Jor Law, Co-Founder of VerifyInvestor.com, was interviewed by host Adam Torres on the Mission Matters Money Podcast.
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In this interview, Jor Law talks about how VerifyInvestor.com is making the process of crowdfunding more reliable and safer while providing legal compliance to entrepreneurs and privacy and protection to investors.
What mission matters to you?
Law says his mission is to ensure accreditation and verification of investors in an efficient manner that gives legal safeguards to issuers while also protecting investors. His personal goal is to expand access to investment opportunities and find more protected ways for both accredited and non-accredited investors to participate. Moreover, Law wants to expand the scope of financial literacy and entrepreneurship in the American education system so that the divide between accredited and non-accredited investors can be eliminated. He says tokenization of securities and finance, like what tZERO is working on, is exciting and could provide a pathway toward a better capital markets with access and protection for all.
How did you get started on this path?
Hailing from multiple generations of entrepreneurs in his family, Law remembers selling lottery tickets in entrepreneurship camp when he was in the third grade. Growing up, he also showed an interest in law, which he eventually practiced for nearly two decades. Along the way, he started his own law firm, tech startup, and found himself in the venture capital and consulting space.
“My philosophy is to understand the client well to deliver exceptional legal services,” he points out. “To do so, I started investing my capital in businesses.” As crowdfunding laws began to emerge, he decided to blend his business perspective with his legal practice and founded VerifyInvestor.com.
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The crowdfunding landscape
Some people raise money traditionally, he explains, either by getting a loan from a family member or bank or reaching out to investors through a network, but for people who don’t have access to those privileges, crowdfunding is often the best option.
Seeking funding from people outside of your network is governed by a variety of regulations, he continues, like Regulation A, which allows people to raise capital from non-accredited investors, and Regulation D, which allows general solicitation and advertising. Crowdfunding is an attractive option, Law says, because all you need is a compelling marketing message that resonates with your potential investors; that message can open you up to a world of investors you wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.
What are accredited investors?
Accredited investors, Law explains, are a type of investor that traditionally have a certain level of wealth or financial sophistication; as such, he notes, they are believed not to need as much protection by law. For a long time, the criteria for individuals were tied to income or net worth, but as a result of recent updates, the criteria also includes limited sophistication categories. Law’s hope is that the pool of accredited investors can expand in the future or the distinction between accredited investors and non-accredited investors eliminated, which increased financial literacy may enable.
Tell us about VerifyInvestor.com and its product.
VerifyInvestor.com is a platform for companies that want to verify accredited investors, as well as for investors who want to certify that they are accredited. As Law explains it, parties can upload information to get verified; once an application is submitted, it goes to a review pool where qualified attorneys conduct a review and decide whether the investor is accredited or not. It also offers a variety of other verifications, including custom verifications.
“We have effectively created a software that streamlines the data collection process, and adds security and confidentiality,” he says. “Contrary to the traditional review process with a law firm, our process is time-saving, cost-effective, and prevents security leaks.”
Tell us about other products you’re working on.
Law is on the board of a company called Prime Trust, which is a leading financial infrastructure provider to fintech and digital asset companies. Through a full suite of APIs, Prime Trust helps their customers build seamlessly, launch quickly, and scale securely. The company, Law says, is excelling in the fintech and crypto space. He’s also an advisor for Infinity Ventures Crypto, which he says is actively investing; he assists them and their portfolio companies with strategic consulting.
To learn more about Verify Investor, visit www.verifyinvestor.com.
