Participating in an ICO? This Free Template Will Help

Advance planning is essential for successful ICO participation. Use this free template to increase your chances of participating successfully.

There’s a crazy amount of hype around initial coin offerings right now. I’ve take part in three since November 2016. The biggest lesson I’ve learned so far is advance preparation increases the chances of successful participation.

I plan to continue investing in ICO’s of the projects I believe in. Here’s the template I use now to prepare in advance.

[tl;dr — Scroll to the end of the post to jump right to the template.]

Why Plan in Advance?

Participating in ICO’s can be confusing. They’re not too user-friendly yet. The documentation is improving. Yet, the documentation usually has shortcomings.

It’s hard to figure out the shortcomings on the fly, once the ICO has started. Not only is it hard, you’re likely to miss out on participating since ICOs have been selling out so fast!

Why Use a Template?

The template helps you collect all the information you need to participate before the ICO begins. It also helps you think through your investment strategy.

You’ll thank yourself for doing this with a clear head BEFORE the ICO madness begins!

Basic ICO Preparation Steps

Each ICO’s a little different. The basic process to prepare is:

1. Have ETH ready in an Ethereum wallet.

You need to choose an Ethereum wallet and make sure you have enough ETH in it. I use a combination of Coinbase and MyEtherWallet (MEW).

I recommend Coinbase if you need to buy ETH. Click this link to use my Coinbase referral code to get a $10 bonus.

I like to use MEW for the actual ICO transaction. MEW’s user interface is one of, if not the best wallet interfaces out there right now.

You should have at least enough ETH in your wallet to cover the amount of ETH you’d like to invest in the ICO and the gas price of the ICO transaction.

2. Read the ICO Sale Instructions

The group behind the ICO usually publishes a “how to participate post”. It’s usually published a few days before the ICO. It will tell you when the ICO starts too.

You’ll have to do some research to find it. The best bet is to keep an eye on the group’s blog, social media and chat (usually Slack) channels.

3. Collect the Data Required to Participate

This is where the template comes into play.

Filling it out helps you:

1. Identify all the information you need to participate.

This takes a little work. The information is scattered among different locations. The template helps you collect everything in a single place for easy reference.

2. Think through your strategy ahead of time.

Do you REALLY want to participate in THIS ICO? You do? OK, how much are you willing and able to risk on it?

It’s MUCH easier to think through these rationally beforehand. Clear thinking goes away fast once the ICO starts.

3. Identify questions you have on participating or the project itself.

Questions will arise. You won’t get answers once the ICO starts.

4. Get answers to your questions.

The sooner you can identify and ask your questions, the better your chances are at getting them answered. The team behind the ICO is likely to be overwhelmed as the ICO approaches and ESPECIALLY after it begins.

5. Have an anchor once the ICO begins

I stay out of the ICO’s Slack channel once the ICO begins. The chatter heats up a lot as the start block approaches. It goes BATsh*t crazy once the ICO begins.

It’s easy to get sucked into the excitement. The template can act as an anchor in the storm of chaos. It helps prevent you from getting carried away, since it reminds you what you decided to spend BEFORE the adrenaline started pumping.

It helps you increase your chance of success, in case you need to repeat a transaction. This happens sometimes, as ICOs are starting to overwhelm the networks and infrastructure used to support them.

The Template

Here’s the template I’m using to participate in ICOs . It’s evolved over time. While it may seem simple at first, you may realize it’s not so simple once you’ve completed it once.

Copy and Paste the following list to create your own template -