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Post by parag on Mar 25, 2014 18:45:44 GMT
Hello all.
I am not sure how much detail I am allowed to post on here so I will keep it as brief and anonymous as I can. I do not want to feel the wrath of the moderators as this is only the first thread I have started!!
Crowdcube currently have a pitch on their platform which may be of interest to some forum members on here, not for investment but for information purposes.
The company concerned is looking for funds to roll out a 'one stop shop' which will list current offerings from various crowdfunding / crowdlending platform operators. There is a small discussion on the 'Forum' section of the pitch which is interesting in itself.
Has anybody seen this pitch and if so, what are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Parag
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shimself
Member of DD Central
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Post by shimself on Mar 26, 2014 11:00:24 GMT
Dear Mod
please allow him to post the name, because I can't find it
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Post by batchoy on Mar 26, 2014 12:21:24 GMT
U* I*********s - T*e C**********g H*b
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Post by parag on Mar 26, 2014 12:34:30 GMT
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Post by cautious on Mar 26, 2014 12:50:33 GMT
Interesting idea; I can see the attraction of having it all under one roof, but how do they make their money ?
Whom are they charging a fee to ?
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Post by parag on Mar 26, 2014 13:03:19 GMT
cautious It seems like the relevant platform operator pays U* I********** a fee based on the amount they raise. I guess it's similar to a broker referral fee.
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Post by easteregg on Mar 26, 2014 13:16:02 GMT
I think the more people sitting between the borrower and lender there are, the lower the returns to the lenders would be. With some P2P companies operating around the 5% return, another 0.5% fee would reduce the return to lenders by a tenth.
I would be sceptical until I know how this would work in practice. As a lender what would my motivation be to using a platform such as this, rather than going to the company direct? As a platform, why would I want to share my revenue with someone else who is another middleman? If I can afford to cut my revenue by half, I could offer an incentive for lenders to go direct.
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Post by oldnick on Mar 26, 2014 13:19:05 GMT
Please stick with asterisks for the moment, but I can't see why it would be wrong to reveal the name if that person would welcome the exposure it gave and it helped their business proposal?
It's not like the BBC where advertising is banned - the entire forum advertises businesses.
Perhaps if the person concerned approached the forum, the staff could have a look at it?
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shimself
Member of DD Central
Posts: 2,561
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Post by shimself on Mar 26, 2014 13:25:08 GMT
a valuation of about 1M for a twinkle in someone's eye is much too high. (useful idea though it is)
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Post by oldnick on Mar 26, 2014 13:27:29 GMT
a valuation of about 1M for a twinkle in someone's eye is much too high. (useful idea though it is) Unless they'd come up with the idea in California - then it would billions of course.
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Post by parag on Mar 26, 2014 13:31:17 GMT
I'm sure they will be on here when they want lenders to join their platform! TBH, I am surprised they didn't come on here earlier to gain lenders views before starting their campaign as they could have learnt a lot from members on here. Maybe they don't know about this forum and / or the calibre of it's members.
Anyway, looks like they are pretty busy answering investors questions at the moment on their campaign page.
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Post by elljay on Mar 26, 2014 18:18:35 GMT
Don't see any problem with naming them - the info is on a site that doesn't require a login and I guess no one's going to say nasty things about them  UP Investments - The Crowdfunding Hub |
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j
Member of DD Central
Penguins are very misunderstood!
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Post by j on Mar 26, 2014 18:39:30 GMT
Interesting idea & one can see both points of view.
Part of the fun/excitement though is in going directly to platforms & investigating various loans individually. For me it's no unless the number of loans became so big that it would be very hard to coordinate, which I cannot see happening any time soon. Plus the referral fee issue which would certainly bring down returns to lenders & platforms
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Post by oldnick on Mar 26, 2014 20:19:46 GMT
Interesting idea & one can see both points of view. Part of the fun/excitement though is in going directly to platforms & investigating various loans individually. For me it's no unless the number of loans became so big that it would be very hard to coordinate, which I cannot see happening any time soon. Plus the referral fee issue which would certainly bring down returns to lenders & platforms Of course, we are a self selected group of relatively financially aware, relatively hands on investors. If p2p/b is to grow to match the ambitions of all the backers of all the surviving companies it will require money from people who just want a reasonable return without having to make too many decisions themselves. In which case a 'fund of funds', which spreads the risk widely, could well appeal to a mass market. I'm not sure how competitor funds would differentiate themselves, but I suppose 'Virgin' and other famous brands set an example of how it could be done. As for the p2p companies not wanting to give margin away - if the volume of money justified it, and the lender marketing bill was reduced enough, it might make good business sense. Hopefully there would still be a few 'boutique' p2p/b providers for us to invest directly in, but I rather fear the direction ZOPA have taken is a signpost to the future (if p2p/b has a future that is).
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j
Member of DD Central
Penguins are very misunderstood!
Posts: 2,188
Likes: 540
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Post by j on Mar 26, 2014 22:05:22 GMT
Interesting idea & one can see both points of view. Part of the fun/excitement though is in going directly to platforms & investigating various loans individually. For me it's no unless the number of loans became so big that it would be very hard to coordinate, which I cannot see happening any time soon. Plus the referral fee issue which would certainly bring down returns to lenders & platforms Of course, we are a self selected group of relatively financially aware, relatively hands on investors. If p2p/b is to grow to match the ambitions of all the backers of all the surviving companies it will require money from people who just want a reasonable return without having to make too many decisions themselves. In which case a 'fund of funds', which spreads the risk widely, could well appeal to a mass market. I'm not sure how competitor funds would differentiate themselves, but I suppose 'Virgin' and other famous brands set an example of how it could be done. As for the p2p companies not wanting to give margin away - if the volume of money justified it, and the lender marketing bill was reduced enough, it might make good business sense. Hopefully there would still be a few 'boutique' p2p/b providers for us to invest directly in, but I rather fear the direction ZOPA have taken is a signpost to the future (if p2p/b has a future that is). Yes & no. I find large financial institutions tend to c**k things up for everybody else once they get involved. Granted, p2p might need some input from them in terms of funding at some point, but that will only guarantee reduction of rates & quality of loans for those happy to put some time & effort in research & dd, as opposed to large crops running the whole thing along the lines of a share index tracking fund. They might be called experts but, I doubt they could do better than many of us current lenders on here do, probably quite the opposite, which is very scary
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