THE ICO.

“ICO's are democratizing early-stage investing, allowing a wider pool of investors to participate. Token offerings shift power and control to the blockchain rather than one or two influential investors”

What is an Initial Coin Offering

When a #cryptocurrency #startup firm wants to #raise money through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), it usually creates a plan on a #whitepaper which states what the project is about, what needs the #project will fulfill upon completion, how much money is needed to undertake the venture, how much of the virtual #tokens the pioneers of the project will keep for themselves, what type of #money is accepted, and how long the #ICO campaign will run for. During the ICO campaign, enthusiasts and supporters of the firm’s initiative buy some of the distributed crypto coins with fiat or virtual currency. These coins are referred to as tokens and are similar to shares of a company sold to investors in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) transaction. However, token mostly are an utility for platform services, and therefore hold no rights on equity of the company or assets.

In a nutshell, ICOs are #crowdfunding #campaigns by startups to raise money for their ventures, rewarding early #investors with the startup’s own token, often at lower prices than later publicly available traded, therefore with a potential future appreciation of the token value. However, it is important to mention, the most common reason for a token’s rise in value is hype, or demand.

Although there are successful ICO transactions on record and ICOs are poised to be disruptive innovative tools in the digital era, investors are cautioned to be wary as some ICO or crowd sale campaigns are actually fraudulent. Because these fund-raising operatives are not regulated by financial authorities such as the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), funds that are lost due to fraudulent initiatives may never be recovered.

It is a bit superficial (at times). It is a bit miss-concept. It is a bit wrong publicity, which turns the ultimate great opportunity - to invest in a tech start up as an average joe - into a quick-flip cash-out misuse of the system. I am not saying this is wrong, but the original concept, the meaning, the revolution - democratizing through decentralization, empowerment through borderless trading - got a little lost in the #hype, #FUD and 20k #bitcoin prices.

What we are in need, and what is coming, is mass adoption of this technology by mainstream companies and conglomerates. Ultimately, concluding in appreciating success of todays' startups and its early supporter, and our society as whole.

"If you have the opportunity to invest in a revolution which is still in its infancy, which is just getting started, which is learning to walk before it can run… do it, because at some point this is going to get bigger than you could ever imagine”

Just imagine you invested and supported -- #MidasProtocol (Singapore) the most anticipated and sophisticated Platform for Traders; #Loyakk (USA) the Enterprise Solution of Decentralized Business Networks; #Cypherium (USA) a Fast, Mineable Blockchain with multi-level Governance; or #Envidatec (Germany) solution 'Empowers' for trading Solar Power in Remote Locations; #MyCreditChain (Korea) a blockchain-based Credit Scoring Platform; #xDAC (USA) super innovative Self-governed Platform for Autonomous Companies; #Redcab (Egypt) leading decentralized Peer-to-Peer Transportation; #Dice.Money (UK) revolutionizing Fundraising through Crypto mining; #Moonwhale (Sweden) 'Social Crypto Trading' for the next 10 million Crypto Investors; #Belotto (Peru) approach to secure and decentralize the world most know game 'Lottery'; #BiteCoin (France) the world first Food Delivery Loyalty App on the blockchain; #Productivist (France) initiating Industry 4.0 for manufacturing; #NOBAR (Estonia) simplifying Ecommerce - goods and services - All-In-One Platform; #BITOZZ (USA) ultimate Exchange for Crypto, Derivatives Trading; #Productivist (France) with its revolutionary approach to Industry 4.0; #MARAChain (Spain) most Secure Exchange of Digital Documents, #Dafzo (India) a Global P2P Logistics Platform which aims to democratize International Trade Finance -- at very early stage before adoption by a major conglomerate.

ICO Accelerator?

Undoubtedly, most founders of blockchain tech start-ups are super smart.

I know, I get it … an ICO is certainly not rocket science. The question is not, if you are capable to apply your smart-contract and blockchain tech with you business idea. The first and foremost question I have "Did you ever invest in an ICO yourself?"

And, are you able to answer the following questions -

Do you know which software for bounty to use? Or should you outsource? If you outsource, which firm is trustworthy?

Do you know what retail investors looking at before investing? How to attract institutional investors? Then, what ratio you should do private vs public sales?

What token price is suitable? Better to have more or less token? How much bonus can you give in private sales, and still be attractive for public sales investors?

How much token allocation for sales vs total token is attractive for investors? What is a reasonable hard-cap?

Have you any leads or network yet outside of the country your project originated? How will you target the global community? What is your plan to create brand-awareness?

Since only about 1% of citizens are into crypto, how will you ensure to 'sell' your project to the not-yet-crypto crowd? Furthermore, how you get firms, clients, consumers, enterprises to adopt and use your software?

Are you able to translate this complex, yet useful tech to a busy corporate CEO, who has no time to research blockchain technology, reporting to a board of directors, which perhaps haven't even heard about bitcoin yet?

Is Telegram and Twitter really necessary? How about Facebook? Ever heard of Reddit?

Should you attend blockchain events? Which ones? In what phase of your project?

Where is the MVP?

What are potential red flags in your offering?

Do you know how to pitch in Germany, in Sweden, Korea or Vietnam? Is there a different approach? Different crypto adoption, mentality and opinions.

Do you need your whitepaper in Chinese? Russian? How much is a good price for this technical translation?

Should you do an airdrop? How to attract people to your project or media channels? Will airdrop followers actually invest?

Is it important how you structure your website? Should any ICO rating appear on top of the landing page or rather at a later, more subtle place?

Do you need governance? What is KYC and how important is it? How to get a security token sales done? Do you need a lawyer for that?

Which ICO tracking and rating sites are useful? How much is a reasonable charge?

When is a good time to do public sale? January? October? How long should your public sale be scheduled? Is it useful to have a countdown on your website?

When should you list your token/ coin on an exchange? Which exchange is secure and has enough traffic?

How important is the team? Is it ok if they work part-time on your project? How many advisors are useful? How you compensate advisors, ambassadors?

Lastly, why are you using blockchain technology? To raise fund through an ICO? Get out of here!

I am here to help you. We are here to help you.