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Hello!

I would be interested in stories about ico's that didn't work out. (Maybe the project it self had great potential)



What are the main reasons why an ico can become unsuccessful?



On what ico startups need to watch out before they go live?



The theory about ico's is perfectly clear to me, but like with everything in life, theory is one thing and real experience the other. I do believe that failures are a very good sources to learn from. My personal experience is that in many cases people do learn more from failure examples than from success examples.


I ask for unsuccessful ico stories because my company will soon launch an ico for our 2 projects: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2129844.msg21279456#msg21279456 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2129844.msg21279456#msg21279456) and I would like to avoid "mistakes" that could possible turn out to be unsucessful.


>>> ICO starting tips:
(*List made by community members)

- Be aware before creating an ico, with the only intention to fund another shittcoin, you lower common peoples trust in crypto and you damage the hole ecosystem!
- Make sure your website is secure, i.e don't get 'hacked'
- Make sure your ETH or BTC address doesn't change on your homepage
- You should have a good design
- Detailed whitepaper
- List of team members with their previous projects and social profiles
- If you distribute tokens through web or client software, make sure that those products are rock solid and secured against possible threats
- You should recruit some people who have been popular in this forum for your ICO team
- You must have a fund for first development
- Create a detailed roadmap too, and don't delay it
- Always provide a working and secure product
- Do not focus only on getting fund
- Keep in touch with the investors even you were busy you should provide an announcement of progress. In the ICO Thread and in social medias.
- Choose the right time, because there's a lot of ICO going on every day, is it because of competition
- Ad a pitch deck that will define your business and revenue model to the white paper
- Give details about possible profit
- It will be very interesting for investors if you can show documents or some evidence that your coin will be listed on major exchange immediately after the ICO finish
- Make benchmark analyses of other ico's
- Inform yourself about legal situation (i.e. US citizens regulation)
- Determine the total supply of coins (initial / final) and then stick to it. Don't change the supply in future.
- Inform about pre-mining or any funds reserved by the development team / company
- The coin should have a successful coin exchanger registration
- If you need pre-ico investment offer at least 1 investment security method like escrow + muli-sign
- Make a clear statement what will happen to the collected funds if the ico does not succeed. Refund? Keep the funds?
- List all your projects that you have delivered previously, if any.
- Announcement about the ICO/pre-ICO should be publicize at least a week before the scheduled ICO/pre-ICO
- Compile with local laws /if any (China example)
- Prepare agreements to list the coin at exchanges and communicate any listing done
-Write HOW tokens relate to the project (only speculative, or a security)

Make sure your website is secure, i.e don't get 'hacked', if you are looking for people to send you ETH or BTC make sure your address doesn't change on your homepage.

Thx I added them to the list :-)

Are you suggesting to run second server to verify your page hasn't changed?

Can the page not be signed using BTC/ETH address so reader can verify it's unique?

I am very curious on the best solution to make sure you site is not changed. This probleem is bigger than just ICOs

Make sure you don't rush your ICO without a good plan. Otherwise investors will invest to other projects. You should have a good design, detailed whitepaper, list of team members with their previous projects and social profiles. Most importantly, if you are planning to distribute tokens through web or client software, make sure that those products are rock solid and secured against possible threats.

thx! added to list

You could probably write a script that runs from you home machine that looks for the html tag that contains your ETH address, if it changes then get the script to email you or alert you in some fashion.

you should recruit some people who have been popular in this forum for your ICO team, you can't do the project with only you and real team in your place and that "newbie" rank it's hard to make people interest, and don't forget you must have a fund for first development, you can't wait until some investors pay to start the pre-alpha development, create a detailed roadmap too, and don't delay it ! 

that's all from me

thx! I added it to the list

The script is good idea any way. Signing the website would be full proof right?

My most important expectation is: Always have very detailed roadmap and write how and when you are gonna do things. Delays don't matter
And always give us working secure product if you are claiming its working secure product. Lot of ICOs create just basic apps and tell us its like final product. I hate that.

thx I added it to the list

Just do not focus only on getting fund

thx I added it to the list

What about own ico software or use of ico platforms? Choosing the right ico platform is for sure major important i would say. What can you mess up by your choice?

Hello,

I am with CCCoin.Network ... we have currently pushed back our ICO due to lack of interest and have given away almost 750,000 tokens as a bounty just to grow the network and increase awareness.

If I can give you any advice --- It would be to go all in on flash and marketing.  As much as you can afford. (Unfortunately) You can create the biggest scam of a project/company in the world and as long as you market it properly it will sell.

In the Startup world and as an Investor you are taught to release an MVP --- minimum viable product --- so you can start making an income ASAP to reinvest back into the product/business.

In the crypto world that is a bad idea --- You need to market your product as much as possible before the release and make your website is “pretty and flashy” as most investors don't understand the technology behind what they are investing... thus they are investing based on appearance.



What we did was
1. We said let's get a workable & secure website out nothing exciting

2. Let's have an ICO -- asap to create some money to reinvest

3. Then take that money and start really building something legit - (For us that is an online e-commerce platform - where people can sell their services - and we will accept cryptocurrency -- in which we will give a discount to CCCoins).


We have only spent about $1,500 marketing --- And that is absolutely - what we would do differently. Because long term we have cost ourselves more in bounties & giveaways than had we just paid a couple big time marketing services.


We thought (and hoped) that we could build a good socially responsible company ...

1. Then create a bunch of social media accounts (Twitter / Facebook / Reddit / LinkedIn / Slack) ...
2. Put out some press releases ...
3. Write a few Medium posts ...

And eventually, because the product was good in nature and unique - that it would catch on.  

Well, it has gone okay, but we have not raised $1mil like (internally) we wanted.  


The good news is – the e-commerce platform is ¾ the way done. That would not have been the case had we paid for marketing. --- However, we will never know how much our ICO could have been had we:

Bought press releases
Bought banner ads
Paid people to do positive reviews of our site on Youtube … etc.
Paid for Twitter & Facebook friends / spammers / bots.
….etc.

 

I would be happy to refer you to some people who have helped us --- and ---not helped at all--- along the way if you want to DM or email. 

Many thx for this huge insight! Much appreciated! And I agree 99% by ico's is about marketing/pr. To ensure a very successful ico you need some proper amount of funds. That is one reason why we chose the very very hard and long way of early stage investment for our 2 products. $1.5k is today just nothing..... $150k+ and you can start rocking.... sadly but true.

I'm always open to referral contacts, if they are worth the time.

I will make a list and DM you some in the next could days.

Well this are good lists, I had joined a campaign before and the team was composed of popular people here in this campaign. But, the ICO didn't end up well. There were a lot of supporters during their ICO but only 1/4 of the coins were sold during the ICO. I wonder what went wrong, maybe it's because there's a lot of ICO going on every day, is it because of competition?

Make sure you have a well written business plan alongside a pitch deck that will define your business and revenue model. Most whitepapers I've seen only detail on the technical side and ICOs of the projects. And it's so unfortunate that most ICO investors don't care about what the company business model is, they wanna start trading their token and watching 10x or 100x. Period.

So far the list to be need is almost done and perfect from the previous ico that knows only to run the ico without securing the most expensive things the investments of the crowd. I will add that i think is very needed not only in ico it must be before and after.

Keep in touch with the investors even you were busy you should provide an announcement of progress. In the ICO Thread and in social medias.

After said,market your product to the word through the social media,let your presence be felt,with constructive post regularly.follow up on all your team to be sure they all understandthe road map

thx! take your time tho

Sorry to hear it didn't work out! Thx for the hint to choose the proper time for the ico!

Make sure your project is unique not just a copy paste project, and one of the concentrations of investors is an exchange that will list your coin, it will be very interesting for investors if you can show documents or some evidence that your coin will be listed on major exchange immediately after the ICO finish.

That will be so difficult because we must need to see the code, if that was just another forked code from another Project and just stay away from there but that was not easy as you said that.
There are some reasons to use the same basic code with another Project. to make your own improvements.

thx, I added it to the list!

Thx! added to the list

Most companies have not proven anything and their valuation are staggering. Many will not succeed, a few will become behemoth.  :o

I will add benchmark analyses seems to be a reasonable thing to do :-)

Will add: -  Inform yourself about legal situation (i.e. US citizens regulation)

I would mention a couple of terrible projects, not just ICO. Skyway ICO is one. Well, they are mentioning a very large ICO turnout which is believed to be just another made-up figure. I think Skyway is a scam right from the get-go though. Monkey Capital is another. They are already listed on icobazaar.com and others. But for some reasons which involves unexplained internal problem, the ICO didn't push through. But the pre-ICO happened. Investors lost their money.

There is really a need for a thorough review of the project you will invest into. No less than that is needed.

Determine the total supply of coins (initial / final) and then stick to it. Don't change the supply in future.
Also, if there is going to be any 'pre-mine' or any funds reserved by the development team / company, be transparent about it and don't lie.

Thx! added to the list

Thx for the info!

Well having a bad experiences from unsuccessful ico projects was a very disgusting moments of altcoins campaigns hence that copy pasted idea leads people to participate and being scammed. It's better to be more vigilant on the platform of the currency ico and  the coin has a successful coin exchanger registration, so you can be assured that you belong to the success of the project. It's not necessarily to the major coin exchanger but important is the exchanger is legit in order for us to have good tradings. 

Thx! added to the list

I will add: 

If you need pre-ico investment offer at least 1 investment security method like escrow + muli-sign

Adding: - Make a clear statement what will happen to the collected funds if the ico does not succeed. Refund? Keep the funds?

Added:
- Be aware before creating an ico, with the only intention to fund another shittcoin, you lower common peoples trust in crypto and you damage the hole ecosystem!

Anything else to add?

I added another list that might help:

Tools and services to use for starting an ico:

Nice and informative thread!

Will keep everything said here in mind as we are launching our ICO soon.

BAT ICO. everything is only promise and we still dont see any product for testing!

My experience on ETT and SONM is pretty worse I lose some capital on these ICO and it's totally a waste of time for spending some bucks on this project. And I think I will never ever do tradeds on this coin again since I think the dev of this tokens are selfish and no plan to give a good credits to his investors.

This year everyone want to launch ICO, so we must be accurate with the investings.

Yes that true! The hype is getting bigger!

But lets stay on topic and provide points to the starting list! Thx

One of many reasons why an ICO can be unsuccessful is the team behind the ICO, the product is not very clear for the audience and people don't know what are they investing in, then it can be the management, poor managing, not correct about the investments amount at a specific period of time etc etc. If the product is too good to be true then don't expect much supporters.

Sad to hear for your loss and i did lose money on joining on ICO, i didnt remember which coin since there are lots of project i did join and some of them do fail and some comes success.This is why im on break even side i guess. Before investing on an ICO i do usually see first if the developers are active on the community and always giving updates regarding  on their project and mostly i do engage to those who have real life products.

is SONN a bad ico. I see my friend make x2 profit from that when sold  ??? ??? ??? ???

The genius of ETH and other ICOs is it can raise millions of dollars without issuing stocks. Basically a way of raising money without pesky shareholders. You own the company 100 percent and owe nobody. Meanwhile the token holder owns something that is the equivalent of "that's not worth the paper it's printed on".

Once you have received the money you can pursue any agenda you're interested in. With no actual shareholders to be accountable to or any regulation there is no one to stop you.

Nice thread, I hope that it can help newbies to avoid scams!  :)

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2135456.new#new (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2135456.new#new) <<< Just a thought.... WARNING!!! - Shittcoin - How to deal with it?

If so I suggest you start chaining your signature... If you are honest with that!

Its something basic, but I will add it nevertheless:

- List all your projects that you have delivered previously, if any.

My experience in following the unsuccessful ico, is very disappointing because it's not just a week or two weeks I follow it, but from the beginning before the preico I've followed, almost 1 to 2 months, such as enigma project, which finally hacked by hackers , there is also equi that no investors want to invest, so my advice before going to follow a project, it must first analyze the project carefully

So you are observing chosen icos where you will invest in. Did you ever run your own ico?

90% of the icos out there won't satisfy those requirements...

Yeah.. feels like 99% of the ico's can't, don't or won't deliver.
Why would they.. they can get a new, bigger, easier bag of money for setting up the next ico and doing it all over again.

*** UPDATE***

Changes the TITLE to be better found in search

I think the announcement about the ICO/pre-ICO should be publicize at least a week before the scheduled ICO/pre-ICO. This will help investors to be prepared for your ICO. They can review about the project and do some deeper research about everything. A bounty that is managed by a reputable campaign manager sometimes works. If the investor noticed that the project's bounty is managed by such campaign manager then the investor might get hooked about the project.

Thank you! I added it to the list.

Sadly, still many of them get funded by the crowed falling in marketing, pr and dubious recommendations...

So you actually don't care about the technical part as long as the numbers in the business plan do look good to you?

To answer the title in a simple way, you just put up everything you have to offer with your token and that is what would attract investors to contribute in your ICO. The investors who look into your project and find potential in it are the ones who would make the ICO successful.
Other than this, be sure to use an escrow at the time of the ICO so the investors are sure they're not putting their money in a runaway scam.

Thank you for contributing!

If you need a little advise and some guidance, I suggest you reach out to the people of Cofound.it:  https://cofound.it

Maybe they can help you depending on how good they think your team is.  If you pass thru their selection process and training, it would surely help in making your project more successful.  Good luck.

Thank you for suggesting cofound.it, ofc we know about it, but unfortunately our way is a different one!

seems to have a team of experts in the field as needed.
I will follow this thread to get a valuable lesson

Much appreciated! Thank you!

just hope that after a lot of problems about ico that sometimes not until the end has stopped can make the investors will be more considering the small things that become obstacles can be immediately fixed and make the participants do not become disappointed with the performance of a project.

Well yeah, if you don't think your team won't make the selection process then I guess it's ok to skip working with Cofound.it and do it on your own.  But working with them does give an ICO project some sort of legitimacy tho.  I mean I know they're not an authority by any means but they're at least better than the ICO's that cropped up out of nowhere.

Why don't you try going thru their selection process?  You'll never know until you try.

Again Thank you for suggesting their service!

I would appreciate if you would stop trying to make it look like that our team is afraid or not professional and highly skilled and that our ico we are going to make might not be good because we do not use their service! I could assume, you promoting their service on the cost of our reputation. Cofoundit is a 3rd party service provider and we will not use it.

Other, you can visit this thread where we discuss possible solutions to give an extra trust factor to icos... "A community driven audit service" https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2135456.40

Will add to the list:

- Compile with local laws / if any (China example)

To start an successful ICO company has to have a strong white-paper. Strong white-paper – strong investors. The goals and the protection of investors’ interests are the three topics which tend to interest the audience the most. They have to be clearly determined and articulated to the audience before the launch of an ICO.

You definitely need to have a clear understanding of what your project is and why people would want to back it up. All your project’s plans, concepts, risks, solutions and summaries need to have a detailed explanation in your white paper. Investors have to believe in your idea and it’s only possible when they understand the details of the business and benefit backers can get from their contribution.

I think one of the most important things of ICO is  marketing and plan of your ICO. The idea of project can be brilliant  but you prepare weak presentation or your website is not attractive  dont  rely on big investments.

Pay more atantion on small details and prepare mobey for marketing activities.

good and reliable plan for people
money to start ICO
hardworkers who mentain the campaign or what ever you wil do activities
make sure your not a SCAM of course
be active to satisfy the worker.. good boss to the worker means good quality of work
thats it.. success will follow ;)

Ya you need definitely a good team including your so called "handworkers" for promotions and other activities... I m thinking to add that to the list

not only show the white paper and the marketing,  try to get some test of the service before launching so the investors got a real idea of what the ico will do in the real world.

teaser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8F1E__jnfc


Regards.

edgardo aguirre

It is a plus to have a service already running, but unfortunately this depends on the project. Many complex and time intensive projects are not able to work 1 - 2 years upfront fund everything out of own pocket to provide a functional solution and sometimes its also not very smart to give too much info to avoiding ideas or technologies to be stolen. Sometimes Its not that easy, tho.

That said, you need to divide between "easy" and "complex" projects. Like, is it a clone of something with small changes, something actually simple or something totally unique and complex. Unfortunately this opens the doors for scams, pretending something unique just make a complex whitepaper but at the end many of them just want to get an alt coin running, be traded and many times there is no real value behind the coin and never will be.

It can be said that it is understandable that "real" & "honest" complex projects (but not to be generalized) needs upfront funds and time to be established.

But it has a bitter taste of course and investors needs to think twice.

Many coins today get released in 3 - 4 weeks. Post white paper, create the coin, promote and run ico (what is probably the most time intensive and expensive thing in such projects) and list it on creepy exchanges.

In order for you to start a successful ICO and I would recommend that you have enough start up funds so that you can be able pay all the marketing expenses. Marketing is an essential tool for new projects launching their ICOs. You should enough funds to run/pay marketing campaigns such as bounty campaigns, banner advertising, ICO listings etc. Make sure that your project is transparent so that potential investors don't end up having doubts, bring your team members forward so that the public can see/read. Be sure to hire a professional graphic and web designer to ensure that your website and graphics are properly designed and looks appealing. These are some of the basics that in my opinion might make your ICO successful.

Above lists are very helpful for those who wanted to invest in ICO's. Also, this is good to have a marketing strategy to attract more investors these would help a lot to become successful project. And ofcourse the quality of the project is must in order to become successful. Because there are many things to consider once the project would start.

I will try to follow this program but will observe the development of information in advance for all while learning so that later can become a success after often reading in this forum and expect there to be a greater income than to follow the other ico that is uncertain.

^^^^ Reading this forum is the base on which you will build up your knowledge about iocs and how its working.

You definitely need a good marketing strategy and a quality project!

Add:

- Prepare agreements to list the coin at exchanges and communicate any listing done

Nice write-up, it detailed information on how to start an ico

Thank you!

Thank you so much.

I will apply to use it as the criteria to decide which ico is doing well.

This may be the method to analyze ico. :)

the beginning phase as the early preparation terms as developer to work with the customs as delivering message with the naratives as explaining details

to reach of attention from public audience,

and gains with the following to defines as applying the extent as expending the higher parts on distribution of resource with the manage of schemes

with the ico projects by the crypto finance.

Sure can be use for investors as well! Good luck by your research!

Thank you for pointing that out to us!

I always treat ico as a trap that is use to hunt for animals.
In crypto it is a trap to hunt for investors.
A nicely polished ico can lure more investor into its trap.
Making a good trap is the key for any successful ico.
Also investor are getting clever, ico founder need to make better trap so that more people will fall for it.

 ;D

And I believe good salesperson make a better trap compare to ordinary nerds.
To make it work, they need strong marketing team.

first read the ico white paper first. understand the ico destination and see the people who are the developers of the ico.

Since we are talking about a multi million dollar project, investors needs to know who are the players or people working in the project, from top to bottom. If its possible to share their active social media accounts like Linkedin account that is not created a few months when the project was announced that would be great, it adds transparency to the project. I invest money in real life projects and first thing that I look at are the people behind it, are they real people? Are they knowledgeable about the project that they launched? Is the project feasible?

I had always wonder how some people can make a YouTube channel and get a lot of subscribers and likes.
i think it is all about supply and demand.
Don't you think so?

Well most of them buy subscribers at start to get things rolling and ofc no1 gets mass of subscribers over night. Many huge channels are many years old...

Agree with you! The people are the bread and butter of any project. You can have the best idea, develop the best technology, but without the right people most of the time nothing will grow of the seed.

this is how most of icos get successful... I wouldn't call it trap tho that has some bitter taste.. I would say give a bite, give something positive and interesting to get attention!

This is actually a very informative thread. Thanks for starting this OP. Really learned a lot . Kudos to you  :)

Thanks for the nice words and glad it is informative to you!

This is a great list, OP, let me say that first to get it out of the way. However, the unfortunate reality of ICO ecosystem is now that the fundamentals of investment do not matter as much as the great thrust of marketing!

A project can have all the great technical aspects you describe: solid team, thoughtful and insightful plan and objectives, detailed whitepaper with strong technical background. But they will be considered failures if the ICO does not raise targeted intended, or have a token that has a great price after ICO.

Still, the so called successes of ICOs lie in their marketing.

Thank you! Glad you like it!

Sadly but true, no matter the team, skills, technology, project, marketing is almost 80% of all effort to run an successful ico!

I am thinking about creating ICO, too. It is a journey with lots of hurdles and setbacks, you gotta have a good project if you dont wanna only scam people

Well, if you think on ico you prolly have a project, why other you would think on it?  ???

Yes much scam around, some people selling their grandmothers for money and scam other people for money...

Thank you VTS for this nice post about ICO. I thought it is a little bit more difficult. Maybe someday I make my own ICO )))

to have a good project and effective marketing

You have presented steps of ICO in general here. These are the good points that needs to be followed but as user of ICO I will put some of my thoughts about the ICO projects.


ICO usually publish themselves with a idea and concept about their products and services. And if you look out the percentage then 98% ICO will be like that only. Then don't just have anything in hands only the whitepaper and a roadmap. That's like hitting the bulls eye from the moon. We will never know unless and until we see it our eyes that their products has been really launched in the market. Most of them fail to do so and leave the project behind in between.


So my point being here is that we should have ICO which are having working prototype of the product or services in their hands ready for us to take trials of. If that happen then millions of people will join the ICO blindly as they will know it's gonna be success for sure.

You can start an ICO with one click if you a pro. But as I see you don't  :)
You need to start from teem making. Find a guy who will organize you everything about programming and online commercial. The idea is also important, cause if your target just to start the ICO it is going to be a scam from the most beginning.

- good dev team
- marketing
- capital
- great idea/purpose

And you might still not make it.

your guy will need to check this thread and check all post history from this user
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2100276.0

You establish a clear intent, make a plan, and take actions towards your intent. Dev and support team must active and answer member questions on the forum. Bounty campaigns will help advertise ICO to investors.

I agree with most things you saying. BUT a working product or MVP is no guarantee at all! I do agree that per example MVP is a plus by decision making!

Other, it always really depends on the project. If you come up with new technologies or complex projects there might be 1% that could financial it out of own pocket and wait 1 - 2 years to go public funding... but in reality as said, who has the money and time to do so? I do agree, in a perfect scenario you are right.

You need to have common sense to see if a project is unique or complex and needs funding to be realized. Of course there is always a bitter taste at the end but this is how crypto works until now. It might chance one day... Soooo much scam around.. Also one thing to mention, if a project ask for ten of millions of dollars to be realized, is that amount really necessary? I mean from my experience  1 - 5 mio is enough for most of the cases... but that is just IMHO...

To know well and vast can start a n successful ICO. Some people do not know anything about ICO but they invest here. He can start but success will not waiting for him.

to become ICO successful i think need to learn how to run properly the sitting of the ICO and introduce in the signature campaign or social media campaign as marketing strategy and with good reputation from the dev's and campaign manager.

Running an ico needs a lot of knowledge, patience, good team and two most importnat things a valued project and lots of marketing, especially in today's time where so many icos gets issued and many do not succeed!

Marketing is 80% of all ico IMHO. It somehow sad but true....

I see many good ICO without marketing team or bounty campaign. their project can't reach their softcap.

Ye no marketing = no ico ... easy as that

1. Being transparent for the community and honest
2. Communication, communication, communication
3. Write HOW tokens relate to the project (only speculative, or a security)
4. Webinars

Sadly but happens a lot that it is still not going to happen!

Thank you!

I will add this tip from you:  -Write HOW tokens relate to the project (only speculative, or a security)

Can you provide some links to good webinars? That would be awesome!

love this thread, good tips and on point insights from the community to put up a good ICO, i hope people will stop using ICO as a scam because it is really hurting its reputation very hard. I hope some aspiring leader for ICO project will lead this.
only thing i can say to start a good and successful ICO is to be honest with your team and investors.

You're correct that a MVP is no guarantee, but it should reduce the risk significantly.  Venture Capitalists RARELY invest in startups that don't have a MVP or working product.

It is stunning to see how many ICOs have nothing built.  The white paper is the most work that they've put into their projects.  The white paper is easier than a business plan and the only people who traditionally would invest in a startup with nothing else but a business plan, were friends and family.

The tokens in many ICOs serve no purpose.  For those ICOs that push their token as a security or investment, they are putting themselves in the SEC's and regulators' radar.  If regulators come after them, then both the project team and token holders will lose.

This is an area that both project teams and token buyers should spend way more time to learn and understand.

In order to be successful, you ICO has to have a novel idea. A revolutionising idea! Without such a strong and robust fundamental, your ICO will be a fiasco. Doesn't matter about team and pr and other things. Idea first!

In the eyes of ICO investors and token buyers these days, you may be right.

But in reality, an idea is actually less important than being able to execute.  Entrepreneurs usually try to keep their ideas in secrecy because they think they are so valuable.  Venture Capitalists will tell entrepreneurs to scream out their ideas in public and see that nobody will steal their ideas, because there are so many ideas floating out their, but few can execute them.

After only 1-2 years, there are already multiple projects that want to store data in the cloud, multiple projects doing prediction models, multiple projects doing casinos, multiple projects creating anonymous coins, multiple debit cards, multiple investment funds, multiple real estate blockchains, etc., etc., etc.

Very few ICO projects show that they can execute.  Few can prove that they can write software, because they don't have any to show you.  Having a MVP (minimum viable product) is no guarantee that the team can execute, but it serves as much more evidence that they will be able to execute than not having any software.

There have been crypto projects that raised a lot of money and have not given evidence that they will execute.  In the coming years, you will see this number explode.

This is what is unfortunate.  The ICOs with the best marketing will get most of the money, but much of this money will be lost.

Aside from the tech behind ICO's, I think it's purely marketing and getting the word out. A lot of ICO's have a team of programmers that are clueless about marketing and even who to hire. And of course the website, branding, and graphics are all a part of that experience.

One ICO that caught my attention for great branding and just overall fascinating ideas was Unikrn. They're an esports betting platform and just last month they launched their pre-sale for their token, UnikoinGold. Such cool branding and idea. Can't wait for their token to take off.

Much has been said about the common shortcomings of bad projects, and about the main characteristics of the good ones. I just would like to add that most people prefer to invest in projects  that are shooting right now, few are ready to assess the long-term outlook, so often even really good ideas die, for the lack of funds for development, while sometimes the apparently absurd concepts are staying in demand.

Agree with you! Its getting harder and harder for "real" good projects to get seen and get the word out! The noise of scam or bad projects is getting louder and louder! They invest much money in their marketing. Do not fall in such traps!

Ico must provide real information to be successfull. Anonymous ICO's are totally fail for me.
Team members are very important. All must have background on similar projects.
Transparency is the key point. And a good marketing campaign and budget is a must be.

From a newcomers point of view:

-Prototype/revolutionary/smart idea
-Transparency of who you are
-Good marketing strategy
-Excellent developing skills
-Enough funds to get you started

Also you must always keep your fingers crossed for Lady Luck to smile upon you!!!

I believe that one of the most important things to look for is, Relationship of the Token with the Project.

Can the project be achieved without the token?

To start an successful ICO you need to develop a business plan and hire a team of professionals who are good at what they do. You need people you can trust. Then you should together analyze the prospects for a new crypto currency. Don't forget that the promotion can take several years. Be patient. And of course you have to
Think about all possible risks cause crypto currencies are extremely unstable, and even the most popular ones can easily depreciate. Good luck!

If you think that you have the right idea and a good set of team, I think the best way to launch an ICO is contact the CofoundIT team as they have specialization in launching successful ICO's. Also getting associated with them will give you an advantage.

Well I wouldn't call that the best way! They provide a 3rd party service like many others do...

i don't know what requirements should an individual have to make an ico, is it possibel poor people and lack the skills can make an ico? all he has is ideas and innovations that is new and creative? because I see this can be done with crowdfunding, then looking for a team (a member who experiences in his field and then gives work to them) is it possible?

If you lack the skills, save yourself a lot of time and grief and do not run an ICO.

Ideas are NOT that important, according to Venture Capitalists.  From their experience, the most important thing is the ability to execute.  One of the ways that the team can show evidence of this ability, is to have built something already that people can use.

If you're poor but have the skills, build something.  If you don't have the skills to build, then you need marketing skills.

For the past couple of years, ICOs have been able raise money without being able to prove that they can build anything.  This is due to the naiveté of the investors.  This might still be the case, in which case, you'll need a lot of skills and resources for marketing, in order to scam investors into thinking that you can execute.  (I'm not recommending this, of course.)  This is actually the easier way to raise money, as it takes way more skill, time and work to write thousands of lines of code than to hire a graphics designer to build a one-page website or to create a video.  This is why you see a plethora of ICOs.

I think you should have a good management team and a unique concept on the project that attracts a lot of people's attention to invest in your ICO.

You can possible have the worlds best idea and team, if you do not run proper marketing the ico will most likely FAIL!

By now VTS would have gained more ideas to run your own ICO successful. Try increase your funds as you have already received the same ideas from many. All the best VTS for your projects. Keep your system always secured from hackers. That's another challenge everyone faces.

Yes  that's true. Since many icos keep on coming up you cannot stop them from competing from each other. It's like survival of the fittest. The one who has the good strategy wins.

Thank you!

Can you elaborate "increase funds"? What you mean...

I understand your points but there are lots of tools which are currently used to protect intellectual properties and codes. I know it is wxpensive to protect an IP, but if the idea is great that is the only way!

"protect intellectual properties" ?  Are you referring to patents and copyrights?  Isn't that the anti-thesis of the cryptocurrency space?  When the coin is owned by thousands of holders, who is supposed to own the patents?  Are you saying that the software should NOT be open source?

We are talking about digital content creators, licensing, copyright distribution and monetizing such digital content!

How will you protect that? Put the content on the blockchain? Bitcoin's 100 GB and Ethereum's 200 GB blockchains are already have scaling problems.

Agree! And adding: Thhe biggest marketing budget!

To add something more from our own experience:

- Split promotions management by departments! Example: Social manger, Forum manager, PR manager. That way activities can run more focused and smoother!

an example of a good ico is the team, idea, platform, and all the small details like website, branding, etc.

Unikoingold recently falls into that category.

Having those departments split could make it easier to manage. I would also recommend that you spend extra money to keep the employees happy.

Thanks for your thread

Thanks, guys ... very good advice !

You are welcome!

Glad you see it as useful! Much appreciated!

This is really helpful. I am sure most of us have considered starting an ICO. This gives a great insight.

Many thanks again

Thank you for your kind words and that you honor the info we give!

Thanks VTS, you give some information for our about how to successfully in ICO. I often join in ICO but I never make list  about it. I hope your information give me more successfully in ICO :)

You are very welcome!

That's a good approach, we use a similar system at www.witcoin.io. I also recommend separate your ICO logic in another server and isolate your web server. Limit your server access and configure access notifications. Also remember to update your software (firewall, web server, CMS and plugins) to the latest versions.

Great thread, love the insights, thanks! I hope this thread live long and prosper :)

Thanks you

Like any business if the marketing isn't there or fails to get people's attention your done. It doesn't matter how good a project is if you don't try to sell it you're not going to go far or at least you won't get started very soon. Second the team has to be available enough to answer questions, be kind enough to people who are interested in their project. then the project has to be good and promissing. If you have a strong team with proffessionals, you know it is not a joke.

A well written white paper can be very helpful in ICOs. You need to show how your project is different and how it will solve problems in the market. If there is nothing unique that differentiates you from the rest, then it will be hard for someone to choose your project over another.

Also, market. Get word out about your project. The set ICO dates. The team members. Create a buzz around the project.

Most of the ICOs do not show the product, maybe that is the problem. There are different stages of projects, people invest on many stages, but have to know more.
For example:

- concept stage: only idea, paper works
- research stage: evaluating assumptions
- MVP stage: prototyping, working with initial customers
- startup stage: no profit but first customers
- seed stage: there is unstable profit but one can see scale
- VC stage: for scaling

It is how I define the projects. Our token loyalty is between research stage and MVP (we got engine, first R&D, but still introducing it to customers). Most of the projects of research and MVP stage are most suitable for ICOs because participants are often first customers of the platforms built (like our assumption for loyalty system users).

The successful ICO is one in which the coin is not a scam which is the initial requirement and the other is that the coin is at a sustainable not accelerating price when it ends which indicates that it will survive the market and the concept os good

One of numerous reasons why an ICO can be unsuccessful is the group behind the ICO, the item isn't clear for the gathering of people and individuals don't comprehend what are they putting resources into, at that point it can be the administration, poor overseeing, not right about the speculations sum at a particular timeframe and so forth and so on. On the off chance that the item is unrealistic at that point don't expect much supporters.

crypto currencies are having a bad time at the market. so it is very difficult to find ico that could be successful. ico's project and white paper are very important. you can take advantage of social media to make your job easier.

factors of failed project teaching. in my opinion, the team plays an important role. if the team is good, the project will be successful.

I think the best projects must have a useful products and services in the industry to make the economy and community grow in the future. And I think also is having some good team to get a better chance of getting more investors to assist to invest to our created currency is a great big help for it.

I think that you need an excellent idea. Also you should have strong partnerships and quality team with advisors. Also you need first investments, usually you need at least 100k$

I am a bit confused about his/her post about it, it may seem like he is giving some advice and recommendation at the same time, providing links in which he/she advertises. Maybe you could transfer the post to bounties altcoins?

Steps to launching an ICO:

• Back-End Infrastructure
• Timeline / Roadmap
• Whitepaper
• Marketing / Advertisement
• Token countdown
• Escrow Management
• Technical Team
• Strong Advisory Board.

Launch the ICO successfully with icoclone (https://www.icoclone.com/blog/how-to-create-an-ico-token/)

The preparation was quite important because right now I see that actually market interest or investors' interest in ico is decreasing in trust because there are too many unclear projects

I suggest you give up the ICO investment. The cryptocurrency market usually evolves very quickly. In the year of 2017, ICO invested a lot of money, but now the cryptocurrency enters 2019 and ICO begins to die.

ICO died in 2018, In 2018 only a few successful ICOs in a few hundred ICOs were created, A statistic is too modest. In 2019 I agree that ICO will not exist, people will only focus on altcoin and bitcoin