More than two years ago, President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law. Among its provisions were several significant changes to the way small private companies could find potential shareholders. 

In a nutshell, the act did two major things. First, it allowed private companies to openly solicit investors, on the Web and elsewhere. Secondly, the act paved the way for unaccredited investors (basically, people who aren't professional investors, don't have more than $1 million in assets, and don't make more than $200,000 a year), to take part in these private placements.