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7 steps to run $100 Million ICO

20 December 2017 21:00, UTC

Margareth Nail

Reports of millions of dollars raised with ICO in a matter of days, and sometimes even minutes, inspire many innovators. However, despite the apparent simplicity of the process, coins offering is a complicated matter requiring proper preparation. Bitnewstoday.com has made an instruction for startups that plan to launch ICO, and explained how to create your own token.

So, the whole process of ICO can be divided into several stages.

Step 0

At the zero stage (before the decision to start ICO is taken), it is necessary to answer a few very important questions. First, does society really need your project, what problems does it solve? Are there similar products on the market? Why your product is better? Secondly, how much money do you have for project's implementation, can it be developed without tokens issue. These questions will help to determine whether it is really necessary to continue working on the project and whether or not it is necessary to launch ICO.

In addition to the foregoing, it is worthwhile to understand where the funds raised via ICO will be directed.

After a team decided that it cannot do without ICO, it is necessary to think about whether the project participants have enough knowledge and experience to issue tokens and raise funds. Here several options are possible.

Option 1. Among the team there are specialists in the field of ICO, who can be entrusted with this important matter. In this case, everything is ok, you should start working.

Option 2. The team knows something about the process of tokens issue, but never did it itself. In this case, you can deepen the knowledge by reading various professional blogs and articles and/or hire a consultant.

Option 3. The team has totally no idea about tokens issue. In this case, most likely, it is better to resort to the help of professionals. But it is worth considering that attracting experts is far from being cheap and on average costs projects about 350 thousand dollars. Therefore, it is necessary to resort to seek assistance from specialists only if it is planned to attract more than $2 million.

In any case, whether you launch ICO completely on your own, whether you hire consultants or outsource this process to a team of specialists, you must know certain points.

Step 1. Company registration

So, let's say that the project team is already assembled, the idea of the product is shaped, the competitive analysis is conducted. Now it's worth thinking about registering a legal entity. For these purposes it is better to choose those countries where regulators and legislation are favorable or at least neutral towards ICO projects, otherwise it is very easy not only to be fined, but also go to jail.

Step 2. We prepare a leaflet for investors

When planning to launch ICO, it should be taken into account that you present your product not to ordinary consumers, but to investors who plan to make money with this product. It must be kept in mind when project's documentation is worked out, or when you address investors on the project's page, in social networks, etc.

The most important document of the project is White Paper, which acts as a kind of business plan for the project. In this document, you need to specify all the information about the product, its advantages over competitors' products, information about the team, tokens and what are you planning to do with funds raised via ICO.

At this stage it is recommended to study White Papers of the projects, which are the leaders in terms of the amount of funds raised through ICO. And you can even copy some of their punch lines.

IMPORTANT: The most important and most interesting information is best presented in the form of illustrations - pictures, graphs, diagrams, charts. It must be remembered that investor does not have time to read a hundred-page documents. However, a project's presentation made on four pages also raises doubts.

So, let's look at how to create an ICO project. White Paper must contain:

1) information about how the idea to create this project crossed the minds of organizers, a short prehistory;

2) detailed description of the product, what problems it solves, why the market needs it. Also, you should specify the target audience of the product, for whom, in fact, it is being developed. It is better to present information of this kind not only in the form of text, but also in the form of diagrams.

When describing the product is necessary, first, to provide a detailed analysis of the market, including the potential for growth, existing and potential constraints, barriers. Secondly,to bring a detailed competitive analysis, compare the product being developed with the existing products on the market, highlight why your product is better than the existing products on the market and why consumers will choose it. Third, to give a detailed description of the technical side of the product.

It is IMPORTANT to: indicate in the document at what stage the project is developed, what has already been done and what is to be done.

3) information on pre-ICO, if there was any;

4) detailed description of the conditions for investors, including various bonuses, bounties, etc. You also need to specify how the team plans to distribute the funds that will be raised through ICO.

5) information about the team, including what kind of experience each participant has, how long he has been on the project. It makes sense to provide links to personal pages in social networks.

When White Paper is ready, it must be checked several times.

Step 3. Focus group

Present your project within the team, if it is possible invite experts, and try to reveal what questions investors may ask. White Paper is supposed to contain answers to these questions.

Step 4. Creating a website

It should be kept in mind that the site should be simple. Don't forget the rule that a user must find the needed information in three clicks. White Paper, as well as instructions for ICO participation must be published on the website. In particular, which cryptocurrencies and fiat money are accepted as investments, the cost of tokens, what wallets to use, etc. In addition, you should upload a manual on the use of personal account, etc.

The site must be translated into several languages. Experts recommend to make the site in at least English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French and Russian languages.

IMPORTANT: It is necessary to think carefully about the security of the site and wallets, since they can be hacked at any time. Recently, there has been many reports about burglaries and theft of funds during ICO.

Step 5. How to create a token for ICO

Currently, there are several platforms that help projects issue tokens. The most popular is Etherium, so it's the best option for teams with little experience. What is the cost of biggest ICO tokens?

Step 6. PR-campaign

The positioning of the team and project.

It is necessary to create accounts of the project in social networks, on special sites and constantly maintain them. It is important that the team responds promptly to questions from investors and other members of the professional community. Any criticism should not be answered harshly, as some reasonable remarks can help make the project better.

It is also important to consider how to run bounty ICO. By the way, bounty will also help to advertise the project in the web.

At this stage it is necessary to post information about the project in the media, on specialized ICO-tracker websites, on professional forums, etc.

Step 7. Launching ICO

This stage is the most complex and exciting. If a team has worked hard when developing White Paper, site, PR strategy, then 24/7 mode starts, since someone from the team must be always online to answer questions from the community.

If a team does everything right, and the idea of the product really pleases the market, the result will be not long in coming. Good luck!