Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs: Developing Strategic Advantage Through Entrepreneurial Finance

This is the first book of its kind to systematically integrate crowdfunding in the entrepreneurial finance research field and extend the current debate to show how crowdfunding can be leveraged as a strategic tool to grow new ventures.

Utilising original empirical evidence of companies that have raised funds via crowdfunding, it discusses the value-added services that the crowd provides to entrepreneurs, as well as how and under which conditions crowdfunding helps company development by facilitating subsequent access to critical financial and non-financial resources from external stakeholders. The first part introduces the most popular models and tactics for a successful crowdfunding campaign and illustrates the characteristics of the crowdfunding phenomenon and its evolution across the world during the last decade. The second part of the book, demonstrating how crowdfunding can be a starting point to seed financing, illustrates and discusses how entrepreneurs can use crowdfunding as a strategic tool for accessing subsequent resources from external stakeholders - showing the benefits, beyond capital, that entrepreneurs can gain from the crowd, as well as potential risks.

Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs is particularly useful for academics, advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in entrepreneurship and innovation, entrepreneurial finance, strategic management, as well as professionals interested in how crowdfunding can be utilised as a strategic tool to create competitive advantage.

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.