Comic Pete Smack Raised $60,000 by Selling Shares in Himself

Pete Smack raised nearly $60,000 from 104 investors by selling shares in his own stand-up comedy career, becoming the first entertainer to solicit backers on the crowdfunding platform Wefunder. The offering is regulated by the SEC, and the comedian spent $5,000 on lawyers to set up what he calls his seed round.

Smack, 57, was born Pete McEntegart. The North Carolinian had already worked as a Goldman Sachs investment banker, a Sports Illustrated columnist and a startup co-founder. Then, on Christmas Day a few years ago, he decided to change course. "I was on a run, and I realized I wanted to take one more big swing before I got too old," he tells Variety. He chose stand-up comedy, and a new name to go with it.

How the deal works

The structure mirrors a startup financing. Investors split 10% of Smack's gross revenues through 2029. On Jan. 1, 2030, their stake converts to equity at a $1 million pre-money valuation. Most backers committed between $100 and $150.

Smack pitched them with the same tools he once used for tech ventures: pie charts, graphs, risk factors and a valuation defense. "You can't have a truly diversified portfolio if you're not directly invested in a standup comedian," he began his presentation on the Wefunder page.

He was candid about the uncertainty. "While I can't guarantee what your financial return will be — the lawyers were pretty adamant about that," he wrote, "I'm confident you'll have a fun and entertainingly documented ride."

What does this change for a working comic?

It turns a precarious craft into something closer to a fundable small business, with accountability built in. Smack targets corporate gigs, cruise ships and "55 and greater" active-living communities. He bills himself as a clean comic, and as he put it in the pitch: "CLEAN = GREEN ($$$)."

He also published revenue projections for investors' collective share through 2029:

• Conservative estimate: $55,000
• Upside case: $116,500
• Dream case: $228,000

The real numbers so far are humbler. According to a six-page annual report, Smack brought in $18,497 in revenue in 2025 against $9,585 in expenses. He says 2026 is running at a similar pace. He keeps costs low in part because, after his father died in 2024, he moved in with his mother. "I'm figuring out how to make this work — as a living and as a business," he says.

A long road to the microphone

Smack's history with comedy dates to the 1990s, when he wrote sitcom scripts after college and before Goldman Sachs. While writing a "Seinfeld" spec, he had to draft stand-up material for Jerry and found it came naturally. In 1996, he signed up for an open mic in Virginia. Nobody showed up, and the event was canceled.

"I went home and performed for my two roommates," Smack says. "I used a ping-pong paddle as a microphone."

Nearly a decade later, living in New York and writing for Sports Illustrated, he took a comedy class and performed in a showcase. He never gave stand-up a full shot until now.

The seed money has already produced one asset. Smack rented a venue and filmed a special, "Last Man Standing," which debuted Sept. 22 on VOD platforms via Comedy Dynamics. He thinks the funds can last him a few years.

What comes next

Smack sends investors a monthly newsletter and says the pressure is mostly self-imposed. "If they make money, they'll be excited," he says of his backers, "but they just want to be along for the ride." He believes the progress reports make supporters feel invested in his career. "You know," he says, "because they literally are."

His ambitions now extend beyond the club circuit. He hopes a streamer licenses the special. He is writing a TV pilot loosely based on his life, exploring corporate speaking engagements on how stand-up lessons translate to business success, and has filmed a TEDx talk that has yet to be released. He is also building a new hour he dreams of taking to the Edinburgh Fringe.

In his October newsletter, he floated title ideas to his investors. "The new show has the working title 'A Happy Schmedium,'" he wrote. "(Other contenders: 'Time Flies,' 'Time Flew' and 'Time Is a Fat Circle.') The broad theme is the passage of time."