It was just like any other pitch to investors: justify the valuation, address the risks and make lots of impressive-looking pie charts and graphs. Except this time, Pete McEntegart wasn’t raising money for a tech startup, he was selling shares of himself. The 57-year-old North Carolinian had tried his hand as a Goldman Sachs investment banker, Sports Illustrated columnist and startup co-founder.
But a few years ago, on Christmas Day, he had a bit of an epiphany. He decided it was time to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. Pete McEntegart was no more; from that day forward, he’d be known as Pete Smack.
It doesn’t take a business genius to realize joke telling is not the easiest way to make a buck. And, as with startups, it takes a while for many comics to turn a profit — if a profit is to be turned at all. So, Smack decided he would raise money for his comedic venture and hold himself accountable to investors.
He turned to the startup crowdfunding service Wefunder and became the first entertainer to solicit investors on the platform. By early last year, he raised nearly $60,000 from 104 investors, the majority of whom committed between $100 and $150. Buying into Smack is a legitimate investment regulated by the SEC.
To set up his seed round, so to speak, the comedian spent $5,000 on lawyers. Smack pitched prospective investors in a humorous presentation posted to his Wefunder page. Smack offered family, friends and strangers on the internet a chance to split 10% of his gross revenues through 2029.
On Jan. 1, 2030, their investment converts to equity at a $1 million pre-money valuation. He’ll focus on corporate gigs and cruise ships, as well as “55 and greater” active-living communities. Plus, he’s a clean comic, and as he wrote in the pitch, “CLEAN = GREEN ($$$).” Smack also provides projections of what the investors’ collective share of his revenue might look like through 2029, with his conservative estimate at $55,000, upside case at $116,500 and dream case at $228,000.
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