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ason Estep is all business. It is obvious from his demeanor. He is articulate, concise and knowledgeable. Mason gives off a sense of urgency and purpose, as if he is constantly moving from one thing to another, treating each task with equal importance. His work ethic is paying off. As a sophomore, Mason is the founder and president of his own company, Stand Offer. Yes, Mason Estep is all business—and business is good. Since he was a kid growing up in

backdrop | Spring 2013

As undergrad students at OU, Mason and Shea have created a fresh angle on crowdfunding, the newest, most effective way for startups to find wealthy backers. BY KERRY CRUMP AND DILLON STEWART PHOTOS BY ISAAC HALE

Columbus, Mason has always been an innovator. He was constantly trying to come up with the next big idea and even carried a folder filled with hovercraft designs and video phones through the halls of his elementary school. “I’ve been trying to start a business since the third grade,” Mason says. “That’s a personal endeavor. It’s something I’ve grown up with.” He is now the founder and president of Stand Offer, a website in one of the fastest growing industries in the

world, crowdfunding. Along with his friend and vice president, Shea Wilson, the two strive to break the mold of the traditional crowdfunding sites by offering a way for potential investors to navigate between many different startups simultaneously. Crowdfunding, in the case of a startup company, allows multiple contributors to fund the startup directly through the Internet instead of going through a stock market or bank. The contributors would then own a percentage of the company based on their donation, and the risk of investing in a new company is spread thinner between more people. Crowdfunding is also used to raise funds for upcoming musicians, political candidates and disaster relief. There are hundreds of crowdfunding sites, just like Mason and Shea’s prototype, but no way to navigate between the vast number, making it overwhelming to run efficiently. They realized that they would have to think outside of the box to make profits, and the idea for standoffer.com was born. “We’re like the hotels.com of the crowdfunding industry,” Mason explains. “You know if you’re looking for a hotel, you don’t go to Marriott or Hilton, you go to hotels.com. So investors can search for the startups that they want to invest in on our site.“ What made crowdfunding an increasingly attractive technique was the passing of the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act in 2012. Prior to the JOBS Act, in order to in-

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vest in a start up company one would need to be an accredited investor. With the JOBS Act, anybody can invest in a startup, opening up the industry to Mason. “We’re going to see increased competition and more innovation in a lot more ways than sometimes are possible with larger corporations, “ Mason says. Crowdfunding is the catalyst that can take these startups from failure to success and throws the old saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” out the window. By pulling together a group of investors to contribute their share of money in the company, the technique provides funds to idea-driven people by connecting the “idea man” to the money they need to get started. The number of shares that an investor has in the startup is determined by the amount that the investor contributes. One person may not be able to afford a huge contribution, but various small contributions can add up to the monumental sum that is required for a startup. Mason discovered crowdfunding in early 2012 and submerged himself in the business. After creating a unique business plan and proposing it to crownfunding executives, he found himself in the rapidly growing industry. Plus, it was right in his backyard. Growing up in Columbus, Mason was already in a hotbed for the crowdfunding industry. “There are so many crowdfunding companies sprouting up in Columbus, so we’ve connected with them and we’re very close,” Shea says. “We can meet up, we can chat and just work with them.” Around the time of the company’s conception, Shea began lending a hand to his extremely busy friend. The two met during their freshmen year at OU while living in the “Dirty South,” and became good friends after bonding over their shared entrepreneurial dreams. At first, Shea was nothing more than a chauffeur, driving Mason to various meetings and conferences. Soon, he realized he could provide Mason with more than a ride. “I picked him up and drove him over

to meet Will Schroder [a businessman in the crowdfunding industry] in Columbus and I realized, ‘Wow, this is serious.’” Shea says. “I wanted to join up and see what we could do together.” That was when Mason brought Shea onto his team to help him with the business development aspect. “I live by the slogan ‘relentless passion, fearless ambition’ and Shea lives more along the lines of ‘realistic expectations.’ So, we kind of balance each other out really well,” Mason says. Together, they realized the sheer magnitude of the industry. Shea now specializes in business development and business-to-business connections for Stand Offer. When it comes to the future of the company, much of it is a waiting game. Crowdfunding websites are currently in limbo as exact details of future crowdfunding laws are considered and determined. Of course, the ambitious Mason and Shea continue to work on other endeavors as they wait. The duo have released another website in the meantime, justcrowdfunding.com. The site reviews recent updates in the industry, while also discussing the future benefits of crowdfunding, such as disaster relief. The two also have plans to film a commercial at Shea’s estate in Austin, Texas, during spring break. “It’s actually going to be a little racy. We’ll just say that the University of Texas cheerleading squad is going to be involved,” Mason explains. Lofty inspirational figures, such as Steve Jobs and John D. Rockefeller, some of the richest businessman in history, have kept Mason motivated. The 20-year-old feels that he is making the right move to follow in their footsteps. For Mason, it’s not all about the money, but a sense of personal accomplishment as well. One of the next steps in Mason’s journey is to set up a charity that would support hard-working, successful students. As a student, he wants to see other students that exhibit the same passion for their future that Mason has for his business. Mason feels there is a stigma that

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Crowdfunding

EXPLAINED

An idea is thought up and presented to the public.

Individuals donate money to the idea to help with start-up costs.

$ When an idea gathers enough support, it is produced and profits can be shared among funders.

many students believe they need to fit a mold to be attractive to employers and he is devoting his time and energy to prove that is not the case. As the head of his own company at such a young age, he wants to be the inspiration students need to think outside the box and overcome the conventional way of thinking, just as he always has. “It’s society that hinders innovation,” Mason says. “But it comes to a personal level of how you’re able to react to how society tries to fit you into a mold.”