Promote your company on 40Billion, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, & Google. Under $40 per month. Start free: http://www.40billion.com/companies
Tag: social networking
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Low CPM? Get over 1,000,000 ad impressions for under $100 per month guaranteed! Advertise & be seen at http://www.40billion.com/ads
Unbeatably low CPMs for social media marketing!
Welcome to the New 40Billion – worldwide social network of entrepreneurs, business leaders, & creative people
Great news! 40Billion is now the social network of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and creative people. The new 40Billion site enables you to promote yourself, your business, and your creations to the world.
For over four years, our platform introduced crowdfunding to U.S. small-business and startup entrepreneurs, facilitating more than $100 million in raises. We recently spun off our U.S. crowdfunding business, and we have expanded 40Billion as a social networking platform for entrepreneurs worldwide.
Your new profile page includes amazing features that help you promote your creative stuff. For example, you have your own whiteboard, where you can post news, questions, messages, links, photos, videos, and just about anything that you want to share with your contacts or the world. If other users like what you’ve posted, they can easily repost, reply, and share your posts.
Upgrade to a Promoted Profile, and we’ll automatically promote your profile daily to over 40,000 contacts, followers, and fans on 40Billion, Twitter, and other popular social networks. This is a great way to increase your exposure, get new contacts, advertise your business, and show off your creations.
Check out the new 40Billion now, update your profile, and see what’s happening in your network. Please LIKE our profile too.
How to Get More Customers by Advertising Your Business with a Resource Listing
Adding a resource listing is the fastest way to advertise your business on 40Billion, reach a targeted audience, and bring new customers to you. Resource listings are the easy, effective way to reach potential customers already searching the Internet for information about your products and services.
Add your resource listing, and promote your products and services to a targeted audience of business owners, startup entrepreneurs, investors, consumers and others. Benefits include:
- Generate leads and expand your reach to millions of potential customers. Resource listings are searchable via popular search engines, such as Google and Yahoo.
- One low, affordable monthly rate. No variable pay-per-click charges that lead to budget surprises.
- Add multiple resource listings to increase exposure and generate more leads. List yourself, your business, your products and services, or another business as a resource.
Add a resource listing now for 3 months, and save 50% off instantly for a limited time.
40Billion Announces STARTUP SUPERSTAR Business Plan Competition
40Billion.com plans to launch ‘American Idol’ of business plan competitions to create jobs
ATLANTA, Georgia – July 18, 2012 — Small business crowdfunding pioneer 40Billion.com (http://www.40billion.com), the leading professional crowdfunding and social networking platform, announced today that they are planning to launch Startup Superstar (http://www.startupsuperstar.com), a novel business plan competition that will help create jobs by supporting budding U.S. entrepreneurs.
“Startup Superstar is all about keeping the American Dream alive by helping small-business entrepreneurs access funding and resources, promoting new ideas, starting new companies, and building social networks for entrepreneurship and innovation,” stated Cornelius McNab, founder of 40Billion.com. “By helping aspiring entrepreneurs, we all will be winners in creating new jobs that our economy needs so desperately.”
The competition will feature from $25,000 to $100,000 in total prizes, funded by individual contributors and corporate sponsors. The more contributions and sponsorships that the company raises, the more prizes and winners there will be. Winners will be selected by a ‘crowd’ of judges made up of fans, investors, and sponsors.
Anyone can sponsor the competition and offer their support to aspiring entrepreneurs by going to either 40Billion ( http://www.40billion.com ) or Indiegogo ( http://www.indiegogo.com ) and searching for ‘Startup Superstar’ to see the sponsorship page. The company is offering rewards to both individual contributors and corporate sponsors. Individuals can make an online contribution of $25 or more and receive social media kudos or an exclusive ‘I am the American Dream’ T-shirt featuring the Startup Superstar logo. Corporate sponsorship levels start at $5,000 and offer coveted advertising packages and up to 500 votes for guest judges.
About 40Billion.com
With over $70 million in raises facilitated so far, 40Billion.com is the social funding network for small businesses and startup entrepreneurs. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. In business since 2008, the company aims to address a $40 billion funding gap. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.40Billion.com.
40Billion Crowdfunding Site Turns 4 and Gets a Facelift
40Billion.com launches redesigned website for small businesses to raise money
ATLANTA, Georgia – July 4, 2012 — Small business crowdfunding pioneer 40Billion.com (http://www.40billion.com), the leading professional social funding platform, announces the 4th successful year in business and launches redesigned and improved site. As a pioneering small business funding network, 40Billion marches ahead vigorously to help small businesses find needed funding sources to start and prosper in their ventures.
As a part of continuing efforts to promote the cause of small business funding and provide state-of-the-art tools for a small business to raise capital, the 40Billion just completed major improvements of the site to improve overall user experience. “Significant changes have been made to all products and services offered on the 40Billion site to make the experience a very smooth one,” stated Harendra Jani, Vice President of Strategy at 40Billion.com. “Our new site provides very easy access to all of our products and services, namely raising money, building social networks of contacts, funding a small business, and finding resources to help your business grow. Whatever you are looking for to start or expand a business, it is available at your fingertips.” 40Billion.com facilitates crowdfunding, in which entrepreneurs use the Internet to raise money from a large number of investors and funders. It allows small businesses to use Internet services like 40Billion.com to raise up to $1,000,000 in funding from lots of everyday people, including social networks of friends, family, peers, and others.
With 40Billion, users launch business fundraising projects online via the Web. It then enables users to route the projects to people in their social network – friends, family, and other contacts – most likely to fund that project, either through gifts, donations, private direct loans, or commercial paper (i.e., short-term loans up to $1 million for 270 days or less). The platform does not facilitate equity investments or sales of company stock at this time; however, with the recent enactment of the JOBS Act, equity-based crowdfunding will be available online in early 2013. Regardless of funding type, the mission remains the same: Help entrepreneurs use their Internet social networks to raise more funding quickly, easily, and affordably so that they can start and grow successful businesses. Starting and growing successful small businesses spurs job growth and economic growth.
With over $70 million in raises facilitated so far, 40Billion.com is seeking partnerships and strategic investors to promote growth and provide additional services that would benefit its users. Interested parties are invited to contact the company.
About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the social funding network for small businesses and startup entrepreneurs. 40Billion.com, Inc. is the first Internet-based microfinance company serving American small businesses. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. In business since 2008, the company aims to address a $40 billion funding gap. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.40Billion.com.
Who Really Invented the Lightbulb? Really?
Did you know that Thomas Edison did NOT invent the light bulb? Really, he was just the first to successfully bring it to market and raise awareness of it.
Successful entrepreneurs don’t focus on the fear of someone stealing their idea (especially if you have a patent). They focus on executing on the opportunity by bringing their idea to market.
This is what the 22 inventors of the incandescent light bulb before Thomas Edison FAILED to do.
That’s right. Twenty-two inventors had the idea before Edison, and Edison didn’t necessarily steal their idea. He just did a better job of taking it to market, and this is where the value is.
If you have an idea, protect it, and then you can just focus on executing and bringing your product or service to market successfully.
Did you know that 40Billion provides an informative business startup guide for protecting your ideas and intellectual property through patents, trademarks, copyrights, and NDA’s?
Download the short MP3’s and listen to them on your computer or in your iPod, while at home, in the office, or on-the-go. Then, download the easy-to-use templates that come with each startup guide.
Go to http://www.40billion.com/startupguides/ today.
What is the #1 cause of business failure?
According to the SBA, the #1 reason why entrepreneurs fail to launch and grow successful businesses is simple: LACK OF FUNDING
So what happens if you can’t get funding? Well, if you don’t have any money, you can’t even start your business in the first place. And even if you do start it, if you have too little funding, chances are good you’ll go out of business!
Here’s the GOOD NEWS: You can avoid business failure by learning how to successfully raise money from everyday investors and funders in your social network and on 40Billion.com.
Think about it… if you knew how to quickly and easily raise $20,000 or $200,000, most of your problems would disappear, wouldn’t they?
40Billion.com Drives Crowdfunding Law for Small Businesses to Raise Money
President Obama signs JOBS Act making it easier for startup entrepreneurs to raise capital
ATLANTA, Georgia – April 9, 2012 — Small business crowdfunding pioneer 40Billion.com (http://www.40billion.com), the leading professional social funding platform, has helped drive several provisions in the new JOBS Act recently signed by President Obama and passed by the U.S. Congress. Now, startup entrepreneurs and small businesses can seek out everyday investors and advertise their fundraises and offerings publicly over the Internet.
Part of the JOBS Act facilitates crowdfunding, in which entrepreneurs use the Internet to raise money from a large number of investors and funders. The legislation allows small businesses to use Internet services like 40Billion.com to raise up to $1,000,000 in funding from lots of everyday people, including social networks of friends, family, peers, and others.
“We’re excited about the recent news of the passing of the JOBS Act and what it means for our nascent industry and for aspiring business owners across the country who want to do their part to boost the economy while realizing their American dream,” said Cornelius McNab, founder of 40Billion.com. “When I dreamed up 40Billion back in early 2008, so many folks were skeptical that a social funding network for business startups over the Internet would ever work. Just four years later, we’ve made skeptics into believers. Crowdfunding has become an industry, and we’ve worked with the federal government to help create new laws that revolutionize how small businesses raise money.”
Before the advent and widespread acceptance of Internet social networking tools, it was nearly impossible for entrepreneurs to tap into micro-funding sources cost-effectively. 40Billion.com applies state-of-the-art online tools to enable businesses to build social networks of friends and family members that facilitate raising capital.
With 40Billion.com, users launch business fundraising projects online via the Web. It then enables users to route the projects to people in their social network – friends, family, and other contacts – most likely to fund that project, either through gifts, donations, private direct loans, or commercial paper (short-term loans up to $1 million for 270 days or less). The platform does not facilitate equity investments or sales of company stock at this time.
According to Harendra Jani, VP of Strategy and Planning at 40Billion.com, “Business crowdfunding has been legitimized by a grassroots effort that culminated in the passing of the JOBS Act to help U.S. small businesses and entrepreneurs. This movement will help close the $40 billion funding gap.”
Raising funds from one’s friends, family, and peers can be a daunting challenge as an entrepreneur raising capital for a startup business, and there are many questions. Whom should you contact to request funding? How do you facilitate multiple fundraising requests and manage multiple funders (i.e., those who provide funds, such as investors, donors, and lenders) in a structured and scalable way? How do you give potential funders peace-of-mind and increase their trust so that they are more willing to provide you the money you need? How do you reward funders when their motivation is not purely a financial one? How do you find business resources after you raise money?
“Do you know how it seems really hard for entrepreneurs to raise funding? What 40Billion.com does is lets entrepreneurs use their Internet social networks to raise more funding quickly, easily, and affordably so they can start and grow successful businesses. It’s friends-and-family funding on steroids,” said McNab.
With over $60,000,000 in Raises facilitated so far, 40Billion.com is seeking partnerships and strategic investors to promote growth and provide additional services that would benefit its users. Interested parties are invited to contact the company.
About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the social funding network for small businesses and startup entrepreneurs. 40Billion.com, Inc. is the first Internet-based microfinance company serving American small businesses. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. In business since 2008, the company aims to address a $40 billion funding gap. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.40Billion.com.
Want to know which of your friends are most likely to invest in your business (or someone else’s business)?
Ever wondered which of your friends is most likely to invest in your business? Want to know which potential funders you should pursue and invite to participate in your Raise?
Use our amazing new Funding Probability BETA feature to find out the likelihood that each of your contacts will fund your Raise (or even someone else’s Raise). Just click the “Invite Your Friends” button at the top of any Raise to find out more and make your social network start working for you!
Add contacts to your network and find out which ones are most likely to fund your business.
40Billion.com Launches Audio Startup Guides To Help Entrepreneurs Start New Businesses
Five downloadable guides help entrepreneurs start new businesses quickly with tips for raising money, writing business plans, incorporating, managing cash flow, and protecting ideas.
40Billion.com (http://www.40billion.com), an online micro-funding and social networking platform for entrepreneurs and business professionals, has announced the release of 5 new Startup Guides to aid new business owners. The downloadable audio guides and templates provide quick access to information about raising money, funding options, business plans, company formation, cash flow management, and intellectual property protection.
In these Startup Guides, users can discover useful tips on 5 of the most important topics for new businesses:
- Funding a business through friends, family, angels, banks, and venture capital
- Writing a business plan in 13 easy steps
- Forming a company as a corporation, LLC, partnership, or sole proprietorship
- Managing cash flow to avoid running out of money
- Protecting business ideas and intellectual property through patents, trademarks, copyrights, and non-disclosure agreements
On the website, users can download the short audio files and listen to them on any MP3 compatible player, including iPod and other portable music players, personal computers, iPhone and other smart phones, and many cars equipped with MP3 players.
Furthermore, users can download easy-to-use templates that come with each audio guide. For example, the startup guide on how to write a business plan comes with a 13-slide business plan template that users can fill out while listening to the audio instructions.
There is no charge for the first Startup Guide, and additional Startup Guides are $0.99 each. For more information, go to http://www.40billion.com/startupguides or click Startup Guides on the 40Billion.com site.
About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the social funding network for small businesses and startup entrepreneurs. 40Billion.com, Inc. is the first Internet-based microfinance company serving American small businesses. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. In business since 2008, the company aims to address a $40 billion funding gap. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
40Billion.com Small Business Funding to Explode to over $100 Million in 2011
40Billion.com continues to grow rapidly by incorporating online social networking to raise money for business ventures. New features have boosted entrepreneurial fundraising activity to over $30 Million, which is expected to triple to $100 Million this year.
40Billion.com, an online micro-funding and social networking platform for entrepreneurs and business professionals, is growing rapidly by incorporating online social networking to help raise money for small businesses and startup ideas. 
New fundraising tools and social networking features have boosted entrepreneurial fundraising activity to over $30 Million, which is expected to triple to over $100 Million in 2011.
Many businesses get started with financing from the entrepreneur’s friends and family, but it is often difficult to manage these relationships. 40Billion.com allows many people to donate or lend small amounts of money and spread the risk. Furthermore, the service provides its own unique rating mechanism, called Social Business Rating System (or SBRS), as well as communication tools to increase transparency between the entrepreneur and investors.
To request funding, an entrepreneur uses 40Billion.com to start a fundraising profile, known as a Raise, and invites their friends, family and others in their social network to invest and contribute towards the funding target. 40Billion.com makes it easier for entrepreneurs to share their business ideas with friends and relatives, who may want to invest or otherwise support ventures, and it offers easy ways to formalize and track funding agreements such as direct loans and commercial paper.
“We’ve facilitated over $30 Million in Raises, and we’re seeing a huge increase in demand, where more entrepreneurs are using our online micro-funding platform to get business loans and other types of financing because their communities and networks of friends and relatives will believe in them when banks will not,” said Cornelius Colin McNab, founder and chief executive at 40Billion.com. “Tough economic times have led to a credit crunch, where banks have tightened up, and this has increased the funding gap and made things worse for entrepreneurs chasing the American dream. 40Billion offers new and innovative alternatives to gain access to affordable financing through the power of the Internet. Our goal is to help all those hardworking entrepreneurs that have good ideas but don’t have the money or resources to get started.”
40Billion.com predicts that adoption of online crowdfunding, small-business microfinance, and professional social networking services by mainstream users will catapult its growth to over $100 Million in fundraising activity by the end of 2011.
About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the social funding network for small businesses and startup entrepreneurs. 40Billion.com, Inc. is the first Internet-based microfinance company serving American small businesses. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. In business since 2008, the company aims to address a $40 billion funding gap. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more information, go to http://www.40billion.com on the Web.
40Billion.com Extends Commercial Paper Short-Term Loan Product to Small and Medium Business Entrepreneurs
Enables existing Small and Medium Businesses to raise up to $1 million in short-term loans for 9 months using social networking
40Billion.com, an online micro-funding and social networking platform for entrepreneurs and business professionals, today announced new short-term loan options that enable small- and medium-sized businesses to raise up to $1 million in commercial paper for up to 9 months.
Commercial paper is an unsecured promissory note to meet the short-term financing and cash flow needs of businesses and can be a more affordable alternative to a traditional bank line-of-credit. Most commonly used by large corporations to raise quick and low-cost working capital, commercial paper has been in existence for over a century.
This reputable financing option is now available to small- and medium-sized businesses seeking to borrow $5,000 to $1,000,000 for up to 270 days, as well as investors seeking to diversify their investments and potentially earn a quick return while supporting U.S. small and medium businesses.
“Our short-term loan option using commercial paper offers a revolutionary solution to the problems faced by millions of existing small- and mid-sized business entrepreneurs trying to find affordable working capital,” said Harendra Jani, VP of strategy and planning at 40Billion.com.
According to Jani, there are several advantages over traditional bank loans: “It is unsecured and does not create any lien on the business’ assets; the discount rate is negotiated between the entrepreneurs and investors online, so ventures with high SBRS scores or good relationships may get better rates; the wide range of maturity, from 15 days to 270 days, offers a lot of flexibility; and, it can be used frequently for a variety of short-term cash needs such as payroll, inventory, and marketing.”
Since 2008, the company has facilitated over $30 million in business fundraising projects and aims to address a $40 billion funding gap with innovative small-business financing tools enhanced by the power of online social networking.
About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the social funding network for small businesses and startup entrepreneurs. 40Billion.com, Inc. is the first Internet-based microfinance company serving American small businesses. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
40Billion.com Lets Small Businesses Turn LinkedIn And Facebook Social Networks Into Funding Networks
Online social networking and finance tools help entrepreneurs share business plans, raise money, and launch businesses with friends and contacts
40Billion.com, an online micro-funding and social networking platform for entrepreneurs and business professionals, has announced new integrated social networking tools that enable members to use their existing LinkedIn or Facebook accounts to help raise money for small businesses.
Using the Internet service, visitors connected by existing social networks – such as friends, relatives, co-workers, classmates, and other contacts – can sign up and sign in quickly and easily with their existing LinkedIn or Facebook accounts. The user simply clicks the “Sign in with LinkedIn” or “Sign in with Facebook” button and then enters their email address and password. 40Billion.com instantly logs in and automatically creates the user’s profile, including photo, summary, education, interests, honors, or other relevant information.
“Social networking sites are extremely popular with 90 million users on LinkedIn and 500 million users on Facebook, and many of the people using those sites for professional and personal social networking could use 40Billion also to raise money and grow businesses by leveraging their existing social networks,” said Cornelius McNab, 40Billion’s founder and chief executive.
“That’s why we’ve made it easy to log in on 40Billion with the same email address and password you use on those other sites. Your profile is automatically updated with relevant information about you, and you can invite your contacts from those other sites to join your network on 40Billion. This saves a lot of time and lowers the hurdle for entrepreneurs, investors, and friends who want to help build businesses, realize the American dream, and grow the economy.”
After signing in, each member can add people to their network easily by finding other members they know on 40Billion.com, inviting friends to join, importing their existing contacts from an email program (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, or Outlook) or from a social networking site (e.g., LinkedIn or Facebook), and sharing their profile on their LinkedIn or Facebook page. Furthermore, the service automatically suggests new contacts that the member may know.
Members use their profiles and contacts on 40Billion.com to help raise funding for a business, support businesses seeking funding and resources, and acquire new customers.
About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the social funding network for small businesses and startup entrepreneurs. 40Billion.com, Inc. is the first Internet-based microfinance company serving American small businesses. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. Since 2008, the company has facilitated over $30 million in Raises and aims to address a $40 billion funding gap. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
40Billion.com Creates Social Business Rating System as Alternative to Credit Scores
SBRS score offers businesses and investors an alternative to personal credit scores when evaluating funding and loan requests
Atlanta, GA, January 24, 2011 – 40Billion.com, a micro-funding platform that facilitates business capital fundraising through gifts and loans from an entrepreneur’s network of friends and family online, recently announced the launch of the Social Business Rating System, a novel approach to rating businesses based on social and financial criteria other than personal credit scores.
The Social Business Rating System (SBRS), is a proprietary system developed exclusively by 40Billion.com to rate businesses based on criteria that really matter for success, rather than traditional credit scores. A unique SBRS score is generated for each business venture’s fundraising profile, and the score is based on 17 or more criteria, including business-related success measures, entrepreneurial profile, peer ratings, and reviews.
The SBRS score helps investors and entrepreneurs to compare business ventures and assess their potential likelihood of success. The highest possible SBRS score is 850, and scores are updated weekly.
“Banks typically use personal credit scores to determine whether or not to lend money to a small business, and most startup ventures don’t qualify for bank loans. This is very unfair,” says Harendra Jani, Vice President of Finance at 40Billion.com.
“SBRS is an innovative system that differs significantly from FICO, which relies on numerical figures based on personal credit history. SBRS evaluates business success measures and takes social factors into account, so it’s a great alternative or supplement to personal credit history when rating businesses and assessing risk. The SBRS score helps investors assess the credit worthiness of the entrepreneur’s venture, and it provides an incentive for entrepreneurs to improve upon these success criteria in order to increase their scores and potentially raise more funding at more affordable rates.”
The company has generated SBRS scores for thousands of small businesses and facilitated over $30 million in business fundraising projects since 2008. It aims to address a $40 billion gap in small business and startup funding by providing an online platform for social funding so that more entrepreneurs can have access to affordable business financing, realize the American dream, and help grow the economy.
About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the first micro-funding platform that facilitates American small business capital fundraising through gifts and loans from an entrepreneur’s network of friends and family online. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.40Billion.com.
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40Billion.com Launches Social Network for Student Entrepreneurs and Alumni
Social networking and finance tools to help college students and alumni share ideas, raise money, and start businesses
Atlanta, GA, January 12, 2011 – 40Billion.com, a micro-funding platform that facilitates business capital fundraising through gifts and loans from an entrepreneur’s network of friends and family online, today announced the launch of new social networking tools for students and alumni to raise money for businesses.
Using the free Internet service, college students and alumni can build their social networks of contacts, including classmates and friends from the same school and from different schools, and use these connections to raise money, resources, and support for entrepreneurial ventures. Members create personal profiles that include their education information, such as school name, degree, major, and graduation year. They can add one or multiple schools to their profiles and then invite people they know from each school to join their network. The service even suggests new contacts, automatically, based on their profiles.
“Many of the most innovative and successful businesses are started by college students and alumni, and now 40Billion.com makes it easier to launch a new venture with the support of your school. Whether you’re a Harvard dropout, a college graduate, an undergraduate, or a business school student, this is for you. If you’re starting a business, you have an idea for a new product, you want to help fund the ventures of entrepreneurs from your school, or you want to build your network, then this is for you. You probably already know someone using it,” said Cornelius McNab, founder of 40Billion.com and graduate of Yale University and MIT Sloan business school.
The company has facilitated over $30 million in business fundraising projects since 2008. It aims to address a $40 billion gap in small business and startup funding by providing an online platform for social funding so that more entrepreneurs can have access to affordable business financing, realize the American dream, and help grow the economy.
About 40Billion.com
40Billion.com is the first micro-funding platform that facilitates American small business capital fundraising through gifts and loans from an entrepreneur’s network of friends and family online. 40Billion.com’s scalable platform helps entrepreneurs raise funding more affordably through friends and family than through banks or other traditional financial institutions. Using proprietary online tools, entrepreneurs build social networks – including friends, relatives, colleagues, customers, and other contacts – and use these connections to raise capital through small business loans and gifts. Entrepreneurs create fundraising profiles and invite their connections to offer funding in exchange for discounts or potential returns. 40Billion.com, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.40Billion.com.
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Grab a widget! Add a custom widget on your website or blog for easier access to your business fundraising profile.
It’s easier than ever before to share and access Raises (business fundraising profiles) all over the Web. Just add a 40billion widget to your own website or blog. Simply copy the embed code and paste it into your website’s code wherever you want the widget to appear.
You can grab a widget for any Raise that you have access to on 40billion.com. Just click “Widgets” at the bottom of the page.
Want to try out an example? Visit our sample Raise and then click the Widgets link at the bottom of the page. Copy the code in the box for the widget that you want to use, and paste the code into your website or blog.
It’s just as simple as adding a YouTube video to your website or blog, and it’s FREE.
Introducing the Social Business Rating System, a.k.a. SBRS score, for small businesses and startups!
You may have noticed that there is now a unique score given to each Raise (business fundraising profile) on 40billion.com. This is the SBRS score, where SBRS stands for Social Business Rating System™. It is a proprietary system developed exclusively by 40billion.com to rate businesses based on criteria that really matter for success, not traditional credit scores.
SBRS generates a score for each Raise based on 17 or more criteria, including business-related success measures, entrepreneur profile, peer ratings, and reviews. It is a novel approach to rating businesses that does not exist anywhere else.
The SBRS score helps funders and entrepreneurs to compare business ventures and assess their potential likelihood of success. 850 is the highest possible SBRS score, and scores are updated weekly (not monthly like traditional credit scores).
What can entrepreneurs, small businesses, and startups do to increase their SBRS scores? Start by editing and updating your Raise, editing and updating your personal profile, and increasing your fundraising and social networking activity on the site.
Here are just a few things that may influence your business’ SBRS score and which you can control:
- % of Raise profile completed — when starting a Raise, be sure to fill in the profile completely and honestly.
- % of personal profile completed — be sure to fill in your personal profile completely and honestly.
- # of recommendations received
- Amount of funding raised
- # of connections in your social network
- # of invitations sent to people you know
- # of followers — i.e., people following your Raise
- # of Raises you’ve started or participated in
- # of company updates added to your Raise
So, what is your SBRS score? If it’s currently below 550, then we believe you’ve got some work to do in order to increase your likelihood of success! Start with the tips above, and your SBRS score will grow along with your business over time.
Recommend your favorite entrepreneurs and funders
We recently launched a new feature for giving and receiving recommendations in your social network on 40billion.com. Just click the “Recommend” button near the top of anyone’s personal profile page in order to give them a recommendation. You must be connected to that person first.
Here’s how it works in a nutshell:
- User can recommend a contact on 40billion.com with one click;
- # of recommendations received is displayed on the contact’s personal profile page;
- Any user can view the list of recommenders.
Get people you know to recommend you today! Your friends, family, customers, clients, classmates and others may recommend you if you ask them to, especially if it’s as easy as clicking one button.
Recommendations can add credibility and make you stand out from all the rest.
Grow your social network to over 100 people fast
40billion.com is the social funding network for entrepreneurs and people who support entrepreneurs. Whether you’re starting a business, running a business, funding a business, supporting someone you know who has started a business, or providing services to business owners, this is where you want to be!
It all starts with your social network of friends, relatives, co-workers, classmates, and other people you know. Use your social network to help you raise funding for a business, support businesses seeking funding and resources, and even acquire customers. Your personal profile page is where you can connect with people in your social network and grow your network.
We recommend building a network of at least 100 people. To add people to your network, find people already on 40billion, invite people to join, import your contacts from your email (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, or Outlook), and post to your Facebook page.
The more connections you have in your network, the more you’ll be able to accomplish… and the more fun it will be!
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