Why Hiring An ICO (or STO) White Paper Writer May Make You Millions

With no formal industry requirements in place for an initial coin offering or security token offering launch, the crypto community has adopted the white paper as the de facto first step.

ICOs and STOs act as an early funding mechanism for product launches and their success is proportional to the industry interest they can generate. But landing funding and building hype is difficult when a product is at the concept stage. Especially so when a field or technology is uncharted. Teams need first to cast a vision, then fund a runway to execute on it — and they depend on the white paper to generate those dollars.

Clearly white papers are central to a token sale’s success.

So why are so many terrible white papers being published?

As a business writer, I find the answer easy: those are seriously complex papers. And too few teams are investing in writers who can pull off that kind of piece.

White papers are equal parts marketing brief, pitch deck, business plan, prospectus, technical manual and case study. They evangelize the launch of a new currency, rationalize the token’s role in the business model, establish team credibility and layout a roadmap for investors.

Papers must deftly weave technical aspects and practical business solutions. They need to preempt questions on security and mechanisms for protecting investor interests while also differentiating the token from the hundreds of others competing for headlines.

In short, a white paper does it all. Whew.

Cointelegraph notes that several notable ICOs failed reach targets and were withdrawn for reasons that could have been directly addressed by white paper improvements. These include:

• Business plan [that was] not clear as to the market problems or business challenges the proposition overcomes
• Badly structured ICO where investor terms are not adequately explained
• Management team perceptions — i.e. — come across as unsavvy business people or “geeks”

As you plan your blockchain-based project, here are three key reasons why hiring a STO or ICO white paper writer makes a difference:

They bring the story to life.

Your white paper is an invitation offering access to vision for improving on, or introducing a technology that the world needs. This story needs establishing, nurturing and threading. It needs to work seamlessly alongside core paper elements like financial upside, actual product advantages and an explanation of the fundamental, underlying technology. Good writers will use the story’s narrative to attract — and then compel investor participation in the development of the white paper’s other standard elements.

They drive project creation.

The genesis of white papers is often the same. Initial creation begins in melding disparate notes, founding team interviews, miscellaneous research and product or technical documentation. Good writers can systematically manage this step-by-step creation. They nurture the evolution; partnering with the team to build out paper elements, filling where content is lacking, but also calling out under-thinking. They force rigor and thoroughness from founders. Bad white papers (and white paper writers) cover up gaps in thinking or product deficiencies with jargon and fluff.

They do — and see — what you can’t.

Founders and team members are too close to the technology and product vision to be as ruthlessly honest as needed. Investor and community scrutiny around your ICO will be impossibly high. It is universally challenging to write, edit and evaluate the worthwhileness of a product without bias — especially with our own creations. Confirmation bias, or the tendency to cherry pick information which confirms a pre-existing belief kills credibility and ruins white papers. You need someone detached to be brutal, to kill your darlings, as it were.

In 2017 to date, ICOs have raised more money for technology companies than even VC investment. As CryptoCoinNews notes, in June Bancor raised a then-record $153 million. EOS and Tezos raised $185 million and $232 million, respectively, during Q3. The Filecoin ICO delivered a record-setting $199 million and more recently, Kik raised $100 miliion with a $1 billion company valuation.

Launching a successful token sale depends on cultivating interest and a sense of urgency for investors and the community at large. Conceptually, the use case and disruptive potential to existing technology or process need reinforcement. The latent value that cash from the token sale can unlock needs selling and a means to build a viable customer base must be articulated.

With sixty token sales happening each week, competition for eyeballs and investment is at fever pitch. There are too few others means for messaging; you simply can’t afford to publish a bad white paper.

Underinvesting in an asset with as much influence on your ICO’s success as a white paper has is shortsighted. Sloppy discovery and delivery can invite legal difficulties, not to mention erase millions in upside.

• Will you pay a premium for a quality writer? You better.
• Will you increase your odds of STO or ICO success? Without question.

Interested in discussing your white paper project? Contact me here.