At the end of each bubble is an inevitable blast. It so happened that the pop that came to be known as the Great Recession was the second worst economic crisis in American history. But out of this crisis came innovation, reformed lending practices and exciting ways for entrepreneurs to jump-start their businesses. An entirely new industry - stock-based crowdfunding, also known as funding portals - emerged from the ashes of the recession to revive resourcefulness, creativity and a lagging job market. While media attention during the 2007-2009 recession spiral focused on those companies that were 'too big to fail' and the questionable loans from mortgage lenders, the challenges faced by the small business, that cornerstone of America's industry , often lost in the shuffling and noise. . Unlike some of Wall Street's biggest corporations, bailouts for failing small businesses didn't happen. They just faded into obscurity, with a 2010 report from the US Census Bureau stating that between 2008 and 2010, more than 223,000 businesses had disappeared.[i]