How to start an ICO:
My brother Alex and I have been in the crypto community for a long time and have been closely watching the Initial Coin Offering space develop. This article is going to tell you about our ICO journey and what we have done until this point.
Team: We have been making money connecting home repair contractors to consumers since 2014, and we have found that putting together the right team can be extremely complicated. Don’t be afraid to pivot from working with a person if they are not someone that you want to spend the next couple of years with. We had to get burned over and over again to finally surround ourselves with a team we trust. Look at all these ICOs that fall apart after they raise the money. They get sued and sometimes face jail time because the money goes missing or one of the team members speaks out publicly against the company, etc.
Idea: A lot of companies out there seem to want to launch an ICO out of thin air without first having a working prototype. I find it fascinating that mere promises and screenshots created in photoshop could previously raise companies millions of dollars. Now as the space is maturing people are becoming more skeptical and less willing to back a product that doesn’t exist. For us, it was easy because our Skilled Trade Worker Platform (STWP) has been created and modified hundreds of times since 2014. That is why I recommend you create something before asking people for money. Also, having existing revenue is huge!
Website: In my opinion, if you want to have an ICO you should know how to make an excellent website. Go to a quiet place, close the doors and spend a week researching how you want this thing to look like.The reason why I advise you do this yourself because you will need to change it, adapt it and pivot multiple times. Now you could finish it but who has the time for that. I recommend you have someone on staff that can do the final touches, design and can consistently update it. Make sure to have a blog and that your security measures are up the wazoo.
Social Media: I think it is important to have social media presence for more than 90 days prior to your ICO’s pre-sale. Once you start your bounty campaign don’t have three followers. Start posting relevant crypto information and interact with the crypto community. You don’t need followers that don’t know what a wallet it. Also, don’t EVER BUY FAKE FOLLOWERS! Crypto people are not stupid. If you have 4 likes and 100k followers you look like a total clown. Don’t forget to create a bitcointalk account, and join every possible crypto group on facebook. Talk to people. That will pay off during the crowdsale.
Advisors: This portion I find to be the most difficult. You need to find successful business owners and crypto people that are willing to put their face behind your product. Here I recommend you start your conference roadshow. Start presenting in front of people and let them know what you are selling. I don’t suggest asking someone right away if want to be your advisor. Talk to them and get to know them first. See if you can help them before they help you.
Legal: We spent two months speaking to over 15 law firms. I find it funny that when we called law firms that deal with securities laws, we knew more than most of them in the ICO space. Don’t ever go with a firm you can’t relate to. Ask yourself: how will they help me stay out of jail if they don’t know anything about wallets, bitcoin, altcoins, etc. Find a firm that will bend over backwards to help you. We narrowed it down to one firm, inventuslaw.com, and now we go to bed knowing that these guys will do everything in their power to help us. They are always just one phone call away and not numerous unanswered voicemails. I met CEOs that have paid $300k retainers and complain that they cant get a hold of their lawyers. Don’t be that client.
Marketing: I will make a new article about this. This is the extremely complicated and most important part.
Public: You can’t start an ICO if you are not willing to be public. The first thing people will do check is find you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, etc. Make sure you are willing to be visible and also make sure you have an online presence. Nobody is going to invenst in a ghost.
Follow us on twitter BobsRepair
