Crowdfunding investments- would you? Have you?

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Generally im quite a Rick averse investor in funds and general long term plans when investing.. (I've dabbled in stocks and shares once and although did well with ARM, I found it quite high maintenance)

Looking at all of these crowdfunding websites and I'm intrigued. Until it's more regulated, I probably won't try it as i haven't found any investments or companies I really think would do that well. What are your experiences with crowdfunding websites? Worth the risk?

(Im not talking about Kickstarter where they dont offer any money back and only discount on their items - what is that about?!)

If you don't properly understand how businesses work (and many don't), one shouldn't be messing around with start ups IMHO. Most start ups fail or burn shareholders money over and over (which includes multiple rounds of fundraisings).

If you are going to invest in one, make sure at the very minimum they've put most of their net worth including ideally their own family/friends money into their venture. That's puts pressure on them to succeed.

Make sure they aren't taking out much in salaries either. Ideally zero salary is the way (they should be living off their own savings).

Once you've screened for that - you'll probably cut out 90-95% of the ventures . I would then recommend you conduct proper due diligence on the investment proposition. Perhaps checklist your investment against the frameworks provided in a book like the below.

"Venture Capital Investing: The Complete Handbook for Investing in Private Businesses for Outstanding Profits"

Only then, should you consider it otherwise you are just gambling.

Hi, Last year I scrutinised some of the crowd funding websites' offerings - it seems to me to be equivalent to gambling. There is the odd gem, but in the main you are waving good bye to your stake for an unknown time, until there is an exit. You're highly likely to get diluted, as start ups/ early stage need lots of funding, so as your percentage stake diminishes the value needs to grow accordingly before you make a profit. You have absolutely no control over the business, unless you contribute a very large stake. Most of the businesses use crowdfunding as a form of marketing as well as fundraising through promotion to 100 000s of members (most can raise the same amount of money elsewhere just as easily). Professional crowdfunding forums recognise that the buy in value is double what it should be, as the SEIS and EIS tax advantage is factored in by the business.
As for financial commitment by the founders most of the businesses I looked at had relatively small equity investment; the directors often have loans which are repayable, and can take salaries. The directors can do virtually anything with the money raised and you have practically no redress.
I do think there is the odd gem, but I felt there were lots of duds. I will be interested to follow and see who succeeds over the medium term. You need to scrutinise very carefully.
I think crowdfunding itself is a good idea, it's just some people don't treat it properly.