Raising money from investors can be a daunting task for any small business or startup. My first business ended up raising $17M in two rounds of funding, and later raised much more. It was a boatload of work each time, and it always felt raising $500,000 was just as much of a hassle as raising $5M.
From an entrepreneur’s view – especially ones with some track record – you know that you’re a domain expert and know where the market is headed, knows the customer base and the pains you can solve for $__ price, the profitable costs of customer acquisition, market growth over 5 years, etc.
Conveying all of that, and the opportunity that lies within those metrics, can often be challenging. Probably more so to less sophisticated investors (like your friends and family).
Profounder is a recently launched SaaS company that allows small business owners to raise money from their friends & family as well as other interested 3rd party angel investors registered on their site They will charge 5% of the raised fee or $1,000. In addition to the record keeping and potential introductions to new investors, they also help take care of the regulatory and compliance issues that vary from state to state, and even help distribute payments.