[channin19]

http://www.businessweek.com/articles...nding-pioneers

"Those numbers, the state says, don’t track: From the company’s launch in 2011 through March 7, 2013, 25 loans were funded on SoMoLend for a total of $234,000() , generating $3,404 in commissions ()for the company, according to Ohio."

[Sean Cash]

each loan is registered as a security, a necessity for investors to participate. Funders that allow syndicates show take note...

[channin19]

Sean from the way the article is written it seems that the loans are securitized because your typical P2P investor does not meet "accredited investor" requirements. I've only briefly glanced at a colonial funding contract and I can't remember whether they require "accredited investor" status to participate in deals.

Aside from the regulatory angle of the piece I thought it was interesting that SoMoLend could garner so much press ( I think there was a whole NY Times profile last fall) and yet only close 25 deals with a funded amount totaling $234,000.

[Sean Cash]

There are plenty of people in this industry syndicating that would not meet the minimum standards of "accredited"

On another note, I interpreted that 234k to be just in the state of Ohio. If that is really all they have done nationwide over 2 years, then they really suck.

[Chambo]

There are plenty of people in this industry syndicating that would not meet the minimum standards of "accredited"

On another note, I interpreted that 234k to be just in the state of Ohio. If that is really all they have done nationwide over 2 years, then they really suck.

I would say 75% of all syndicators out there wouldn't meet the SEC's standard of "accredited investor" ($1 million net worth, $100,000 in investments)

[Chambo]

Sean from the way the article is written it seems that the loans are securitized because your typical P2P investor does not meet "accredited investor" requirements. I've only briefly glanced at a colonial funding contract and I can't remember whether they require "accredited investor" status to participate in deals.

Aside from the regulatory angle of the piece I thought it was interesting that SoMoLend could garner so much press ( I think there was a whole NY Times profile last fall) and yet only close 25 deals with a funded amount totaling $234,000.

This is where things can/could get tricky. John Q Public, looking for a payday, start investing in these programs and flipping out when deals go bad. Then, all of a sudden, people are naive and didn't know what they were getting involved with.

(side note: for all those brazen folks out there who think that could never happen, all you have to do is go back 10-12 years and see the EXACT SAME THING happened to the brokerage houses and trading firms. Lawyers made a killing suing. All these folks pouring money into discount brokerage and trading houses...immediately got huge cases of amnesia and ignorance))

Then you have to be careful about the NUMBER of investors involved. Once you surpass a certain number of outside lenders (I think it is 25-30), the SEC steps in because you are officially an investment firm...and they get to tinker with your books and net cap,etc...and you have to start reporting your financials to the SEC quarterly (there goes all your smoke and mirror BS about production).

[JayBallentine]

SomoLend is now actively looking to scale the company as a business while staying lean.

SomoLend approached a friend / mentor and competitor for help finding talent - tech talent in 2012. That was the priority that year.

This year and going forward I am sure the focus of the company is optimizing on a customer acqusition strategy.

When you wanna hop into a multi billion dollar sandbox - you better have a big boy marketing plan. They won't be cold calling or buying PPC.

Their investors are going to want out eventually and getting out requires that systems be built to scale across the entire org.

They are running a pretty lean operation over there and I am 100% sure that $230k funded went a long way in helping them get through the build, measure, learn feedback loop on the product side.

Expect big time announcements regarding strategic partnerships out of these folks soon.