NEW YORK, April 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- If you’ve ever done your own taxes at any point over the last twenty or so years, there’s a very good chance you’ve used TurboTax or one of their competitors, i.e., online software programs that significantly simplify the process of filling out and submitting complicated tax documents. Of course, although tax time is perhaps the first to spring to mind, it’s far from the only instance in life when we’re required to fill out various complex legal and government documents...which is precisely where iDisclose comes into play.
iDisclose is an offering focused on the needs of small business and startup entrepreneurs in an increasingly digital legal landscape. Specifically, iDisclose assists in the automated generation of legal and disclosure documents for private securities offerings.
Recently, Equities.com’s own Broadcast Contributor Silvia Davi had a chance to sit down with iDisclose CEO and co-founder Georgia Quinn, who also works as a securities attorney specializing in crowdfunding. During the conversation, Quinn explained how iDisclose is perfectly suited to aid entrepreneurs looking to take advantage of new rules created by Reg A+ and the JOBS Act.
“The real inspiration behind iDisclose was started with The JOBS Act,” Quinn says. “A lot of people don’t really give that legislation the credit it deserves. It was a watershed moment in the history of securities law, and it really empowered and enabled small and start-up businesses to raise capital in new and very exciting ways.”
iDisclose CEO Georgia Quinn on the Inspiration Behind iDisclose
Quinn explains that in light of this new, more permissive climate for raising start-up business capital, her team would need to come up with a technology solution. Something that would make the process easier and really empower entrepreneurs to prepare the legal documents and get through all the legalese themselves.
“Our slogan is, ‘Don’t spend all your money raising money,’” Quinn says. “Because, if you’re a smaller startup business, you’re only raising $50,000 or $100,000 dollars, so to spend $20,000 on legal fees makes no sense. What we’ve done is really change the whole process of preparing these legal documents.”
iDisclose CEO Georgia Quinn on Using Technology to Empower Entrepreneurs
Perhaps the most essential change facilitated by iDisclose, though, is that it allows entrepreneurs to tell the story of their own business. Quinn explains that in the past, entrepreneurs would give formation documents, IP documents, etc. to their lawyers, who would read it all, summarize it, and essentially come up with the narrative of the business. “We think the person that is most equipped to tell the story of their business and present it to investors is the entrepreneur themselves. So we put that onus back on them. By filling out this application, and answering these questions about your business, and really drafting that very first draft, we’re empowering the person who is most efficient and most well-equipped to do that.”
“So is iDisclose a legal platform?” asked Silvia. “We consider ourselves a legal technology platform,” Quinn clarified. “We’re really bringing technology into the archaic business of the practice of law. Interestingly, our customers are small businesses, entrepreneurs, people looking to raise money and save time and cost preparing their legal documents, but we’re also selling our application to lawyers and law firms, because they realize that there are a lot of efficiencies that we’re creating here.”
One clear reason to get excited about crowdfunding is the positive impact it can have on female entrepreneurship, a fact that is certainly not lost on Quinn.
iDisclose CEO Georgia Quinn on New Opportunities for Female Entrepreneurs
“People tend to invest in people like themselves,” says Quinn. “So, unfortunately, because most of the investors and investment firms are run by men, they are more likely to invest in companies that are run by men. So, what’s great about crowdfunding is that it levels the playing field. It lets anyone invest. Not just accredited investors, not just investment firms, but absolutely anyone can invest.”
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