As work pays a smaller share, ownership pays a bigger one.Our view e4e is built to be the door: back founders from $10 and get a real Crowd SAFE.
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Design of the in-app backing receipt, in the new brand · Demo company, placeholder values
In 2022, Wiz said it was the fastest software company to go from $1M to $100M in annual recurring revenue: 18 months. In 2025, Lovable, an AI app builder for non-engineers, said it did it in 8, then passed $400M ARR with 146 people4.
| Company | Year | Months |
|---|---|---|
| Deel | before 2022 | 20 |
| Wiz | 2022 | 18 |
| Lovable | 2025 | 8 |
Lovable did it in 8 months. Company-reported figures.
Source: tech.eu (Lovable announcement); Wiz; TechCrunch, July 23, 20254
| Year | Index |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 1x |
| 2025 | 2x |
Indexed, 2024 = 1x. Stripe published the ratio, not the count.
Source: Stripe, February 24, 20261
Entry-level hiring is down about 65% at the 12 largest tech companies and about 76% at VC-backed early-stage startups, compared with 20196. So far in 2026, AI is the leading reason US employers give for announced job cuts, announced rather than realized7. SignalFire’s read is that many are starting companies instead, and it titled the chapter “Why starting a company is the new entry-level job.”6
| Employer group | Change vs 2019 |
|---|---|
| 12 largest tech companies | -65% |
| VC-backed early-stage startups | -76% |
The first rung of the job ladder is coming off.
Source: SignalFire, June 22, 20266
In the second quarter of 2026, the share of US nonfarm business output paid to workers fell to 52.8%, the lowest level ever recorded; the data begin in 19472.
That same quarter, the richest 0.1% of households held a record 25.0% of the stocks and mutual funds US households own outside 401(k)-type plans; the bottom half held 0.6%8. That is 136,779 households holding 43 times the stocks and funds, outside retirement plans, that 67.6 million households hold combined8.
| Part of output | Share |
|---|---|
| Paid to workers (record low since 1947) | 52.8% |
| Not paid to workers (100% minus the labor share, e4e arithmetic) | 47.2% |
Q2 2026, the lowest on record, in data going back to 1947. Our mathThe other 47.2% is the highest share not paid to workers on record.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Economics Daily, September 15, 20262
| Household group | Share |
|---|---|
| Top 0.1% of households | 25.0% |
| Bottom 50% of households | 0.6% |
Q2 2026, outside retirement plans. 136,779 households hold 43x what 67.6 million households hold combined.
Source: Federal Reserve Board, Data through 2026:Q2, updated September 18, 20268
As work pays a smaller share, ownership pays a bigger one. If labor’s share keeps falling as AI spreads, more of the returns flow to whoever owns the companies, and broad ownership is the only hedge that scales.
Anthropic went from a $61.5B valuation to $965B in about 15 months, every step a private round9. The median tech company now goes public at 12 years old, up from 4 in 199910. And only 18.5% of US households qualified as accredited investors in 2022, so more than 4 in 5 are shut out of most private deals3.
The growth public markets used to share now happens before the IPO, behind a wall.Our view
US first-time venture financings hit 8,625 in the first nine months of 2026, already past 2021’s full-year record of 8,50711. Meanwhile, the number of emerging VC firms closing a fund fell from 927 in all of 2022 to 211 through September 202611. Rounds of $100M or more, about 5% of deals, took 75% of the money in Q311.
Solo founders feel it first: 30% of the startups founded in 2024, 14.7% of the cash raised in priced rounds5. Companies keep multiplying while capital concentrates at the top, so the long tail of founders is structurally underfunded, and AI makes that tail longer every quarter.Our view
| Period | Financings |
|---|---|
| 2021, full year | 8,507 |
| 2026, Jan to Sep | 8,625 |
| Period | Firms |
|---|---|
| 2022, full year | 927 |
| 2025, full year | 440 |
| 2026, Jan to Sep | 211 |
First-time venture rounds passed the 2021 record in nine months, while the number of emerging VC firms closing a fund fell by more than three quarters.
Source: PitchBook and NVCA, October 202611
Ulises built e4e’s payments, identity and Crowd SAFE stack in about a week, working largely solo with AI. e4e is an example of the shift it is built for.
Co-founder & CEO
Co-founder & COO
Regulation Crowdfunding, live since 2016, lets US startups raise up to $5M a year from the public, accredited or not, and anyone can invest at least $2,500 a year12. It is where both lockouts meet: founders without a first check, people without a way in.Our view
Through 2024 it carried at least $1.3B in reported proceeds13. One private Anthropic round raised $65B9.
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Reported Reg CF proceeds, May 2016 to Dec 2024 | at least $1.3B |
| Anthropic Series H, May 28, 2026 | $65B |
Drawn to scale. Our mathEverything Reg CF has reported is about 2% of one private round.
Sources: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Economic and Risk Analysis, May 2025, data May 2016 to December 202413; Anthropic, March 3, 2025 to May 28, 20269
The incumbents followed the money upmarket. StartEngine, with $642M raised across 1,513 Reg CF offerings, made 79% of its 2025 revenue selling accredited investors stakes in funds that hold late-stage private shares, a lower-margin product by its own account, and 9.6% from Reg CF fees14.
The door works, but no one has built it as a feed-first consumer product.
| Step | TodayOur view | On e4e (by design) |
|---|---|---|
| The pitch | A long offering page | A vertical video, under 90 seconds |
| Starting amount | Set by each offering | $10 presets |
| After you back | Documents in your account | A numbered backer card to post (designed for launch) |
| What spreads it | The founder’s own emails and posts | Every backer’s card links back to the raise |
On Sep 30, 2026 the SEC proposed letting anyone who passes a FINRA exam, and holders of CPA, CFA and CFP credentials, qualify as accredited, and proposed easier retail access to private funds15. The House passed the INVEST Act 302 to 12316.
The SEC items are proposals open for comment. The INVEST Act passed the House Dec 11, 2025 and was referred to Senate Banking Dec 15, 2025. Neither is law.
The e4e app is in testing on iOS (TestFlight) and Android. The full backing flow (swipe, card charge, signed Crowd SAFE) has run end to end in test mode. No live money has moved.
Design of the app in the new brand. Demo company, placeholder values. The test build runs today's design.
Founders post a short vertical pitch, under 90 seconds. Backers swipe a feed of them.
Preset amounts start at $10. A card is saved once on Stripe, and the server creates and confirms the charge at commitment.
Every commitment is confirmed with Face ID, Touch ID or fingerprint, falling back to the device passcode. The server generates a Crowd SAFE for each backer, fingerprinted with SHA-256, that references the founder's sealed form by hash.
Each backing is designed to make a numbered backer card that links back to the raise, so the people who find it can back too. In design, not in the app yet.
DesignWhy a feed: new App Store apps arrived at nearly twice 2025's pace in the first half of 2026, while downloads grew 2%17. Builders don't lack products anymore. They lack an audience, and e4e is built to give them one that can back them.Our view
e4e is built on Regulation Crowdfunding, US law since 2016. Equity For Everyone, Inc. is a Delaware C-corporation. It is not a broker-dealer or a funding portal, and it is not registered with the SEC or FINRA. At launch, offerings will run through a registered funding portal: a partner's, and later possibly our own. The database has a gate for this: a real campaign cannot open until an active intermediary of record is attached and has passed a background check, and an escrow provider with a signed agreement has been verified by a test payment seen landing outside e4e's balance. No escrow agent is signed yet and no real money has moved. Only demo campaigns run today, in test mode.
Only the server can mark someone verified. The app cannot approve itself.
Founders seal a form of Crowd SAFE once per campaign. Every backer's agreement references it by hash, and commitments are refused until it exists.
Each backer's 12-month limit is checked on the server before every charge. Issuers are capped at $5M in any 12 months.
Payments: Stripe · Identity: Persona · Backend: Supabase. Vendors, not partners or endorsers.
Studies that measure where crowd money comes from keep finding the same two stages.
On Sellaband, friends and family put in about a third of the money early and about a fifth by the end, and only investors outside that circle got more likely to invest as a round filled18.
On Invesdor, campaigns that raised 30% in an invitation-only phase succeeded 77% of the time, versus 17% for those that did not19.
| Stage | Friends and family | Everyone else |
|---|---|---|
| After the first $500 or 4 weeks | 33% | 67% |
| By the end of the raise | 20% | 80% |
| Campaign did this | Did | Did not |
|---|---|---|
| Raised 30% or more in the invitation-only phase | 77% | 17% |
| Posted the round on the company's Facebook page | 58% | 11% |
On Sellaband, friends and family put in a third of the money early and a fifth by the end. On Invesdor, an invite-only first phase or a public post went with far higher success.
Sources: Agrawal, Catalini and Goldfarb, NBER, February 2011 (J. Economics & Management Strategy, 2015)18; Lukkarinen, Teich, Wallenius and Wallenius, 201619
A round needs both, so e4e is built for both. Your people signal interest first. Then the feed, your socials and every shared backer card bring the people who find you.
This is how e4e is designed to work. The backer card is not in the app yet, and we will publish measured results, not projections.
Network seeds, discovery fills. A founder's people will start the round; the feed, socials and backer cards will bring the people who finish it.Our view
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 01 Your people will reserve | Friends, customers and fans will reserve about the first 30%. No money moves. |
| 02 The filing | The founder will file the offering statement through a registered funding portal. Only then can money or commitments be accepted. |
| 03 People who find you will fill the rest | The feed, socials and backer cards will bring backers who have never met the founder. |
How founders will start a round on e4e. A plan, not a live feature. Our viewAbout 30% first is our target, after Invesdor campaigns that raised 30% in an invite-only phase succeeded 77% vs 17%.
Sources: Cornell Legal Information Institute, In force 202621; Lukkarinen, Teich, Wallenius and Wallenius, 201619
e4e is built around founders raising $100k to $1M. Backing starts at $10; the round is the unit.
Founders will start a round by testing the waters: their people will reserve, and no money or commitment is taken until the offering statement is filed21. The paid steps will come after about 30% is reserved, the threshold Invesdor's data points to19Our view
Founders, backers and founder software. Pricing stays a model until the funding portal of record and counsel sign off.
New backers will come through founders' socials and shared backer cards, not paid backer ads.
The $10 brings the backer. The $100 to $1,000 checks pay for the round.
Unit economics and the full model are in the deck.
Each date below maps to a commit or a publication we can walk you through.
Form C filings from 302 issuers, May 1 to August 7, 2026: who is raising, who is intermediating, and what it costs.22
Last updated 2026-10-21
e4e is building the place where that happens. Take 15 minutes with Ulises, co-founder and CEO.
