For some reason that adage reminds me of the crowdfunding partnershipannounced by General Electric ($GE) last week. Because right now, withcrowdfunding sites proliferating, corporate involvement has been absent. Yet, while every other company is watching from the sidelines, GE has decided to bring good capital to life by reimagining how it works in the capital markets.

And it’s a game changer.crowdfunding marketing

“What you’re seeing with GE is a foreshadowing of where the world is going,”Jeff Pulver, Co-Founder and Chairman of Zula told me, “and for an entrepreneur to have a resource like GE is a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties.”

I’m not sure angels and venture capitalists understand the significance of this move by GE Ventures. While some of them bring deep expertise and contacts to their investments, most don’t. But even those that have the requisite experience won’t be able to compete with the deep pockets, knowledge and contacts that GE has in the sectors they want to invest. And no one will be better positioned to buy a successful startup – that situation will work for both entrepreneur and GE.crowdfunding advertising

For me, the big question is – where is this new type of partnership headed? Yet I can only speculate that if it works out for GE, bigcorporates’ doors will be thrown open, and budgets will be withdrawn from bureaucratic R&D departments and given to innovative, early stage entrepreneurs through these types of crowdfunding partnerships.GE’s partner in their new crowd funding venture is with an equity crowdfunding platform called OurCrowd (anEvolve! client, see disclosure below). Scott Kurnitt, anOurCrowd investor, believes GE likes the OurCrowdmodel because, “We don’t have to hand over our money to a fund and hope they invest it properly. We can decide what to invest in deal by deal.” Kurnitt also likes that OurCrowd provides post investment support to its portfolio companies like making industry introductions, marketing assistance and strongmentorship.

This kind of situation where big corporate money meets nimble start-up takes advantage of the best of all possible worlds —agile development, innovative culture, and a laser focus on a single objective – combined with the know-how, contacts, and big money of a resource rich company can be a transformative opportunity. You’ve heard of angel investing. I call this “mission investing.”

And the mission of continuous innovation, lost to most companies that reach a certain size, can now be outsourced to entrepreneurs that are better prepared and less encumbered than their corporate counterparts. For entrepreneurs, their mission to create something that changes the world is now easier to realize. Helped out by companies with deep pockets and large rolodexes.indiegogo marketing

But only the combination of a crowdfunding platform that sources and curates its investment opportunities and a corporate partnership with big financialsand resources can make this all possible. Big companies like GE need steady deal flow from a reputable source, and crowdfunding companies likeOurCrowd welcome the resources that big corporate can bring to their investments. One without the other isn’t as effective.kickstarter marketing

It used to be that friends, family and perhaps an angel investor characterized how a startup was funded, but now anyone with a great idea and a talented team can be financed by and partnered with one of the largest companies on the planet. Crowdfunding for early stage companies has become professionalized, able to fund as well as support, serving the entrepreneur and even .kickstarter project

Posted from : http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2013/11/12/heres-what-general-electrics-ge-big-bet-on-crowdfunding-looks-like/

 By David Khorram | www.CrowdFundingPlanning.com