American entrepreneurs are still waiting for the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to finalize the federal rules governing crowdfunding. These industrious members of the economy represent 99.7% of national employers and employ more than 54.9 million.

Thanks to shows like Shark Tank, the concept of publicly pairing entrepreneurs to investors is now a mainstream concept, piquing the interest of many Americans.

At one time, pitching a new business idea to a group of investors was an alternate option to traditional funding that made raising capital possible for the average entrepreneur. Today, thanks to the democratic nature of the Internet, there are more options and fewer barriers than ever before.