Advisor's Role in an ICO?

[Taplu]

Hi Folks. Can anyone please help me understand what all comes under the role of being an Advisor for an ICO?? What are the responsibilities of an Advisor?? Any insight will be highly appreciated.

[adamcro]

Hi Folks. Can anyone please help me understand what all comes under the role of being an Advisor for an ICO?? What are the responsibilities of an Advisor?? Any insight will be highly appreciated.

I wonder that too, but since ICO is something that people are not familiar with so much or if you haven't executed any ICO so far you need someone to advise you how to do it and what steps to take.

I think advisers are mostly influencers. So if someone sees that person X Y is your adviser and that person is influencer in blockchain community, your ICO becomes more valuable and trustful

[npredtorch]

Normally, an advisor is the one that mentor and guide the person in charge for the project. It includes teaching broader meaning to things and being the first one to verify in every steps/decisions. As for the ICO, I'd a guess that it doesn't work like that. I don't think that these advisers are joining on the project's decision-making. They are just there like what adamcro said, "as an influencer".

[AngelOnCrypto]

ICO advisers are usually legal companies - lawyers, accountants, tax. They specialize in IPOs and ICOs. They have experience of doing the paperwork for variety of ICO projects and know the ins and outs.
The team behind the project are usually devs or business guys who are not experts in law. That's why they need outer company - the advising company to do it.
Sometimes it can be just one person, who is listed as adviser.

[SureLockLoans]

They will guide the company that has released the ICO about legal things the majority of the time. Releasing an ICO without following the right legal precautions can land you in some serious situations.

[eternalgloom]

Most people here only seem to be talking about legal advisors, but ICO's usually have advisors for multiple roles.
I'm sure that there's also a need for more tech oriented consultants, they basically make decisions regarding the technical aspects without doing any of the programming themselves.

You could basically work as a consultant for just about every role you could imagine, if there's a need for it.

[Fire Rabbit]

The main role of advisor in an ICO is guiding the team for a successful ICO. They will help you to sort out things like how to do marketing, how to increase the value or how to fix the value of your coin and how to maintain it. They wont interfere in any legal aspects of the ICO. For that we need to hire accountants to deal with the legal aspects of ICO. So generally advisors guide you and your team for a successful ICO.

[faimloup]

There is a whole range of ICO advisory roles: from the technical to regulatory, and the creative: business, legal, fintech, financing, accounting, code and technical development, blockchain integration, ICO process, marketing, branding, etc.

[win z]

I'm an advisor to 3 ICO's at the moment. What's expected from an Advisor are the following:

1. Whitepaper review
2. Token sale structuring
3. Token economics
4. Pre-sale investor introductions
5. Engaging with community for ICO
6. Introductions to other Advisors, Exchanges, Investors, Lawyers, tax-advisors etc
7. Regulatory compliance
8. Legal compliance
9. Smart-contract code review
10. Marketing, PR & Branding tips

[Norihiro]

I totally agree with the question. The reason is that a lot of ICOs nowadays hire an advisor with a "name" just to promote the product and it is not a guarantee of good product at all...so, yes, I would be very pleased if someone could clarify what's actually happening.

[chrisrok]

Hi Folks. Can anyone please help me understand what all comes under the role of being an Advisor for an ICO?? What are the responsibilities of an Advisor?? Any insight will be highly appreciated.

Well actually, the most important thing is that they give their names and the ico seems more important due to that.

[TimtheYoutuber]

No one really knows as most ICO's dont have information that explains what they do. Which is why we need new standards, you should check out my thread : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2333049.msg23732348#msg23732348

[thr3]

Most advisors in the ICO space are not directly involved in the development or decision-making process. They essentially lend their name for marketing purposes in exchange for payment or tokens. I personally do not trust advisors as I know they are looking after their own interest. Just like stocks, do not follow the herd, understand your risk factors and then invest.

[jargal]

There seem to be two understandings of what "advisors" are in this thread...
On the one hand you have people who "sponsor" your project in that they share their legitimacy with it, e.g., by endorsing on your project's website.
On the other hand, you have legal/finance/marketing advisors... who help you with the corresponding aspects of the process.

[CryptoBitcoinOfficial]

advisors provide the intellectual underpinnings to help the ICO’s management team successfully launch the ICO, start the business, and stay ahead of compliance regulations.
A good advisor can take an ICO, which tends to be no more than a vague idea at the beginning, and help build a roadmap for the ICO, the proof-of-concept, and actual production
Also well known figures with previous experience can boost the credibility, trust and hype for the project

[DAVETUN]

An advisor role is quite important in an ICO,you choose base on his/her experience in the area of your need for the   project,but lately they are now use as marketing tools to influence the project acceptance.

[agorkems]

One thing that Vitalik pointed out is for ICOs to be more specific on what the Advisor's Role is. Currently, it is just getting influential individuals to the project and a brief explanation of their background. Each advisor involved in the project definitely has some things they can contribute greatly to ensure the success of a project and that is why we need to know more of what they can do and will be doing in the project and the responsibilities they have been involved. Not just finding some irrelevant famous guy to fill the slot.

[jargal]

One thing that Vitalik pointed out is for ICOs to be more specific on what the Advisor's Role is. Currently, it is just getting influential individuals to the project and a brief explanation of their background. Each advisor involved in the project definitely has some things they can contribute greatly to ensure the success of a project and that is why we need to know more of what they can do and will be doing in the project and the responsibilities they have been involved. Not just finding some irrelevant famous guy to fill the slot.

Can you give me a link to VItalik's comments please?

[erickkyut]

I think an advisor should be someone very influential and at the same time have so many experiences with cryptocurrencies. His role is to give good advice on everything about the project. Their marketing strategy, project development processes, its mission and vision, short term and long term goals, etc.

[cryptocropty]

If you don't mean the legal advisor: It's the same purpose as in startups or "traditional" crowdfundings - complement the core team by people with more knowledge to have a higher success chance.