On March 1st the new securities regulations became the law of the land and that means you have to take your pitch deck game up a notch. Pitch decks can now be used to generate interest and receive feedback from prospective investors, but you need to know the rules and how to exploit them.
Your Investor Communications May Be Subject to SEC Examination
Under the new regulations, if your pitch deck is viewed by an unaccredited investor, you will be providing the pitch deck and all investor communications (including scripts) to the SEC with your regulatory filing.
The smart entrepreneur will have their legal counsel review every word of every communication and pitch deck before releasing it. The penalty for violating the regulations starts with disgorgement (giving the investors all the money back) and goes downhill towards felony prison sentences from there.
Regulatory Opportunity Knocks
The new regulations give you the opportunity to conduct pre-offering communications on a broad basis – meaning, you can advertise the fact you will be undertaking a future offering, how much money you think you will be needing, what the business will entail and related disclosures.
Even better, you can participate in “Shark Tank” virtual investor presentation conferences (called “Demo Days“) and showcase your proposal before you elect your filing exemption.
These opportunities dramatically change the potential odds of success in your favor on a scale unprecedented. If you can’t sell the investment opportunity the likely reason will be the underlying business is not a supportable business opportunity in the market. The odds easily rival those attending commercial bank financing, SBA financing, angel or venture capital funding.
Get Busy With the Business
Now is the time to get things moving. Bear in mind that private placement securities offerings no longer really exist. All equity securities offerings require audited financials, disclosures, and filings with the SEC. If you don’t know the process, time to talk to someone that does, as the new rules provide you with a pathway to raise up to $75 million in the capital markets. What are you waiting for?
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