Crowdfunding gets one step closer . . .

When I first started my plans for Godspell, I could have only dreamed that there might one day be legislation that would make it easier for startups from all different industries to have easier ways to access capital to get their shows/businesses off the ground.

If you’ve been following the blog, then you know I’ve been following this issue very closely.  In December, I reported that the House of Representatives approved a bill that would actually make crowdfunding possible, without making the entrepreneur jump through too many regulatory hoops and without paying unnecessary legal fees (that just waste valuable startup resources that could be spent on, you know, things like marketing that could actually keep the business running longer and therefore keep more people employed.)

Let me again be clear and say how important I think certain amounts of regulation are in order to protect potential investors . . . but, well, to put it simplistically, it has always seemed a little crazy to me that as casinos pop-up all over creation, any individual, no matter how much money they make, or where they live, can gamble away their life savings without a question . . . but if your Uncle wanted to raise money for a restaurant, you might be restricted from investing in that restaurant.  If that’s not an example of more power to the 1%, I don’t know what is.

You can read that December update here, but the upshot was that the bill passed through the House faster than Producers make it to the podium when they win Best Musical.

Flash forward to this week, and . . . well, the bill has been renamed the JOBS Act, and has been approved by the Senate (with a couple of amendments) and went back to the House, where it was also reapproved . . . and now, gulp, gulp, is on its way to the White House for signature.

And, well, I’d bet the capitalization of Spider-Man that Obams is going to sign this thing faster than . . . well faster than Producers make it to the podium when they win Best Musical. (I tried to think of another analogy, but frankly, there is just nothing faster than Producers racing to the podium when they win Best Musical.)

It’s a little premature to predict the effects this law will have on our industry (capital limits will restrict most of us from being able to use the structure), but the effects on entrepreneurship will be awesome.

You can read the update from the Times here, which includes this awesome quote from the House Majority Leader:

“The bipartisan JOBS Act represents an increasingly rare legislative victory in Washington where both sides seized the opportunity to work together, improved the bill and passed it with strong bipartisan support.”

Bipartisan support.  How often do you hear that lately?

I’ll be sure to let you know when this sucker is a law.

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