Building an Efficient Fundraising Roadmap for a Crypto Startup

Launching a successful IDO has become a real challenge, given the difficult market conditions. It takes a detailed, research-based fundraising roadmap that covers everything, from a pitch deck to the CEO’s personal brand and IR. 

Why do you need an IDO roadmap? 

Almost every day, a new IDO launches on one of dozens of launchpads. Blockchain venture funds are constantly bombarded with requests for investments. How can a crypto startup successfully attract funding when competition is so high – especially in the current market conditions?

The answer is a carefully constructed IDO or venture funding roadmap, prepared by a reliable marketing partner. Ales Kovalevich, CEO of BDC Consulting (the first user insight-to-ROI marketing and product partner) explains the meaning of the term:

“Just like a crypto project rollout has a roadmap (IDO, marketing campaign, beta launch etc.), each of the elements, in turn, should have a roadmap of its own. For example, our exclusive online solution for fundraising is divided into two stages with 20+ steps in each, which take 4 to 5 months. Why so long? Because our 5 years of experience in the crypto market have taught us that this is the only way to achieve lasting results and not to disappoint our partners”.

The point about partnerships is crucial: an all-in-one fundraising solution is a long-term project that requires trust, transparency, and dedication on the part of both the agency and the crypto startup. It’s only when the client and the vendor work as partners and come to understand each other’s business processes at a deeper level that they maximize the value for each other. 

This is also the reason why it’s better to outsource all the preparatory stages for an IDO to a single partner agency. The best results are generated when every marketing channel is integrated into a single ROI-based strategy. 

The complete fundraising solution stage 1: audit and analysis

A roadmap to a data-driven fundraising strategy as it is implemented by BDC Consulting starts with a deep analysis of the startup’s business processes, investors, product, competition, target audience, community strength, content and media presence, website, etc. Many of the parameters are evaluated separately for the private and public funding rounds. 

The result of the audit is a large, detailed chart that shows how ready the project is for a venture fundraising round and an IDO. For example, it can feature statements like:

• Packaging for private round investors: below average — legal OK, no investment audit, key documentation needs work (WP is ready, pitch deck and tokenomics need improving, no roadmap, no One Pager).
• Attractiveness score for public round participants: 40% — good product but weak community, no Tier-1 investors, 24 Twitter score (low), issues with the team packaging (no top advisors, CEO not active on Twitter, only 6 members published, no articles or media commentary by the team).

Based on the audit, the team of BDC Consulting formulates a custom fundraising solution, including a marketing strategy, a token development schedule, a product packaging plan, etc. This whole stage lasts for up to 2 months and gives both the startup and the marketing partner a clear idea of how to raise up to $1.5 million and build a 100k strong community. 

Comprehensive fundraising solution stage 2: roadmap implementation

During this stage, which lasts around 3 months, the team of BDC Consulting puts its exclusive insights-to-ROI based approach to good use. First, the experts formulate the KPIs for the private and public rounds and then proceed to implement the online fundraising solution roadmap:

1. Attractive product packaging for investors. Depending on the results of the audit, this can include writing a new White Paper or Light Paper, preparing a tokenomics document, obtaining legal opinions, designing a pitch deck and an IDO landing, smart contract audit, and so forth.
2. Content and media presence. It’s important to show the potential investors that the project is making waves in the media space. This is done through collaborations with influencers, YouTube videos, press releases, SEO-optimized articles, and other content tools.
3. Private round. The product is nicely packaged and searching for the startup’s name on Google yields a full page of positive reviews, news, and interviews. The next step is gathering a strong roster of investors for the private round through various IR techniques, roadshows, networking, etc.
4. Preparation for the IDO. Here, community building and brand awareness are the key tactics: the fundraising solution covers content and influencer marketing, PR, personal branding, web analytics, and an exclusive BDC Consulting methodology called Trust Index Optimization, which makes target leads (investors) cheaper for the client. The team constantly tests new marketing hypotheses to maximize the ROI, as well as negotiates with IDO launchpads to schedule the token sale.
5. IDO (IMO, INO, IGO). The meticulous preparation finally pays off as the tokens are quickly sold out on one or more launchpads. On average, up to $500k can be raised at an IDO.

Continuous token optimization: the sprint system

The work doesn’t end with the IDO. In a sequence of 3-month-long sprints, BDC Consulting continues to improve the token’s KPIs, including the market cap, price, TVL, and free float. The sprints also include product consulting services to help the startup capture new audiences in various regions. 

In conclusion

As it becomes harder for crypto startups to raise funds amid market uncertainty and volatility, an elaborate fundraising roadmap becomes the key to IDO success in any niche, be it DeFi, GameFi, or L1 and L2 networks. 

It’s extremely difficult for a startup to work out such a roadmap on its own as this takes years of experience in both bull and bear markets. To maximize the return on investments and the ultimate IDO raise, it’s better to delegate the roadmapping to a reliable consulting partner. 

Such a partner doesn’t just provide marketing services: it works as the startup’s outsourced marketing department. The synergy between the blockchain startup and the partner agency will ultimately produce not just short-term IDO success but also long-term token growth.