The crowdfunding movement has one overarching objective: to democratize access to capital. It uses technology to eliminate the inescapable bottlenecks and inefficiencies of the capital market.

It used to be that if you wanted capital, you had to work through formal capital aggregators, which meant that if you were lower on their priority list, you didn’t get funding. Crowdfunding platforms—like Indiegogo, where I work—have eliminated the gatekeeper, and now "the people" have the power to decide which ideas come to life.