Crowdinvesting in Russia: how we made the investment platform, what we have already achieved and what projects we can invest in

Existing resources facilitate only some aspects, but do not solve the problem completely.

First, the main portal will be created, on which a virtual platform for organizing a wedding will be implemented. After that, the partnership base will be worked out, as well as testing the platform on partners with whom there are already oral agreements and mutual interest in cooperation. In parallel, the portal will be beta-tested on clients, mostly from friends.
The portal will be a virtual service for organizing a wedding.

The client, registering on the site, will receive all the necessary information explaining the work of our site, which is quite simple. The client will be able to fill in an application form free of charge using the proposed form, with criteria that meet his requirements for wedding services, and publish it, specifying also the dates he needs to receive the finished offer. After moderation, the application will be divided into several "tenders" and published on the portal. All partners who provide the required services (for example, companies engaged in renting a limousine, will receive a corresponding application, etc.) will receive notifications via SMS and e-mail that a “bidding” has begun on a specific application, after which they can leave their “Bid” on the portal, including the price for which they are ready to provide the service, contact information, their portfolio, availability schedule, etc. The client will see the progress of the “trades” in his personal account, and after the end of the “trades” he will receive a full sample of service providers ready to provide these services. Further, the client can continue to organize the selection on his own or order the free service of a personal manager who will individually organize his wedding.

Thus, a client in a short period of time and for free can get a list of all service providers that fit his criteria, and not spend weeks and months on telephone calls and visiting a much larger number of service providers, and will also receive more lucrative offers in connection with with competition from suppliers at the site.

Promotion in SMM will be targeted at female audience, female forums, groups and communities. The virtual “bridge of love”, where you can attach your lock online, will also solve the problem of attracting customers. Regarding agreements with government agencies to promote the project, we decided to move “from above” and have some agreements with the prefectures of the districts, so the issue of advertising in the registry offices will be easily resolved.

Smartmarket.net was chosen because cooperation adds value to projects, since only carefully checked projects are placed on the site, and therefore, the investor will understand that the project has passed this test and represents a potentially interesting goal for investment.

Even while working as a head of a digital agency, I had to control the creation and coordinate a large number of designs, presentations, KP, contracts, etc. Gradually, an idea began to emerge - to create a tool that would speed up and systematize the process of exchanging comments in the process of discussing and agreeing on similar tasks.
We have been trying to find competitors for quite a long time, but we have not found one either in Russia or even in the world. There are convenient services like skitch, dropbox, base camp, etc., which partially implement the tasks of the project, but only have to be used at the same time, while keeping Word and Excel included. There is not a single project that would be used to edit, compare and comment on a large number of versions of a single document (site design page, presentation page, contract page, billboard layout, etc.) and, while working together, would allow to leave footnotes and make notes right on the document. We have never found any functions like “download the entire project by pressing a single button” or “uploading the whole history of work on the project”, and this can be very useful for archives or in case of disputes.

The very first release will be intended for freelancers and small agencies. We are planning to start developing and launching a more complex corporate version and adding the ability to work with presentations and text documents after the official launch of the project.
There is a 6th year, as I gain experience in this area. I started with a rather interesting startup of my own, which was successfully launched, then sold and safely stored by the new owners. With the money received, a digital-agency was opened with colleagues, in which it was fortunate to work on a large number of interesting projects and create more than one startup for the agency's clients.

From crowdinvesting we are waiting for opinions, advice and criticism. This is most important for any startup other than the investment itself. It is difficult to make an ideal project right away, so any opinion, criticism or advice at the design stage is extremely positive for the final result.

Somehow, quite a long time ago, I came across a site where a magician showed wonderful tricks, and for a fee offered to buy videos with the secrets of these tricks. The site was written “on the knee”, but coped with the functionality. Gradually, I began to notice more and more areas in which the service of selling video could become popular. During the development process, it became clear that demand is wider than just selling videos and you need to provide paid online communication.

The product is already possible to say working. We are now “combing” the site and within 3-4 weeks we will be ready to launch it in beta testing.
We communicated with completely different people of different professions and hobbies: doctors, lawyers, tutors, trainers, and even predictors. I will not hide the fact that not everyone clapped their hands, but most clapped. And recently, the owner of a well-known company asked us to help with the implementation of the educational film they made.

Crowdinvesting? If you leave only the essence, the Smartmarket is the only guys who were able to offer transparent rules of the game, and who at the same time see us as quite fair. At the same time, for me, crowdinvesting is the first “battle” test, the first assessment. It is very important! People don't just vote like or dislike. Those who will be “for” will take the risk and entrust me with their money. This is a great responsibility!

Case 1 (from life): The guys decided to create a high-quality educational film. They attracted professionals, invested a lot of money and got excellent material at the exit. Now the question is: how to monetize it? Roll up on discs and sell in bookstores? Pick-Flick.com is the obvious solution. As I wrote before, they have already addressed us.

Case 2: Suppose you want to learn English. But not just to learn, but to really! And it is desirable that an Englishman, who certainly lives in England, teach you. You are welcome! Come on Pick-Flick.com, choose the desired category, teachers (by reviews and rating), see where it comes from, and go! Watch his free video or buy some pre-recorded lessons. Liked - start full-time communication. All in your hands!

Case 3: Feeling bad? Visit Pick-Flick.com and consult a famous doctor.

Case 4: Want to have dinner with Warren Buffet? Look, maybe he is already on Pick-Flick.com.

The idea of ​​creating 4Fingers came by itself while working on another project on the organization of virtual exhibitions and videoconferences. Using actively various mobile applications, I noticed that there is not yet such a social network where you could quickly and conveniently evaluate a restaurant, a hotel, a movie, a performance from a mobile phone and immediately share this rating with friends. On the other hand, I would like to have on hand a rating of such places from friends, people whom I trust, and, accordingly, follow.

I often have to travel, and on the road this need increases many times over. Once in New York, for example, I know for sure that a dozen of my friends have already been here, but I won’t call them questions where it’s really tasty and interesting. They will not remember, and if they recommend, it is quite possible that the place will not be nearby, but at the other end of the city.

Even at the alpha version stage, we held a public demonstration of the application, took part in the Moscow Techcranche and received positive feedback from reputable experts. Of course, we were asked: "And how are you different from Foursquare?" But here everything is obvious, when you come to a place, you are checked so that your friends know where you are. And when you leave a place (waiting for an account, for example), with the help of 4Fingers you can check-out, or rather, evaluate the dishes served, the service, the atmosphere of the place, so that friends know whether to come here in the future. The assessment process can be very quick if you hurry (without a single letter of text). Or maybe more thorough and interesting, with tips and advice. These ratings are further structured in such a way that aggregate ratings are created within your circle of friends, with which you can search for the best restaurants, car washes, banks, and places for recreation according to your circle of friends.

Following the results of the Moscow Techcranch, we met Smartmarket. Soon they offered to participate in crowdinvesting on their site. Of course, we are not only interested in the financial side of the issue, we expect our potential investors to become active users of the service, help with their expertise and advice to develop the project ... The most difficult thing to check was to take a polygraph test, especially when asked questions about intimate life. Just kidding In fact, first of all, our documents were checked, and there was a clear plan for the development of the project. We have worked out these points, so we found a mutual understanding with the first meeting.

4Fingers is now in closed testing, in which several dozens of users take part, some of whom are well-known experts in the industry. The activity of even a small number of critics is pleasantly pleased. New checkouts are constantly appearing in different countries of the world. From our users, we have already learned about many interesting places from Canada to New Zealand.

Before starting work on my own projects, I had more than 5 years of work at Kaspersky Lab - perhaps the most successful Russian IT company on the international market.