What's up in Washington DC - Stuff you need to know pt. 1

These are exciting times we live in! As a veteran of the fundraising scene I must admit to being a tad jealous because of what's happening in Washington D.C. right now. If you are an entrepreneur looking at a cap raise your life might get a bit easier.

Several bills are in play and I'd like to speak a little bit to each one of them. In this first post, let's discuss H.R. 2940 , the Access to Capital for Job Creators Act.

Why do we need this? We'll have to start with a rewind to 1982. (so toss on your Olivia Newton John album. I know you have one!)

In 1982 the SEC created a ban on solicitation. Meaning, I couldn't advertise to strangers that I was raising funds for my venture unless we had a pre-existing relationship. H.R. 2940, in a way, does away with this. Every day I see articles posted to our publication where an entrepreneur writes "We are currently looking for investors." Unfortunately, I can't run that story without breaking the SEC's Regulation D. However, with the passing of H.R. 2940 I just may be able to publish it.

The down side? Hmm. I'm not sure if advertising for investors is going to get you the kind of investors you're looking for. In fact, It just might make your life miserable! Every entrepreneur out there who has raised capital will probably be happy to share a story about one of their shareholders and their unusual "needs". The idea of investors who are not trusted relationships might get a little distracting for your executive team. I guess that time will tell, but I for one am excited to see this change.

Want to read more? http://bit.ly/ydjNZ3

Up next... H.R. 2930 AKA the "crowdfunding" act.

About the author:

Kevin Steger is a start-up consultant, founder, adviser, and the editor of StartupReport.com - News for Entrepreneurs. His mission is to provide free publicity services to the entrepreneurial community and make the difficult task of creating start-up company buzz just a little bit easier. Got news? http://bit.ly/srnews