Obamacare, Crowfunding, and the Coming Entrepreneurship Boom

The Republicans and Democrats who have been fighting over whether Obamacare will be good or bad for business may be in for a surprise, since a new breed of crowdfunding is poised to change the equation.

Instead of debating whether Obamacare is good for business, the real question may be, “what kind of business will Obamacare help?” We may be on the verge of an entrepreneurial boom the likes of which America has not seen in recent history because of a one two punch of insurance freedom plus a new way to finance businesses.

After sixteen days of shutdown, the federal government is up and running again and, despite a titanic political struggle, The Affordable Care Act is rolling out as planned. For the first time, needing health insurance is not a reason for aspiring entrepreneurs to hold on to their corporate jobs.

At the same, some big cracks are forming in the glass ceiling of raising business capital thanks to the launch of an innovative crowdfunding platform called CuttingEdgeX (CEX) pioneered by two lawyers dedicated to strengthening communities through empowering businesses.

CuttingEdgeX is a relatively new concept called “investment crowdfunding.” The founders of CEX, John Katovich and Jenny Kassan, are attorneys who specialize in helping small to medium sized businesses. They have taken that expertise online with www.CuttingEdgeX.com, which is not donation-based like other crowdfunding websites. And CEX is open to ALL investors, both wealthy and non-wealthy. CuttingEdgeX “offers actual investments with the expectation of a financial return rather than a T-shirt or discounted item,” says Katovich.

Listing on CEX is currently free of charge, though in the future, a nominal monthly fee may be charged.  CEX also provides a fee-based white label platform that allows automated online investing on the issuer's own website. Also, to be eligible to list on CuttingEdgeX, each business needs to have completed securities filings for a Direct Public Offering in the states where they want to be able to accept investors. The attorneys behind CEX can guide entrepreneurs through that process, if needed. The legal fees to complete the requirements for raising money from the public through a DPO usually add up to approximately $25k. That is a fairly modest investment when statistically the median net worth of business owners is almost 2.5 times higher than non-business owners. And that increases even more dramatically for minority owned companies. For a black woman, the difference is more than 10 times; and for a Latino man, the difference is 5 times.

CEX can help entrepreneurs avoid the scramble for Venture Capital dollars and the frustration of courting Angel Investors. CuttingEdgeX is like Match.com for investors and entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur creates a business profile and it remains online on CEX constantly pitching their business to investors day and night.

The nonpartisan Urban Institute reports, “The Affordable Care Act will allow 1.5 million more Americans to self-employ.” And through a research project funded by Citi, the Association for Enterprise Opportunity discovered that if only “one in three micro-enterprises hired one employee, the U.S. economy would reach full employment.”

The combo of Obamacare and investment crowdfunding like CuttingEdgeX is a recipe for far more entrepreneurs entering the marketplace than ever before. And that may end up profiting all Americans.

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