Invest in our Community Round

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Most people think investing in startups is only for Silicon Valley insiders or people with deep pockets.

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Well, that's changing. We're proud to officially announce that Totem is opening a Community Investment Round on WeFunder, one of the leading startup investing platforms for everyday people.

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WeFunder is a community investment platform where normal people can invest directly into cool tech startups—the kind of companies typically reserved only for VC's or other wealthy angel investors.

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This will allow anyone within this incredible community to become part of the Totem story and come behind the scenes as an official investor.

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This means that YOU can own a piece of the company you'vebeen helping us build from day one, playing an active, tangible role to help us make the world a safer and more joyful place to live.

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Fun fact: people who have previously expressed interest in investing are getting exclusive early access. If that sounds like you, shoot an email to tribe@totemlabs.com and we can squeeze you in 😉

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WeFunder 101: What YOU Need to Know

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1)​  Open to Everyone

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You heard that right—anyone can invest in Totem though WeFunder!

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WeFunder essentially democratizes access to startup investing, enabling normal people (non-accredited investors) to participate in private funding rounds alongside venture capitalists and professional investors.

So, what does this mean exactly?

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Anyone can join in—you do not have to be an accredited investor or live in the USA.

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You do not have to invest big bucks! WeFunder allows you to invest as little as $100,  making it easy to support startups you love.

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How do you know if you should invest in a startup?

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Investing in a startup is ultimately a personal decision that no one can make for you. If you're curious about how to invest in a startup, here's a little nugget of wisdom, straight from the WeFunder co-founders to you:

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"Our advice?  Invest only in what you understand (and preferably love). If you are a customer and love the product, it’s likely a good investment. If you don’t understand it, investing may be a bad idea.

Investing should not be solely about earning a return. To invest in something as risky as a startup, you should feel something extra beyond just the business model.  For us, that “something extra” is the fulfillment we feel helping a founder take "their shot" at making our world slightly better."

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Check out WeFunder's awesome FAQ section to learn more about if investing is right for you.

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2) WeFunder vs. Kickstarter

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One of the most common questions we've received (and asked ourselves!) about this whole thing: "What is the difference between WeFunder and Kickstarter?"

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Short Answer: Kickstarter lets you back a product, but WeFunder lets you actually invest in the company.

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With Kickstarter, creators present their project or product, outlining their goals, rewards for backers (often in the form of pre-orders), and a funding goal with a deadline. If the campaign reaches its funding goal, the creator can then develop and produce their project or product.

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In other words, Kickstarter is a project-based crowdfunding campaign.

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But WeFunder is a little different.

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With WeFunder, you are not pre-ordering a product or donating to an artist. Instead, you’re investing into a company, because you believe the company has an important mission and will continue to GROW!

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You decide which companies are worthy of funding. If the startup succeeds, the shares you own increase in value. You can potentially make money during an exit event, by selling your shares at a profit, or through dividends if the company decides to offer them to shareholders.

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All that said, it’s important to remember that startups are risky things. Many of them don't make it. So you should probably only invest if you feel something extra beyond just excitement about the business prospects.

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Either way, by investing in a WeFunder startup you care about, you ​join a community of other investors who seek to help the startup succeed. You sometimes get fun perks from companies you invest in, too (wink wink 😘).

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3) Why Totem is Doing This

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The short answer:

Because Totem is not just 8 people working out of a small office in Chattanooga, TN making fest-tech and offline communication tools.

Totem is (and has always been) TENS OF THOUSANDS of people from around the globe who want the world to be a safer, more beautiful place.

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The long answer:

The first thing that we did after coming up with a rough concept of the Totem Compass (and choosing a name) was to start sharing weekly updates.

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We did this to bring you inside the process with us. We began Totem Tuesday because we didn't want to just tell you about what we're doing, or simply have you take us at our word. We wanted to show you what building a early-stage tech startup is really like. To let you see for yourself.

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And we’ve continued to do so every single week, for over 90 weeks straight (at the time of writing this!) We've never missed a week.

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It’s so important to us that you, friend, have a genuine personal connection with this company. Because that's what matters the most to us.

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There have been many weeks where Totem Tuesday was not filled with good news—where it would have been much easier to walk away, to not press "Send". But weeks like that have been the most important weeks in this company's history.

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For us, the only way to build a healthy, thriving relationship is to be transparent and communicative. We do this by building in public. That’s the core of our philosophy at Totem.

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This community, sometimes playfully called the "Totem Tribe", has proven to time-and-time again, that it can be:

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more creative than any designer,

more exciting than any marketer,

more helpful than any engineer,

more charismatic than any salesman.

We are raising this WeFunder round because we want to give you a direct, tangible role in this company's success.

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We want to bring you behind the curtain.

We want to give you a way to genuinely participate in this amazing journey.

We want to win alongside you, our Tribe. Our success is your success, and yours is ours.

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Because (and I really do mean this with my whole heart) we wouldn't be here without you.

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