Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs

Francesca Di Pietro is assistant professor in Business Strategy and associate director of the MSc in Entrepreneurship at Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Her main research interests are on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance. Her research has appeared in major scientific journals and books.

"Di Pietro’s book provides a fresh and original outlook to the crowdfunding phenomenon: it offers insights on the worldwide diffusion of crowdfunding and its impact ventures’ performance. Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs is an outstanding book: a must-read for researchers studying crowdfunding and for entrepreneurs and professionals who would like to read an essential and effective guide of such phenomenon." — Professor Andrea Prencipe, Rector, LUISS University, Rome, Italy"It’s time to take crowdfunding seriously. Francesca Di Pietro offers a badly needed overview of the crowdfunding phenomenon with a focus on how it works in practice. The systematic scholarly perspective helps to go beyond the surface and to make sense of the opportunities as well as pitfalls of crowdfunding. A must-read for scholars and practitioners alike." — Eero Vaara, Professor in Organisations and Impact at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK"This book addresses how crowdfunding has shaped the entrepreneurial finance landscape. It is designed to help students, scholars, and entrepreneurs to develop a critical understanding of the phenomenon, its worldwide adoption, and its impact on venture performance. The book is innovative and clear, and can lead to new ideas for research." — Vangelis Souitaris, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Cass Business School, City University of London, UK"At lightning speed, crowdfunding has gone from a novelty to the mainstream in entrepreneurial finance. The need to understand this relatively new form of finance is, therefore, paramount for both those engaged in entrepreneurial finance and researchers. So this book, by one of the experts in the field, provides the solution by providing a comprehensive and in-depth analytical overview of research. It is a welcome and indispensable source of reference." — Professor Andrew Burke, Dean & Chair of Business Studies, Trinity Business School, Ireland

• 1. Introduction to the Book Part I: Crowdfunding: Understanding the Phenomenon 2. Finance for Entrepreneurship: An Introduction 3. Preparing for a Successful Fundraising 4. The Geography of Crowdfunding Part II: Deciphering Equity Crowdfunding 5. Equity Crowdfunding: Benefits and Risks for Entrepreneurs and Investors 6. Equity Crowdfunding as a Strategic Tool 7. Equity Crowdfunded Companies: Where Are They Now?