Funding Died. Is this a reasonable response? Any suggestions?
michael_dorfman: I hate to be that guy, but this sounds crazy.Let me get this straight: You want 20,000 people to send you $20 each, and a postcard.  You'll have an exhibition of these 20,000 postcards, and send the "artists" 60% of the sales price of whatever postcards you happen to sell.  So, if someone picks my postcard out of the 20,000 and then decides to pay $33 for it, I break even.Huh?So, that's how I react.  I would expect response to be close to nil.What would I recommend instead?  Well, first of all, I would continue to work banks/foundations/investors.  If you have a viable business plan, and a piece of property with some value, you should be able to raise some money (and leave a gap significantly less than $400K).If you are going to crowdsource the remainder, I'd either a) go with straight donations-- it's simpler, and more honest, or b) raise the "donation" amount to $100/$200, and use it as an "entry fee" in a skill-based contest (not a game of chance-- you'll want to talk to a lawyer about gaming laws) with a big enough payout to raise interest (i.e., a slice of the company, or a piece of the property, etc.).