I started on a journey about a year and a half ago to conquer the crowdfunding industry. Being a service provider in a space where platforms and entrepreneurs are actively searching for solutions is exhilarating. Never does a day pass without someone calling and asking for a demonstration or placing a purchase order for our latest products. Why, you ask? Because we are doing what startups should be doing: solving a big problem in our space.

For example, imagine being a crowdfunding platform that connects companies that need funding with sophisticated, accredited investors. Your main focus is generating high-quality deal flow and bringing efficiency and transparency to the capital raising process. You need to attract the best companies to raise capital on your platform in order for the best investors to join. This rings true in reverse as well:  in order for the best companies to list on your platform, they want to see a substantial value proposition, which in this case is access to great investors.

For a platform, this is more than a full time job. What does the platform owner do with his or her leftover time? Nothing. They don’t have leftover time.

On the opposite end, imagine you’re an entrepreneur needing to raise capital and wanting to stand out from everyone else also asking investors for money.  They spend all day every day talking to anyone who will listen, pitching their company in hopes that someone will reach into their pockets and fund them to make their dream a reality. If anyone has ever tried to raise capital for their company, they know this first hand – it’s more than a full time job, and a stressful one at that. So, what does the entrepreneur do in his or her free time while not raising capital? Nothing. They don’t have leftover time.

This is where Crowdentials comes in, providing services for platforms and entrepreneurs to better facilitate their capital raising and operations processes. We focus on providing solutions for these customer segments so they can focus on what they do best – growing their companies.

The next two years are very promising for us. Crowdentials has raised an initial round of funding and we couldn’t be happier with our current customers. We get calls every day asking for our solutions and have people in the industry actively searching for our product. We see our customer segment (and as a result, revenue) growing exponentially over the next two years.

In the coming years, we expect to expand our team to support the growth of not only our company, but of the crowdfunding industry at large. Entrepreneurs need greater access to capital to expand and create jobs and innovative products, and at the end of the day, we want to be a part of that movement.

Rich Rodman is the co-founder and CEO of Crowdentials, a provider of regulatory compliance tools for equity crowdfunding and private placement platforms. He has a passion for crowdfunding and founded the company to help entrepreneurs and businesses navigate a complex regulatory environment.