how to launch an ico (the right way)

How to Launch an ICO(The Right Way)Drive your ICO launch from the discovery phase all the way through post-sale.

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The amount of misinformation regularly circulated and recycled in the media about what an ICO (Initial Coin

Offering) is and what role it plays in your company and product can be overwhelming.

This document exists not only to clarify your understanding of ICOs, but to serve as a roadmap for companies

interested in creating and successfully launching their own digital token.

The ICO process may seem intimidating. However, a well-established process is a good starting point for

companies to raise the capital needed for special projects.

Introduction

© 2018 iAM Marketing, all rights reserved.

An Initial Coin Offering, or ICO, is a financial and technological venture in which projects create a crypto token

as an extension of a new product or service. They then sell that token in order to raise funds for the project as

a whole.

ICOs function by seeking investors who send funds to a smart contract that stores those funds and distributes

an equivalent value in the new token at a later point in time. An ICO is not an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Tokens are not traditional stock shares, but may offer equity in the company or project.

THE PROCESS OF LAUNCHING AN ICO TRADITIONALLY FOLLOWS FIVE STAGES.

Discovery: Determine the viability of integrating a digital coin into your project and your ability to execute an ICO.

Pre-sale: Define your concept and brand, create your white paper, construct your roadmap, and build your technological infrastructure.

Token Sale Event: Establish your presence in the global market. Successfully announce your platform.

Post-sale: Maintain your momentum. Continue managing your reputation and providing support for your product.

Ongoing Development: Continue defining and evolving your brand, and guiding the future of your product.

One of the first things you’ll want to do when preparing to launch an ICO is to assemble the right team.

Make sure to build a team of people who are willing to invest their time, skills, and networks into the vision and

the intended product your ICO will be funding. Also make sure every member of your team has verifiable

LinkedIn accounts. This will streamline the networking process.

It’s also important that the team members who you engage with have experience participating in successful

ICOs. This will position your ICO for success.

When building your team, avoid “top-heavy” staffing that emphasizes executives and administration over a

team of experienced engineers who can successfully execute your platform. Be sure to engage only an

experienced blockchain developer.

Launching an ICO


Frame Your Fundraising Carefully Your ICO is a fundraising method for the launch of a business project, not a cash-grab.

Too often startups have been encouraged to view an ICO as a quick, easy fundraising tool to capitalize their

new venture. This is dangerous thinking that will lead to a compromised approach and flawed execution.

Contrary to popular belief, ICOs are not the new gold rush. An ICO is not “a get-rich-quick system meets

Kickstarter.” An ICO is an investment, a risk, and an ongoing commitment. You can’t take the money and run.

Completing your ICO campaign is at least a four-to-five-month journey, and every moment of that time must

be spent meticulously and thoroughly executing every step of the development process to have any hope of

successfully launching your platform.

Pre-sale work is essential. You have to market early, generating real interest and enthusiasm in your token.

You must ask yourself, “What makes our platform unique? How is it serving the needs of the crypto/blockchain

community in a way that isn’t already being addressed?”

You also have to be able to convey the answers to those questions to potential contributors.

Build the networking and event infrastructure necessary to raise the right kind of awareness from the

beginning. Equally important is sufficiently capitalizing your campaign.

Secure FinancingObviously a very large part of launching your ICO is securing enough financing to do so. There are a number

of important considerations to keep in mind when planning this aspect of your ICO.

Try to raise as much money for your project as early as possible.

Factor in the extensive legal and investigatory fees that are a normal part of running an ICO.

Always budget a cushion for the unexpected.

Decide how you’ll accept contributions. Will you accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, or both?

Decide how you’ll incentivize your contributors through the tokens that you issue.

Do the math. Research and calculate all of your projected costs in order to justify your fundraising goal.

You are going to be creating a cryptocurrency economy - make sure you test your math against various

circumstances. Once you code the math into a smart contract, there’s no edit button. Contributors will feel

more comfortable knowing you’ve done due diligence.


Prepare for Your ICO

DiscoveryA Viable ProductDo you have a viable product for an ICO?

As previously stated, an ICO is not a fundraising tool with a universal adaptor. Not only can an ICO be the

wrong choice for a company, but in some cases it can be detrimental.

When an ICO fails to raise sufficient funds, the time and money expended can be enough to severely damage

your brand and reputation. It can also threaten the solvency of your other ventures.

You cannot simply create a token and market it. You must have an innovative product that both addresses a

need or fills a gap in the current space and utilizes your token in a unique and inherent way to do something

real. Those conditions are absolutely vital.

If you don’t have a viable product yet, then the first step is to develop an idea for one.

Here are some ideas that can help you come up with a product for your ICO.

Examine successful tokens on the market and evaluate the properties that have aided them in securing and sustaining their value.

Find the organic connections between your product and a functional digital token.

Think past your internal goals. If your only defined goal is making money for yourself by creating a digital coin, what incentive will anyone else have to buy your coin?

Generate value for potential users. Investors and buyers need to see how your coin will be secured, and how your company and product will back it.

Some other issues you’ll want to explore during the discovery phase are whether you can integrate your

digital token into your business model in a meaningful way. Also, consider the security you’ll want to integrate

into your token. A secure token is an essential part of any ICO.

Finally, do you have the necessary funding in place yet to launch a successful ICO?

Once you’ve finalized all of these issues, you’re ready to move on to the pre-sale phase of your ICO.


Pre-SaleBuild the ConceptThere are three key concepts you should consider during the conception of both your new token and your ICO

campaign: The team you will assemble, the goals of your project, and the protection you can offer your investors.

These are the subjects that will most interest your core audience. All three must be clearly defined and

conveyed to that audience before your ICO launch.

The Team: A strong, experienced team is one of the most attractive qualities to the eyes of investors and the most central to your coin’s success. Avoid engaging inexperienced or unknown members whenever possible. Don’t plan for your team members to remain anonymous. Remember, if you can’t sell your team, you can’t sell your coin.

Goals: Never present goals to investors that are unclear or unrealistic. Define them early, and boil them down to a form that you can convey easily and that investors can understand. Plan to have your white paper thoroughly researched, refined, and ready to present. If possible, also have a functional, tested product ready. A working prototype is always the strongest argument for your ICO, and should be the center of your campaign if produced.

Investor Protection: What kind of premium will you offer early investors? Will you have a multi-signature escrow wallet for contributions and an easy process to return funds in the event your target raise is not achieved?

Defining each of these concepts clearly and simply will help you to promote your ICO to your core audience

in a way that will generate interest and build trust in the project.


Your Graphic IdentityAn important part of building your ICO is developing how it will be represented in the world.

Design an original combination logo consisting of a wordmark, or the type portion, and a symbol. These

elements can be utilized together or separately. The symbol portion of that logo will be the face of your coin.

The quality of your graphics is a direct reflection on the quality of your ICO, so this is an important element of

your overall business plan.

TO ENSURE SUCCESS WITH THIS:

Invest in experienced designers.

Study the leading coin brands, their symbols, and why they work.

Your symbol should capture the essence of your project.

Choose colors wisely, and restrict yourself to three primary colors or less.

These are only basic tips, but hiring a strong design team will go a long way toward establishing a strong brand

as you launch your ICO.

The White PaperYour white paper describes the project your ICO will be funding. It also details the commercial, technological,

and financial aspects of your new coin offering for anyone deciding whether to invest in, purchase, or

otherwise use your coin. Disclosures and risk factors must measure up to compliance benchmarks that

regulators consider.

THE FOLLOWING ARE A FEW CONSIDERATIONS TO PRODUCE THE MOST EFFECTIVE WHITE

PAPER POSSIBLE FOR YOUR ICO.

The recommended length for your white paper is 15-25 pages. People usually don't read a white paper if it's much longer. Keep it simple. The goal is to condense all necessary information into the most easily digestible chunks possible.

Use graphics to visually represent and explain key information. This is a vital component of your white paper. Make sure to keep all your graphics relevant. Never include anything for the sake of only adding visual flair.

Explain financing. How much do you see your currency being worth? How big is your market cap? Most importantly, explain how you arrived at your answers for all these questions

Strike a balance between explaining the entire technological process behind your offering and not giving any insights into your technology at all.

Brand it. Make your white paper stand out by embodying your company’s style and image. Build confidence in your offering and your brand by introducing yourself and explaining why your company is offering this new coin and the advantages it will bring.

If you add all of these elements to your white paper, you’ll ensure that it serves as a valuable resource for

anyone looking to learn more about your ICO.

The TimelineEstablish a realistic timeline of all processes and deliverables involved in creating and launching your ICO from

inception to ongoing development.

Collaborate on your timeline. Seek the detailed input of every team member. Don’t just ask for timeline goals,

understand why and how each of them will achieve those goals.

Take into account each step in the ICO development process outlined in this white paper. Make sure to factor

in lengthy but necessary practices like legal investigation and contract creation. Also compare and contrast

your timeline with those of similar products and companies who have undertaken successful ICOs.

If you follow your established timeline and ensure all deliverables listed above are completed according to

that plan, you’ll not only accomplish your long term goals but you’ll earn the trust of your investors and

potential customers.


Your Token Sale Landing PageYour website will form the first impression of your ICO for most prospective investors, buyers, and any other

interested party. This, in conjunction with your white paper, will determine whether or not these individuals and

companies will commit real interest and ultimately real dollars to your project.

TO CREATE THE PERFECT LANDING PAGE FOR YOUR UPCOMING LAUNCH, KEEP ALL OF THE

FOLLOWING FACTORS IN MIND.

Main page: The first page should clearly state your company’s mission, any problems you intend to solve, and always include a call to action.

Offer a snapshot: Your website should offer a snapshot of all the points explained at length in your white paper.

Financial concerns: Many of your visitors’ key questions will be financial. Make sure your website offers transparent answers to questions like token price, presale dates, token sale dates, soft and hard caps and how the funds will be used.

Utilize strong visuals: Don’t overload your website with endless words and plain texts. Whenever possible include meaningful videos, interviews, graphics, and infographics.

Integrate your social media: Give your potential clients and investors a way to interact with you and take part in your growing community of loyal followers.

Highlight achievements: Use your website to build your brand, its reputation, and its credibility by highlighting the achievements and experiences of your team members, advisors to your board, business partnerships or associations you have, and any favorable media coverage.

Keep a tab on your load time: Make sure your website can handle a high level of traffic and a large number of concurrent users without a significant drop in functionality. You can do this by choosing a website hosting plan sized to support the expected web traffic you expect to visit your site post-launch.

An effective landing page can prove to be a very powerful lead funnel if it’s designed and executed properly.

Legal PlanningProper legal planning is an important part of the planning stage for any ICO. This market is heavy in local and

national rules and regulations, both in the United States and abroad. So it’s very important that you stay on top

of the legal ramifications for all of your activities.

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE KEY LEGAL PLANNING ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER.

Engage legal counsel established in the cryptocurrency space.

Generate a legal opinion and description of your sale in compliance with SEC and other relevant agency guidelines.

Develop your smart contract. This will specify the conditions under which your coins will be transferred between parties and is a necessity for the exchange of your created token.

Marry Legal with Compliance to assure consistent disclosure to existing and potential investors through white papers, filings, and communications with regulators.

Taking these factors into account not only ensures that you keep yourself and your ICO out of legal trouble,

but it also proves to your investors and potential customers that you’re a responsible corporate citizen.


Token Event SaleEstablish a Global PresenceGlobal relationships and peer-centric information sharing drives the blockchain ecosystem. This makes it

imperative to establish a global presence in the marketplace and in key cryptocurrency spaces.

THE FOLLOWING ACTION ITEMS WILL ENSURE THAT YOU ACCOMPLISH THIS.

Develop a detailed marketing and public relations strategy.

Identify the public face of your company and any other key players who will make regular public appearances on your behalf.

Schedule interviews with journalists in both the mainstream media and in key cryptocurrency spaces. Podcasts that target your audience are a great resource.

Plan a powerful and compelling press release rollout for each phase of your token sale.

Establish a full-spectrum social media presence and maintain brand consistency across all channels, updating each regularly.

Utilize all of the above methods to build a community around your project. Engage with qualified community

managers to maintain standards and assist with any problem solving.

Token Exchange Announcement

Once you’ve followed the plan outlined in this white paper and everything is in place, it’s time to launch your

coin with a successful token exchange announcement.

Doing this properly can make the difference between a successful or a failed token launch.

Reach out to cryptocurrency exchanges to carry your coin so that it can be sold on the open market. Having

your coin accepted by several notable, compliant, and secure exchanges is imperative. Also, carefully

leverage the timing of your announcement to coincide with the release and availability of your token and any

other related development timelines in your project.

Make sure to coordinate with your technical and consulting teams on the public release of information. Often,

the proper timing of your message can make a significant difference on how it’s received by the intended

audience.


Post-SaleJust the BeginningNow that your coin is launched, your work isn’t over. In fact, it’s only just begun.

Now it’s time to build a post-sale phase into your marketing and public relations strategy. Remember to utilize

your community managers to keep everyone following your channels informed and up-to-date on both your

current status and your future plans.

This communication is vital to reinforce your token holders’ sense of security in the future of their coins.

Maintain MomentumYour efforts up until now have built up great fanfare and excitement surrounding your ICO. Now is the time to

deliver as much value as possible to customers and token holders.

TO ACCOMPLISH THIS:

Keep your social media channels regularly updated with fresh content.

Monitor forums such as Bitcointalk and those dedicated to cryptocurrency on Reddit.

Be reactive in a positive way to any online feedback on your token.

Continue developing your product and refining your token’s intrinsic utility. That utility is paramount to providing security for your coin and the enhancing its perception as having a solid, valuable infrastructure.

Maintain clear and continuous public communications.

If you can keep the momentum of your pre-sale and sale event efforts going, the excitement around your coin

and your ICO will only continue to grow.


Checklist

USE THE FOLLOWING CHECKLIST TO TRACK YOUR PROGRESS FROM PRE-SALE TO POST-SALE AS

YOU DEVELOP YOUR ICO LAUNCH STRATEGY.

Concept iteration

Technical programming

Legal consultation

Tax jurisdiction and consultation

Cybersecurity

Technical build-out of ICO

Brand-building and identity

Website and landing page

Communications before, during and after launch

Ongoing support

Partner with iAM Marketing

While there may not be a guaranteed safe and easy road to funding, this guide demonstrates that, for the

company with the right product and the right mindset, ICOs can be launched effectively and efficiently.

However, whether you’re dealing with an Initial Coin Offering or any other complex financially and

technologically driven campaign, the process always involves more nuance than can be encapsulated in any

single document.

iAM Marketing is always ready to answer your remaining questions, and help you perfectly plan and execute

your ICO launch campaign.


how to launch an ico (the right way)

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