Quote: (12-08-2013 03:34 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:
I own a HK corp that I set up in 2012 so I have experience with both SG and HK in this context.
While it's true that it is cheaper to set up in HK are downsides in the longer run. The extra paperwork and auditing necessary is a distraction and nuisance [original documentation and physical copies needed very often], particularly if you have a mobile lifestyle. If I could do it all over again I would not have gone with Hong Kong.
I have not tried Indiegogo or Kickstarter so I can't really comment on those. I can really only say that the types of products/ventures I've seen built on there have been physical products. If you were building a web platform and market for, say, physical therapists and athletes (or something with clients on one end and service providers on the other) I don't know who would throw their cash in to purchase. I think that these crowdfunding platforms work extraordinarily well for certain types of businesses, particularly if you are manufacturing and plan to go the e-commerce route.
However, some high growth tech startups are not necessarily initially product oriented and need months or years to get off the ground. For these types of companies, venture capital would be a better option. How would snapchat, facebook, or google been built with a crowdfunding platform? These are companies that did not make a single penny of revenue for years. Even snapchat has still not moved a single cent of revenue, yet they are being offered billions.
Alternatively, Apple probably could have been crowdfunded on indiegogo in the very beginning. Their first computer customers were from the Homebrew Club for computer hobbyists. I think 50 people bought Woz's prototypes that started getting built in a bay area garage.
My point is that your ideal funding situation depends on what you plan to build. I know this from experience because I bootstrapped a HK company and we raised capital for a SG company.
What's certainly true is that the people I know who have seemed to succeed with kickstarter have done it very fast and raised 100K+ for their business. The next step was that they had to execute on making however many products that was for however many people ordered. They had to get them built in China and then shipped around the world, mostly Anglo countries.
I have not seen a kickstarter campaign outside this context yet. It doesn't mean that it does not exist, I just have not seen it yet.
That's just my two cents. I could be 100% absolutely wrong because I have not used crowdfunding platforms myself yet - whereas I can speak with a stronger level of confidence regarding setting up HK and SG corps and raising capital (or going the bootstrapping route).
I think that you are missing the point of what I wrote about earlier.
I really don't want to get into an argument about the pros/cons of SG/HK for incorporation or the pros/cons of PR/citizenship in Singapore vs Paraguay.
YMG is right on. The amount of paperwork for HK corp is not worth it.