TLDR — This article has 10 points which make your ICO whitepaper complete.

Studies show that a whitepaper is the most important document used by investors in making an investment decision. Apart from presenting your project to investors, whitepapers also support embodiment of your product, and provide a technical comparison and evaluation of the same. In essence, it is one of the most important supporting documents for your product which can determine the success or failure of your project.

A standard whitepaper has about 20–30 pages, written in an academic tone. Here, we have outlined the structure you need to follow while writing your whitepaper, along with the content you need to cover under each segment.

Step 1: Abstract

The abstract is the first thing a reader encounters, so make sure that your abstract is compelling enough for them to turn the page. Think of your introduction as writing a plot for a movie or a play. It should have an overview of everything your document plans to cover in detail in the following pages.It should be a brief, but clear summary of what your document contains, what is in it for potential investors, and how your project or company solves a problem in the market. This should be no more than 250 words, and no less than 150 words.

Step 2: Introduction

Your introduction sets the premise for the chapters to follow. Therefore, this has to be as engaging and informative as possible. Typically, for a compelling introduction, you need to cover the following points:

Talk about the problem and show how centralisation is causing inefficiencies Talk about all the stakeholders involved and how each of them are getting affected Use well researched facts to show market size and competitor analysis End with a persuasive summary showing why a reader must continue reading

Step 3: Proposed solution

In this step, if your company has been doing work to address the problem you’re trying to solve before pivoting to blockchain, mention that in detail. This shows the reader that you have a genuine interest in addressing the issue, and helps in building credibility and trust.

Irrespective of whether or not you have a working solution, elucidate the following points clearly.

1. How is blockchain a boon for the particular problem you are addressing, and how you are planning to use this technology?

2. How does your project compare against others who are attempting to solve the same issue with blockchain?

Highlight all the features and breakthroughs which makes yours is a more superior solution.

Step 4: Technical Architecture

Your technical architecture diagram should demonstrate how blockchain will enable the business model. Here, you have to depict your proposed structure of functionality, and include all the components from the stakeholders, to entities, to organisations involved in detail.

Step 5: Token Economics

At the end of the day, every investor puts his money in a place where he has the potential to reap profits from. Keeping this in mind, in this section, the following points have to be addressed:

The different tokens that will exist in the ecosystem and their use case How your token will prove to be beneficial over time, and how it will be profitable Technical aspects like token creation period, release expenses, and terms for the number of tokens you plan to issue Distribution strategy for the token

Step 6: Use cases

Give examples of use cases where you talk about how your proposed solution can benefit every single stakeholder in the ecosystem. Try to address it from as many angles as possible, to demonstrate your project as a comprehensive solution for most challenges faced by the industry you are focusing on.

Step 7: Roadmap

It is extremely crucial to provide a well thought out roadmap that explains how you will extend the value of your token. Three verticals need to be addressed here

Technical roadmap — A 2 to 3 year roadmap to show the evolution of your project, to give the investors confidence that you have planned for the future. User roadmap — Show all the various stakeholders and applications your token can be extended to in the future Business roadmap — Timelines for your go to market strategy which involves user acquisition, partnerships, fund raising etc.

Step 8: ICO numbers

In this section, talk about:

1. How much you want to raise — Talk about the amount of hard capital and soft capital you aim to raise

2. How will you structure the sale — Talk about the start date of whitelisting, KYC, public pre-sale date, number of tokens in total, number of tokens available for sale from the total, fundraising goal, and base price

3. How are the tokens divided — Mention the percentage of tokens used for crowd sale, bounty programs, core team, user rewards, and ecosystem development

4. What will you do with the money? — Mention the percentage of the funds allocated to different functions like sales and marketing, legal and consulting, technical development and support, and others

Step 9: Team and Advisors

Mention the credentials and credibility of your core team and team of advisors. This is also a very crucial step in the whitepaper to establish trust among the investors.

Step 10: Legal and Miscellaneous

In order to protect the future of your business from possible speculation, it is extremely important to list all aspects of regulatory jurisdiction clearly. Provide a clear explanation of a reimbursement plan if there is one. Explain all the risk factors involved that is pertinent to your projects, so that clients make an informed decision.

You can refer the whitepapers mentioned below to get an idea of what a good whitepaper should look like.

https://gifto.io/static/GIFTO_Whitepaper_V2.0_20171204.pdf

https://cdn.rentberry.com/ico/downloads/Rentberry_Whitepaper_en.pdf