New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/23/2013 -- "This is just beyond tremendous," said IPO Village Mayor Howard Orloff. "This is absolute proof crowdfunding is a major force in the investing world. It is more proof that investors are ready to take advantage of buying stock directly from businesses without having to go through Wall Street, big banks and investment firms. We are ready to take these investors and put their money to work in small businesses."

IPO Village has a business ready to launch an initial public offering (IPO) within the next 45 days. Those who have signed up with IPO Village and the next 100 investors will have the first chance to buy stock direct from the offering company.

Mr. Orloff said he cannot say much about the pending IPO and the business offering the stock. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules require a "quiet period" for a company that plans to issue stock. During that time, the company cannot make announcements about stock offerings. IPO Village's first direct-to-investor stock offering is in this quiet period.

Once the quiet period is over, the company, its prospectus and other information will be available for review. Then, IPO Village's list of investors will be offered stock in the company on a first-come, first-serve basis. Mr. Orloff said IPO Village is serious about the first-come, first-serve policy. But those investors who do not get to participate in this first IPO need not worry. He said there's more on the way and plenty of room for more investors.

"I can tell you we will have more IPOs. We are in negotiations with other companies right now to handle their IPOs. We are actively looking at businesses which have good growth potential and which will benefit from selling stock in the company," he said. "As more and more companies learn the value of direct-to-public IPOs, this industry will grow. IPO Village will grow right along with them."

IPO Village has been around a while helping small companies expand, but this is the first direct IPO which IPO has handled from start to finish. Mr. Orloff said he and the staff are excited about this opportunity.

"This IPO is going to show the world a new way to invest in stocks. This IPO is going to set the stage for many more direct-to-the-public public stock offerings. IPO Village is taking control of investing stocks away from the giant brokerage houses, away from giant investment banks and lawyers and putting it right in the hands of the business offering stock and the people who buy that stock," he said.

Selling stock direct to the public serves another purpose, Mr. Orloff said.

"Any successful business is successful because the customers support it. With direct IPO, the business gives its customers a chance to share in the success. The business is rewarding its customers and growing at the same time," he said.

The advantages to direct-to-public IPOs are both for the investor and the company. By sidestepping the complex and expensive traditional IPO process, businesses save money. They get the full stock purchase price to invest in the business. When buying direct-to-the-public stock, stock holders pay a true market value for the stock, not what an investment bank believes the stock to be worth.

About IPO Village
The IPO Village founding team has been successfully taking early stage companies public for over 20 years. Given our investment banking background and the monumental advances in online social media networking capabilities, lucrative pre-IPO investment opportunities can now be made directly available to the general public, the 99%, the Crowd. Unlike most crowdfunding sites, which focus on private financing transactions, our public offerings provide shareholders with the highest level of company screening and due diligence, investor liquidity and a foreseeable exit strategy.

For more information visit IPOVillage.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

New York City, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/23/2012 -- For Immediate Release Crowdfunding gets boost as Twitter invited to use it to launch initial public offering On the news that Twitter was considering going public, the social media giant is being invited to sidestep the expensive Wall Street initial public offering (IPO) process and take its stock direct to the public from the start. IPOVillage.com, one of the internet's largest direct-to-the-public initial public offering (IPO) companies, sent letter to Dick Costolo, Twitter's CEO. The letter encourages Twitter to take its IPO direct to the public so the public will see the greatest benefit and return. The letter can be read at http://ipovillage.com/ipo-village-blog/open-letter-twitter-ceo-dick-costolo . The letter has generated considerable interest in the financial world. Companies previously not familiar with the crowdfunding option for an IPO are now seriously considering the option.

"When a giant company even takes a look at something, the rest of the world also looks. Some go further and do whatever the giant company looks at. The attention Twitter is bringing to crowdfunding would be very hard to over estimate," said Howard Orloff, mayor of IPOVillage.com . Mr. Orloff wrote the Twitter letter. WHAT IS IPO CROWDFUNDING IPO Crowdfunding takes a company's stock and offers it direct to the public. Large investment banks and Wall Street financial attorneys are not used nor needed.

IPO Crowdfunding eliminates the enormous costs associated with the industrial investors and puts more money directly into the business coffers. Also, since the stock is offered directly to the public, the company gets a realistic view of what it is worth. Inflated values, such as happened with Facebook, will be far more rare with a crowdfunded IPO. "The company saves money by not paying percentages and commissions to people who trade the IPO stock among themselves before giving the public a chance to buy. The company also gets to keep far more of the IPO sale because there are fewer expenses," Mr. Orloff said.

Another advantage to crowdfunding for an IPO is the people who support the company benefit. "Think about who supports your business - your customers. If customer service is the most important service you offer, then your customers deserve the best. Let them buy IPO stock direct and invest direct in a company they believe in," he said. "Let the customers, who have made your company a success, share in the future success of your company. "Crowdfunding puts an IPO directly into the hands of the people who both care about the company and who will make the company a success."" CROWDFUNDING IS FOR ANYONE Any business with a successful business plan and an eye for growth can participate in crowdfunding. The idea that an IPO is only a function of ginormous corporations is wrong, Mr. Orloff said. "Crowdfunding is not just a way to take stock direct to the public for giant, global corporations like Twitter. It works for small companies too," he said. "If you run a company of just a handful of employees all the way to one as big as Twitter, you can have an IPO and sell stock to the public."

IPO Village and First Line Capital invite small business owners who are interested in finding out if their company might benefit from a Crowdfunded IPO are invited to request a free analysis through IPO Village.

If your company has a strong base of customers, you will likely be surprised at how cost effective a crowdfunded IPO can be.

To learn more about crowdfunding and how it can work for you and your company, visit: http://ipovillage.com and click on the Sign Up link.

About The IPO Village
The IPO Village founding team has been successfully taking early stage companies public for over 20 years. The company has directors with an investment banking background. Thanks to the monumental advances in online social media networking capabilities, lucrative pre-IPO investment opportunities can now be made directly available to the general public, the 99%, the Crowd. IPO Village's public offerings provide shareholders with the highest level of company screening and due diligence, investor liquidity and a foreseeable exit strategy.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

New York City, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/15/2012 -- Howard Orloff, mayor of IPOVilliage.com has reached out personally to Twitter.com CEO Dick Costolo about turning Twitter public. Orloff wants Costolo to forgo traditional routes and instead turn to crowdfunding for help on the IPO or DPO.

Orloff's plea makes sound fiscal sense.

Orloff's plea is laid out in a direct letter to Costolo. If Costolo turns Twitter public, it is going to take approximate 150 million dollars in fees and services to make the initial IPO.

"Mr. Costolo, that is money you will never see," Orloff wrote in his letter.

Orloff's website ipovilliage.com helps companies avoid the redtape by bypassing many of the laws and regulations of the SEC and investment banking and go directly to the people via crowdfunding services.

Twitter.com is short message social media. A "tweet" can be no more than 140 characters in length. Twitter has quickly become one of the best ways to get short messages out to people quickly.

"My goal in the letter was two-fold: First, to let Mr. Costolo know there are better ways to turn your company public than by spending a ton of money, and second, to share with the world how crowdfunding can help your business succeed with an IPO," said Orloff.

Crowdfunding is an offspring of social media and allows business to go straight to the public to elicit capital for projects, DPO's and a host of other things. Orloff's letter explains this to Costolo.

"We are excited about the prospects of helping Twitter with their IPO through crowdfunding, continued Orloff, "and if Twitter thinks it is a worthy aspiration, who knows? The next big breakthrough in medicine, energy or any field could get its break via crowdfunding options."

Read the open letter at http://ipovillage.com/ipo-village-blog/open-letter-twitter-ceo-dick-costolo/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

New York City, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/12/2012 -- IPO Village, an online site dedicated to crowdfunding Nasdaq Initial Public Offering at pre-IPO share prices, was recently accredited by the Crowdfunding Accreditation for Platform Standards (CAPS).

The goal of IPO village is to give retail investors the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the IPO investment lifecycle and the CAPS accreditation will give investors the peace of mind that comes from the knowledge that IPO Village is a recognized player in the industry. Traditionally, IPO's are funded by investment banks. Those banks agree to buy shares of the company issuing the IPO and then resell those shares for a profit to institutional investors. Those investors then sell the shares to retail investors in the open market, again at a profit. Both the investment bank and the institutional investors inflate the price of the shares before those shares ever get to the retail investor who is eagerly placing orders for the new shares with their brokers. IPO village eliminates both the investment bank and the institutional investor to give the retail investor the chance to get in on the ground floor of a new IPO.

In order to be fully effective crowdfunding operations have to earn the trust of those who want to invest and this is where the CAPS program comes in. The CAPS program was designed to promote the adoption of best practices for the operation of crowdfunding platforms like IPO Village. CAPS is designed to protect both the crowdfunders, or investors and the fundraisers. The ultimate goal of CAPS is to foster growth in the crowdfunding industry by recognizing those platforms that have implemented the best practices in the industry. With the best practices and the high levels of trust, the crowdfunding industry can grow and foster the development of capital for important projects and initiatives, startups and small businesses everywhere.

The CAPS accreditation is supported by an advisory council of leading platform operators and industry experts and the standards are reviewed and updated annually. Accreditation is granted base don and interview and review process and those are the steps IPO Village took recently to gain its accreditation.

IPO Village Managing Director Howard Orloff invites all retail investors to join the IPO Village and now that IPO Village has received the CAPS accreditation those investors can be assured that the highest standards are maintained in all transactions. Getting started is easy and only requires the investor to sign up and express interest in the featured IPO. Orloff cautions that investors should start early because most IPO's are oversold and IPO Village employs a first come, first served policy. Registering with IPO Village is free and there is no commitment to invest. Investors simply sing up and are then notified when the IPO is open for investment.

Those who want to learn more can visit the website at http://www.ipovillage.com/. Those same investors can visit the CAPS website at http://www.crowdsourcing.org/caps is they want to learn more about the accreditation process.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

New York City, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/06/2012 -- IPO Village, ipovillage.com, announced today that Howard Orloff has been appointed as Managing Director, or "Mayor" of IPO Village.

"Howard brings a suite of skills to this position that is hard to find in one person. He was one of the pioneers in crowdfunding and has remained active in the field. He has a deep knowledge of Web 2.0 and how online communities run," Mr. Erblich said. "That he was willing to accept the task of running the village is just amazing."

For his part, Mr. Orloff said he was surprised, honored and humbled to even be considered for the task.

"When Simon first called me to discuss the opportunity, the first thing I thought of was 'who can I recommend for the job?' I was genuinely surprised when he asked if I'd serve," Mr. Orloff said.

Mr. Orloff said his decision was not immediate because it required some serious thinking. Among the matters influencing his decision were: How it would affect the crowdfunding world; how other crowdfunding websites were likely to react; and what could he bring to the job that would make a real difference.

"I'm not the kind of person who says 'I'll do it' just because I'm asked," Mr. Orloff said. "I have to see a need which I can meet. I have to know that I'm being asked to contribute in a substantial and meaningful way. I'm not just going to be around to occupy space. I have to do something."

Mr. Erblich said these are the very reasons he asked Mr. Orloff to take the position.

"I have watched Howard for a long time. I've seen how he works and the results he produces. When Howard puts his mind to something, he's going to push until something happens. He has a razor sharp vision and the ability to execute" Mr. Erblich said.

IPO VILLAGE BRINGS IPO TO THE MASSES
A company's IPO, initial public offering, is generally a very closely held and tight knit event. Unless a buyer is connected, geting stock in an IPO is next to impossible. Most often an IPO is underwritten by a bank, which takes the stock and flips it to a select group of investors. So, by the time an IPO stock actually reaches the masses, it has changed hands three times and had a price adjustment each time.

IPO Village is changing this. Working with First Line Capital LLC, IPO Village is allowing anyone who wants to buy stock at the pre-IPO price, to get in on a first-come first-served basis. The website has a no-risk, no-obligation form to sign up to buy IPO stock.

"This is something very important to me," Mr. Orloff said. "I believe everyone should have the chance to participate in front-line investing. This is why I am so involved in crowdfunding. IPO Village takes crowdfunding to the next logical step in direct investing by the general public."

Mr. Orloff said as the "mayor" his first priority is to use some new technologies to be announced within the next three months to increase IPO access to the general public. He said the new task before him will help bring the crowdfunding world even more mainstream.

"The '99 percent' now have access to first-round IPO pricing on deals. This is not based on past investments or the 'old boys network' but on a first-come, first-serve basis," he said. "A few of the improvements - I don't like to call them changes because I'm not changing anything, just making it better - coming down the line will make IPOs even more accessible to anyone who wants to invest in an IPO. This is the way I believe business should operate."

If the stock sells out before everyone on the list has had a chance to buy, the person's name and contact information will automatically roll over to the next IPO. For more information about IPO process through IPO VIllage, please visit http://ipovillage.com/Crowdfunded_IPO_Process.html.

"We believe everyone should have a chance, but we also believe those who move first should be served first," Mr. Erblich said. "But missing one doesn't mean missing everything. Everyone who didn't get to buy shares will be kept on the list."

FIRST LINE PARTNERSHIP
First Line Capital LLC has more than 20 years in investment banking experience. Their work across the globe is recognized as quality financial investing. The company has satellite offices in Israel and China. First Line has directed dozens of IPOs and more are on the way. Mr. Erblich said the specific company names of cannot be announced right now because of SEC "quiet" rules.

"We firmly believe that our affiliation with IPO Village will bring some excellent investment opportunities to people who'd otherwise not have a chance like this," Mr. Erblich said.

"First Line's excellent reputation for sound investment banking was definitely a factor in my decision to join IPO Village," Mr. Orloff said.

The two men said they are looking forward to a healthy and prosperous working relationship. They said they are particularly happy about letting the average person be able to participate in an IPO from the beginning.

For more information visit IPOVillage.com

About First Line Capital
Founded in 1995, First Line Capital is a boutique investment banking firm. First Line's focus is implementation of early-stage public strategies for a diverse range of hi-tech companies internationally. First Line's portfolio companies are all publicly traded. Therefore, our public offerings provide shareholders with liquidity and a clear exit strategy.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm