How Data-Driven Insights Are Shaping the Future of Investment Crowdfunding

Superpowers for Good should not be considered investment advice. Seek counsel before making investment decisions. When you purchase an item, launch a campaign or create an investment account after clicking a link here, we may earn a fee. Engage to support our work. Watch the show on television by downloading the e360tv channel app to your Roku, AppleTV or AmazonFireTV. You can also see it on YouTube. Has your business been impacted by the recent fires? Apply now for a chance to receive one of 10 free tickets to SuperCrowdLA on May 2nd and 3rd and gain the tools to rebuild and grow! Devin: What is your superpower? Sherwood: I am constantly saying yes, instead of saying, I'm sorry, no, I can't. The future of investment crowdfunding is being defined by those who not only pioneered the space but continue to shape it with a relentless commitment to data and transparency. The most exciting development for investors and entrepreneurs alike is how actionable insights, not just anecdotes or hype, are driving smarter decisions and better results. In this episode, Sherwood Neiss, Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors and one of the original architects behind the legislation that made regulated investment crowdfunding possible, shares his unique perspective. Sherwood’s new book, Investomers, distills fourteen years of experience, offering a comprehensive look into what makes this industry tick and how anyone—investor, entrepreneur, or policymaker—can benefit. What sets Sherwood apart is a dedication to grounding everything in robust data. Early on, he recognized that the industry needed more than vision; it needed transparency and metrics. “From the minute this industry launched, we’ve been collecting information, not just on the companies and where they are and their financials and all that stuff, but every day, how much money has been committed to an offering and how many investors. With those data points, we can track what we call investor sentiment,” Sherwood explained. This relentless focus on measurement is not just academic. It empowers investors to make informed decisions and helps founders understand what drives successful campaigns. “The book is a lot of data-driven insights from the work that we’ve done with investment crowdfunding about the economic rationale for this,” Sherwood shared. He’s created tools and reports that highlight where the signals for success are strongest, always encouraging readers and clients to dig into the numbers for themselves. Crucially, Sherwood’s work is not just about numbers, but about democratizing access to capital and opportunity. “Many of the reasons for failure is lack of capital, which I’m hoping we’re solving for with investment crowdfunding,” he noted, underscoring the human impact behind the data. For those eager to learn more or to leverage these insights in their own investing, Sherwood’s company is not currently raising capital from the crowd but is focused on providing invaluable data and advisory services through Crowdfund Capital Advisors and their C-Clear platform. Investomers is available now, offering a blueprint for anyone who wants to invest smarter or build something meaningful in this rapidly evolving space. Sherwood’s passion and open-handed approach to sharing what works—and what doesn’t—make this episode a resource for anyone looking to turn data into a tool for empowerment and positive change. tl;dr: Sherwood Woodie Neiss shares how data-driven insights are transforming investment crowdfunding for investors and entrepreneurs. He reveals the story behind launching Crowdfund Capital Advisors and building a comprehensive industry database. Sherwood explains how his new book, Investomers, distills years of experience and research into actionable guidance. He describes his superpower: breaking big goals into small steps and using accountability to achieve them. The episode highlights practical strategies for making progress on major projects by leveraging data and discipline. How to Develop Relentless Follow-Through As a Superpower Woodie’s superpower is his ability to say yes to opportunities and follow through by breaking daunting challenges into manageable steps. As Woodie described, “I am one of these people that I’m a yes man. So I am constantly saying yes, instead of saying, I’m sorry, no, I can’t...you need to take anything that you’re doing and break it down into 100 steps. And then do one of those a day...the principle of that, the theory behind it is break everything down into small chunks, so that you can accomplish something in a day, in a week or whatever, but it keeps the ball moving forward.” Woodie illustrated this superpower vividly by recounting how he managed to write a 400-page book, Investomers, while juggling his many professional responsibilities. He set a big goal at the start of the year, broke it down into about a hundred discrete steps, and methodically worked through them, bit by bit, over the course of the year. He even enlisted a friend as an accountability partner, meeting weekly to track progress, ensure he stayed on task, and remove nonessential items from his plate. This system helped him complete the book in just over a year while keeping all his other commitments moving forward. To cultivate relentless follow-through, Woodie suggests: Break large goals into small, actionable steps Set regular milestones and track your progress Find an accountability partner who will meet with you weekly Be willing to reprioritize and move less important tasks off your plate Commit to a schedule and honor it—treat your accountability meetings as non-negotiable By following Woodie’s example and advice, you can make relentless follow-through a skill. With practice and effort, you could make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world. Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you! Guest Profile Woodie Neiss (he/him): Principal, Crowdfund Capital Advisors, LLC About Crowdfund Capital Advisors, LLC:  CCA is a data-driven investment crowdfunding consulting and advisory services firm. Its principals wrote the framework for Regulation Crowdfunding, lobbied for its passage, and attended the JOBS Act bill signing ceremony at the White House. CCA built the industry's first aggregator that collects daily information on all online investment offerings from almost 100 platforms in the USA. The database captures over $1.5B daily transaction volume into 5,500 issuers in every state. Venture funds, financial services firms, regulators, and more use the data for insights into the online investment marketplace, be it job creation, valuations by industry, deal flow, or overall industry trends. CCA clients include the World Bank, Securities Regulators globally, the US State Department, and major Family Foundations. CCA launched the industry's first index that tracks the top 50 daily offerings and also recently launched CrowdBook, a data research and visualization tool for consumers of CCA's data feeds. Website: crowdfundcapitaladvisors.com X/Twitter Handle: @woodien Company Facebook Page: facebook.com/crowdfundcapitaladvisors Biographical Information: Sherwood Neiss is a 3-time INC500 winner whose former company won E&Y's Entrepreneur of the Year. During the credit crunch, Sherwood saw a need to change outdated securities laws. He co-created and lobbied for the Crowdfunding Framework used in the JOBS Act. President Obama signed it into law on April 5, 2012. CCA advises multilateral organizations, governments, NGOs, and other entrepreneurial stakeholders on understanding the multi-billion-dollar crowdfunding market. He co-founded the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA) & Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA). He is an entrepreneur in residence and co-founder of The Program for Innovation in Entrepreneurial and Social Finance at the University of California Berkeley. He is co-author of Crowdfund Investing for Dummies (Wiley) and the World Bank Report Crowdfunding’s Potential for the Developing Word. He produces comprehensive Crowdfund Investing educational materials via Success with Crowdfunding. He is an active investor in the emerging global crowdfunding ecosystem. He holds an International MBA from Thunderbird and a BA from Tulane University. X/Twitter Handle: @woodien Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/sherwoodneiss Support Our Sponsors Our generous sponsors make our work possible, serving impact investors, social entrepreneurs, community builders and diverse founders. Today’s advertisers include FundingHope, AMIBA, SuperCrowdLA and Crowdfunding Made Simple. Learn more about advertising with us here. 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