Probably the reason why it's done on the NxT asset exchange was if CfB brought this to a venture capitalist (even an amateur one) he would be laughed out of the room.
Well...I don't know if you realize it, but you've provided the perfect justification for the AE. I'm historian enough to realize that, if Doc Roberts had brought the
Altair 8800 to a VC in 1974, he would have been patted on the head and sent on his way.
"This company, although it has a neat product, will be crushed by
Heathkit once the latter gets wind of this Altair and brings out their own model..."
The funny part about this alternate history is that any such VC would have made a good decision based on the standards of his trade presiding back then. The potential of the microcomputer was too unknown, and the big companies had a lot more market clout back then. Hindsight, as always, offers
Chuck-Yeager clarity...
So, to get back from my digression path, the AE is a perfect crowdfunding venue for projects that are too "kooky" for a VC. Even these days, they still have blind spots - many of which are thinly-disguised fiduciary obligations to their fundholders.
Not to get nitpicky, but CfB would have been thrown out because the funding requirement is too small to merit a real VC's time...I think this can be a very retrospective rhetoric. There's likely been a lot of projects around the same time frame as Altair but have largely been forgotten to history.
