Microcosm - 2nd Seedrs crowd-funding round

You'd have to actually buy stuff.

Revenue is calculated on the basis of eCPM per active user. Which is the effective revenue per thousand page impressions on the platform, divided by the number of active users.

It's a way of saying: "When we have X users, you can expect Y revenue".

Which means we know that when we bring on a forum of 500 people, how that translates to the bottom line in terms of our costs (page impressions) and our revenue (affiliates).

Our financial projections are based on that, it's one of our key metrics so we know which knobs needs turning to affect revenue (the active user one and the conversions when people see an affiliate link).

Buying stuff always helps, but we're building a business and that needs to be realistic and sustainable. A short term spike for this purpose is neither.

Sounds like we need to get mumsnet on here.

Essentially, yes, or another large forum that make the jump of their own accord.

VB, is it currently helpful for us to go out and sell Microcosm to other forums that we are involved with, or not at this point?

Whilst that definitely helps in the long-term, it's not going to transform things in the very short term and may make things worse (what focus we can dedicate to anything would shift to onboarding customers and answering pre-sales).

That is one of the ways we hope to grow, virally by the benefits of Microcosm being shown to other forum admins by their users who are asking for these features (mobile friendly, modern interface, events, etc). So long-term... yes, very helpful.

A small thing I noticed. If I google "free forum" or "set up forum" there is nothing about microcosm up there. If you can't seo your way to the top, might be worth buying an ad?

Yes, when we've raised the round.

No investors have cared about that as they know we'll do it. Most wanted to know how we're going to get our list of sales leads (answer: builtwith.com and clubs that are members of sports organisations), and a few have wanted to know how we're going to get the word "Microcosm" to rank #1 on Google for our domain (answer: the link in the footer of every site powered by us, we're #4 already).

Adverts won't buy us growth though, most forum software is chosen as a result of people on an existing forum saying "Why don't we do this new thing on <software>?". Or "What are our competitors or some known sites using?". Hence why we really wanted LFGSS to get on board... it helps answer both of those questions.

Beyond that, it's about approaching sites that we'll be a great fit for and explaining the benefits and hand-holding them through the onboarding and config. To show them how it could work for them. That's where a sales and accounting management team come into their own. The above is viral, but the sales stuff will be direct.

Just had an email from seedrs saying microcosm has ceased trading?

http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/256346/newest/

Whilst not true this instant, it will be true very shortly.

We've had to start the winding up process as we were unable to secure the next round of funding in time to avoid hitting the end of the runway. Further, we didn't have enough interest that a temporary round would save the day and we have not found a buyer.

The whole story is https://medium.com/@buro9/the-journey-of-a-london-startup-what-i-learned-when-my-company-failed-c67acd74b862 , which Seedrs should have linked from the email announcement to all investors.

Though the details of the crunch approaching and the fever-pitched activity of considering options and seeking investment are detailed here: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/256346/

Matt has now left and is taking a short break before beginning a new job (he's had offers already), and I am in the process of performing an orderly winding up of the company and selling off the assets so that I can return as much of the remaining cash as possible to shareholders.

Ah, sorry to hear this. I'd missed the other posts. Will have a proper read through and catch up. This and the euromillions were my big plan for 2014 and looking forward to early retirement.

Can I expect an email from Seedrs explaining what the next steps are and how I can get my SEIS releif?

Or have i missed something?

I just put the total amount I invested in the SEIS box on my self assessment, seems a little too easy, am I missing something?

For the initial SEIS relief, it is via the self assessment though I understand you need to send off the forms too? Perhaps someone else can advise on what they have done.

For the relief on the failed investment, the final accounts are being finalised at the moment (I approved the drafts this morning and am waiting to sign the forms). This will close everything with Companies House and HMRC. After this I believe that I have to send a letter to HMRC to trigger the remaining SEIS tax relief for the failed investment. This bit is still a few weeks away though like other things is chugging along.

moog, it is that simple. Though I believe that the SEIS3 cert that you should have received also should have been submitted somehow. I was under the (perhaps false) impression that you post it in to HMRC? Perhaps someone else who received the tax relief on the initial investment can advise on this.

@moog I don't do self assessment, very confused.

@Velocio thanks for note David.

@Zed you have to register for self assessment to claim it.
As you are just claiming the seis relief it's actually very easy to do (although takes a little while for hmrc to send the details).

I also had to leave some details from the certificate in the'extra information' box a few pages on. I don't think I need to send it off but I'll see what they come back with.

thanks @danb

I think I can do through PAYE also.

For anyone who didn't spot it, the Dissolution Notice for Microcosm was posted on Seedrs yesterday.

Anyone know what the procedure is for claiming loss relief on the remainder of my investment?

I never claimed relief in the first place. Would like to. Bah. I hate forms.

Claiming relief is the easy bit.

Self assessment form online, put the total investment amount in the box requested and it automatically works it out. You get the relief in a cheque in the post or directly to your bank account within a couple of weeks.

I'd be interested in this information.

Calling all Accountants...!

have a read of this sheet > https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323824/hs393.pdf

I don't think that goes into detail on loss relief for dissolution, just share sales at a loss (unless i've missed something). Also, that loss relief is claimed against chargeable gains. What happens if i have no other chargeable gains? Do i lose the relief?

that was the primer, here's the detail, insert '50%' and 'SEIS' for '20%' and 'EIS' > https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323692/hs286.pdf