Introduction to Equity Crowdfunding Equity crowdfunding involves raising money from the public through online forms, social media and crowdfunding websites. It allows investors to own a small slice of equity in the business with relatively small amounts of cash.
Understanding PopCom's Investment Terms PopCom does not pay dividends or issue stock certificates. The value of an investor's shares is based on when they invested unless there was a new valuation after their investment. PopCom has no plans for an IPO as it takes multiple millions of dollars and most companies target billion-dollar valuations before going public.
Journey Towards Building PopCom Don Dixon started her entrepreneurial journey in 2010 by founding Flat Out Of Heels which led her towards building hardware like vending machines that required capital-intensive development work leading up to creating popcom.io
Launching Pop Shop Local After raising $3.75 million from investors through crowdfunding campaigns, they launched Pop Shop local leasing space in machines instead of selling them outright because big box retailers were not ready yet post-COVID-19 pandemic. However, this strategy was costly since every machine cost around $3000 just for deployment alone but helped validate their product with small-medium sized businesses eager for distribution opportunities after being hit hard during lockdowns caused by Covid -19
Pop Com's Successes and Failures Pop Com had successes with the NFT drop in New York, selling machines to Qatar for digital guest services, and building a new product called Pop Box. However, they also faced failures when P Diddy changed their business model causing them to cancel the whole program with Pop Com.
Financial Struggles Pop Com struggled financially due to uncollected customer debt of over $50k in 2020-21. Customers were slow to pay which affected revenue associated with potential machine sales leading them out of runway and cash by May 2023. They raised only $300k despite expenses being close to $700k.
Selling Assets as Solution Due to financial struggles, Dawn is actively looking for someone who can acquire all assets including software hardware intellectual property data sales list etc., so that it can be sold as a package deal instead of running day-to-day operations or raising more money from investors. She believes this approach will ensure long-term maturity while providing value since there are no other options left on hand except asset sale if she cannot sell these assets then she has no choice but bankruptcy filing because debts need paying off first before anything else happens
Assets and Acquisition The company has a patent on the Pop Shop machine, with 23 machines built and ready to go. The software stack is fully customised, there's a large customer database available for use, as well as millions of data sets collected from Pop Shop local that are very helpful. All investors are assets in the company.
Funds Dispersal Once acquired by another company or individual(s), funds will be dispersed according to legal processes outlined in Articles of Corporation; outstanding payroll liabilities must first be paid off before any remaining amount can then go towards paying back investors (VCs). There is no projection for future progress beyond acquisition.
Future Plans & Investor Help After selling pop com due to lack of funding options despite personal investment into it ($100k), founder Dawn Dickson plans on focusing more heavily on her other ventures such as Flat Out Heels and RV business while still trying to expand pop com if possible. Investors who want to help should keep her in prayer/positive thoughts, refer resources like attorneys or IPO experts who could assist with structuring deals beneficially for all shareholders involved without charging exorbitant fees - criticism welcome but not productive at this point given everyone shares an interest here together!
Challenges Faced by the PopCom Founder The founder of PopCom faced challenges such as being attacked and called a scammer, losing friends in tech, and getting divorced. She believes that she was targeted because she crowdfunded from black investors.
Plans for the Future The founder plans to focus on accepting that her plan needs to change after doing this for ten years. She wants to make things right with her investors before moving forward with any future ventures. Although crowdfunding is not an option anymore due to its time-consuming nature, there will be other ways in which people can invest in her future projects.
Selling of Business & Legacy Popcom's patent is valuable IP worth millions but it could be sold if required during acquisition negotiations since keeping it or selling would not affect personal value associated with pop com or anything else done over the past twenty-three years career-wise. She also mentions how Bodega Stockwell raised $45 million but closed within one year while staying alive long-term like this on $7 million is unheard of; however, despite wanting closure series A build hundred machines then sell at much higher price market did not call for that so now business has been put up sale instead. Lastly, although press releases are out-of-the-question given sensationalism/fake news sells nowadays (and some individuals may wish ill upon others), shareholders should stay connected via Facebook group where they'll receive updates along w/links documents answering questions written typed dynamic fashion