe arts?Will theyreceive anequitystake inthe start-up?What
aboutrevenue sharing?Whataboutprofitsharing?Itis certainlyanalternative fundingapproachthatis
inits infancy,andmanydifferentcompensationmethods are sure tobe tried.
The traditional venture capitalistsandangel networksare inturmoil.The industryischanging.Today,
micro-financing,superangels,micro-VCs,incubatorsandthe like are providingalternativesourcesof
fundingtostart-ups.And giventhe difficultyof raisingfunding,manystart-upswilldabbleinthese latest
trends.