You may have heard of the Rule Against Perpetuities. Maybe. If you went to law school. It is an absurd old rule, crafted by the English common law courts years and years ago.
But have you heard of “The Rule Against Entrepreneurs”?
Maybe not, because I am just coining the phrase right now.
Let me explain what I mean
If You Are An Investor, You Can Advertise That
If you are a venture capital fund, you can put up a sign on the side of the road which says–”Come to us startups. We have billions of dollars to invest in you. We are looking for the few, the select few, who are awesome.” This is a good strategy. This way, if you have the money, you can take a look at thousands of businesses before you decide which few you will invest in–increasing your likelihood of success.
But if you are an
This is what I mean by the “Rule Against Entrepreneurs.” (In keeping with the absurdity of this rule, hereinafter the rule will be referred to herein as the “Rule”)
The Rule gets even more ridiculous. It doesn’t just prohibit road signs. It prohibits putting on your company’s website a statement that you are raising money. It prohibits responding to a reporter’s inquiry–”Are you raising money?” Don’t say yes! If you do, and the reporter reports it, you might blow your securities law exemption.
The Actual Text of the Rule
Here is the actual text of the rule:
[N]either the issuer nor any person acting on its behalf shall offer or sell the securities by any form of general solicitation or general advertising, including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Any advertisement, article, notice or other communication published in any newspaper, magazine, or similar media or broadcast over television or radio; and
2. Any seminar or meeting whose attendees have been invited by any general solicitation or general advertising;
If you want to read the rule yourself, you can find it at this link: http://taft.law.uc.edu/CCL/33ActRls/rule502.html
Read The Rule Carefully
Read section 2 above carefully. If you are pitching for money at an event whose attendees have been invited by any general solicitation or advertising, you have violated the rule!
“Wait a minute,” you might say. “Doesn’t this happen all the time?” And I would say something lawyer-like, like, “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t violate the rule.”
“But wait!” you’ll say, “Didn’t the JOBS Act change this? Didn’t the JOBS Act say that entrepreneurs could generally advertise in all accredited investor Rule 506 offerings?”
And I’ll say, “Yes, it did, but not until the SEC Acts, and the SEC hasn’t got around to it yet. The last SEC commissioner apparently was ideologically opposed to repealing the Rule Against Entrepreneurs. So now we wait. And wait. And wait….”
Conclusion
When will we see Congress finally unleash the full power of the American entrepreneurial community? Probably never. It is a weird incongruity in our law. It is the startups that create the jobs. But the laws favor the money, not those seeking the money.
