Funding Garage Inc., an internet start-up founded on the vision to help automotive enthusiasts raise the money they need for their projects, has officially soft launched its website (www.fundinggarage.com) in September of 2012. Currently on its website are 10 registered crowdfunding campaigns ranging from clients such as US-based supercar maker Lotterschmid Performance to Diva Racer, a team of positive females that devotes their time and energy in helping young girls. Mindy Chen, the Funding Garage writer, had a chance to interview founder, President, and CEO of Funding Garage Inc., Dominic Lin on the day of the soft launch 9/28/2012.
Mindy Chen (MC): Since the last time we talked Funding Garage was just a concept you had. Seven months later, here we are at the official soft launch of FG website.
Dominic Lin (DL): Indeed today is an exciting day for our co-founders, advisors, investors, myself, and more importantly the automotive enthusiast community. Against all odds, challenges, competition, and the state of our country’s economy we have soft launched our FG website at fundinggarage.com.
MC: Can you elaborate on “against all odds.”
DL: Certainly. In the past 6 months we have ran into many challenges such as awareness; awareness of the concept of crowdfunding in the automotive industry. In our public relations outreach in the past Summer we’ve realized that the crowdfunding language is foreign to even key industry players like Universal Technical Institute (UTI), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
MC: What was the rationale for reaching out to those organizations?
DL: It’s very clear to me that those that are going to benefit the most from automotive crowdfunding are people that have the passion and the aspiration to want to make a different for the industry; whether they are professionals going after further specialized education to be able to open tuning shops, college students innovating new technologies to make the sport safer, more competitive, or less costly through competitions, or racers looking to redefine the limit of performance. UTI, SAE, and SCCA are just some examples of organizations that have members that resemble such population.
MC: Who are your key competitors?
DL: Most people would probably guess our competitors are other crowdfunding portals; namely popular sites like Kickstarter, RocketHub, etc. On the business level I would agree; clients have choices and they may not decide to choose us to join their journey every single time. On a personal level I think it’s a win-win regardless of which portal they choose; every successful crowdfunding campaign is a win for the industry. I had the pleasure of speaking with John “Jay” Rogers, co-founder and CEO of Local Motors, the open-source community of car designers and fabricators. During one of his visits to our Tucson office at Arizona Center for Innovations, he asked me “what keeps you up at night.” Jay as the visionary leader in the crowdsourcing space cautioned about the recent regulatory changes to the laws defining crowdfunding and the unknowns of SEC rulings. An unfavorable ruling in regulations could sink the entire crowdfunding industry.
MC: So what are your expectations now? How do you plan on bringing people to your website?
DL: I am asking our marketing department to take a whole new approach to marketing Funding Garage to the public. I strongly believe that crowdfunding campaigners don’t exist for Funding Garage; rather Funding Garage exists for its crowdfunding campaigners. I believe the stories that these fundraisers have to tell are much more impactful and meaningful, and it is FG’s job to help spread their stories and gain support for their cause. We will be launching a series of social media campaigns to showcase the projects as they show up on www.fundinggarage.com including interviews, stories, and more. The success of our crowdfunding campaigns will determine the success of FG.
MC: Thank you for your time and good luck.
DL: We are excited. It’s always a pleasure Mindy.
