ICOs usually take place in the early stages of a project. ICOs were introduced with the idea to pre-sell coins/tokens to investors and fund new projects. A white paper is presented by the entrepreneur describing the technical specifications and business model of the project.
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are a popular fundraising method used primarily by startups wishing to offer products and services, usually related to the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.
Essentials to launch your ICO
Appropriate back-end infrastructure
Roadmap and White paper
Checking regulations and ensuring there aren’t any security violations
Managing and maintaining an escrow account
Marketing and PR
Roadmap to an ICO
Pre-ICO
Planning, organization, coordination and strategy planning is all done at this stage. After the idea of the project is finalized, the white paper and other technical documents are readied up for reference.
Prototype
Prototypes are developed so that investors can get a look and feel of what they are getting their hands into. Assembling a good team becomes highly important at this stage, as they will be the heartbeat of the project.
Legal formalities
Lawyers and legal advisors cannot be neglected, as they may prove to be of huge help when it comes to adhering to local rules and regulations.
A Solid Community with 24/7 Coverage
Community build-up is a crucial part of the pre-ICO stage, as it helps to spread the word about your project, and in turn, attract potential investors.
Once all is said and done, the token economies and sale timings need to be finalized, so that you can figure out when and to whom would it be the most profitable to sell your crypto tokens.
During ICO:
Security is of prime importance once your ICO goes live. You must protect it from scammers who may use address scamming to trick investors into transferring funds to wrong accounts. A reliable hosting service and a simple website is a must here, with FAQs and guide/tutorial videos added wherever necessary.
Keeping the community engagement is a large part of security, as you must ensure that your investors/users communicate with you using legitimate sources, and know how to go about using your project, in order to defend themselves from potential scammers.
Post-ICO:
Locking up your tokens after the ICO is generally a good idea. This prevents pump and dumps traders from dumping all their tokens on the market to generate quick profits. Also, since your project is a new one, exchanges would have received multiple requests to trade your tokens. Keep in contact with them, as you may be needed to take some remedial steps in order to deal with a large demand.
Community interaction is a must here too, as you must keep your investors and users updated about the latest happenings within your project. Only with the cooperation of your users, and technical skill of your team will you be able to build and sustain a huge ICO.