Nadine Scholz shows that crowdfunding potentially shortens the development cycle of new products, thus enabling an earlier market entry. Hence, crowdfunding serves as a multifaceted early-stage support instrument for innovation implementation facilitated by the crowd's resources. It not only provides upfront cash for product development and production, more importantly it enables a firm to show traction through the validation of the market demand that is based on the crowd's function as information multiplicator generating public exposure and feedback.  Contents The Crowdfunding Phenomenon Perspectives of Crowdfunding on the Innovation Process Research Design for the Empirical Study Critical Actors and Their Drivers in the Crowdfunding Ecosystem New Dynamics in the Innovation Process  Target Groups Researchers and students in the fields of business administration, innovation management, and entrepreneurship Entrepreneurs, people aiming to use crowdfunding The Author Nadine Scholz received her Master’s degree in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship from Manchester Business School, UK.