The Coastal Shows Crowdfund Investment and Alternative Finance Summit in New York City June 26th – 27th brought together luminaries from the Crowdfunding industry. To name just a few:

• Manish Kapoor, the Managing Partner of Wheelhouse Capital. Manish brings to the Crowdfunding industry in general and the P2P segment in particular an unparalleled understanding of the credit markets.
• David Jaffin, the Chief Financial Officer of Poliwogg, the health care industry portal. Outside the real estate market Poliwogg is my favorite Title II portal and its re-launched site demonstrates the potential of the industry.
• Scott Pickens and Dr. Dolf de Roos of Wealth Migrate. Wealth Migrate is the largest and most successful real estate Crowdfunding portal you might not have heard of. . . .yet.  An international portal with tens of thousands of registered investors worldwide, Wealth Migrate is ramping up U.S. operations and promises to be a major player.
• Cromwell Coulson of OTC Markets. A secondary market for Crowdfunded investments is among the holy grails of the industry, along with a robust Title III. OTC is a big step in the right direction.
• Amy Cortese, author and journalist for the New York Times. The panel Amy moderated was among the most interesting of the conference, addressing (among other things) whether the P2P markets are skewed in favor of institutional money.
• Jesse Clem, a Co-Founder of Loquidity. Loquidity is a newcomer to the real estate portal market, focusing on properties in the Midwest.
• Brandon Jenkins of Fundrise. Fundrise is. . . .well, you know.

In my keynote address, I asked the audience to remember that Crowdfunding is in its infancy and, in an important sense, fragile. The industry holds enormous promise for both entrepreneurs and investors. But if we do things wrong Congress could bring the whole enterprise to a halt or, just as bad, individual investors could decide the Crowdfunding industry is rigged against them and stay away.

It’s up to all of us – those who spoke at the conference and those who just listened.

Although I make it my business to know about Crowdfunding, I spend most of my time at these conferences listening and learning. If you are getting into the industry or want to learn more, I suggest you get on the Coastal Shows mailing list and join us next time.