Why we chose ICO? The results of ZONTO pre-ICO stage!
A few days ago ZONTO pre-ICO has been completed.
127779 tokens were distributed, and $247 000 were received. Our great appreciation goes to all, who expressed interest in ZONTO and we will do our best to justify the rendered trust.
Before starting an ICO, let us bring intermediate results.
We got the idea to hold an ICO in April. We were preparing our social network () for the beta testing and we also have been considering of the way for getting additional investments. In spite of the fact that development budget was aligned and everything had been going according to plan, additional investments could significantly expedite the product development through the increasing amount of developers. As well as we were understanding the necessity of marketing expenses for increasing the amount of audience.
We had considered a number of different variants to attract investments, but at this stage of the product development we have decided to choose an ICO. Format of raising funds in cryptocurrency, for now, is the most effective solution for small teams. The attraction of lending for development or holding an early funding in the IPO format requires significant organizational and financial costs.
We have gathered information about all ICO, that were going at that moment, and have tested the process of investing in those which we have considered as the most appealing. Having examined the basic pattern of work and having talked with a few other teams we understood that most ICO projects do not have anything except the bare concept and landing. In this regard, we for sure stood out from the others, because we have already presented beta version of several ZONTO services. We also got a business plan on our hands, which clearly pointed to the ways of the project monetization.
But in May 2017 the ICO market was already overheated. In addition to rather promising and interesting projects, numerous projects with no real value have also appeared. Good-looking landings and "revolutionary" ideas. Even superficial analysis helps to understand that no less than 80% of all ICO, are projects that were created only for one purpose, to raise funds with the help of ICO :) At the same time the prices of the companies which help to conduct an ICO have gone through the roof. During our informal talks with representatives of different platforms were announced the “fees” for “help”in the amounts from 5% to 50% of total sum gathered. The estimated amount needed for effective advertising (to be simply noticed) was at least $ 50,000. Such costs were not particularly included in our plans, as we were sending all the funds for the development.
So we decided not to use anybody’s help at the early stage. In order to be able to introduce ourselves well to potential investors on the ICO, we have decided to conduct a short pre-ICO first. This would allow us to gather the amount needed for the rapid completion of the main product - the social networking service ZONTO, and also to place the needed advertising for the main ICO stage.
The task was interesting, but not an easy one. In three weeks we had to fully prepare the White Paper, to describe our product in the whole and the goals why we are having an ICO. We also had to create landing, to write smart contract in the Ethereum network. To create some topics on Bitcointalk and on many other dedicated resources. Within pre-ICO stage we have deliberately chosen not to spend money for advertising and continue to invest money in the development. We have set the goal to present a basic workable product. A service, which would be optimized for future scaling and monetization. And that was the right decision.
On the 28th August 2017 we have completed the pre-ICO stage and have collected the total amount of $247 000. But even more important for us is the conclusion of few strategic agreements with several partners. We have managed to find decisions and competences, which would help our project to rise even faster in the future. We have received numerous feedbacks from users, and trust of more than 1000 people, who are taking part in the ZONTO bounty campaign. Our sincere appreciation is expressed to each of you, who give us feedbacks and for your support.
Now we have substantive and clear tasks. Social network, which is the basis of ZONTO, has already been launched. Applications for IOS and Android have already been released. We still have plenty things to be done, as we are starting to integrate additional modules inside the ecosystem, the first one is going to be the payment system on the AdvCash basis. Until the end of 2017 we are determined to implement MVP (Minimum viable product), in our case this will be a set of working services, which are minimally needed for ZONTO functioning as a scalable ecosystem.
The main ZONTO ICO stage is already starting on the 12th of September, for which we will submit personal account of our own design (by the way it was cheaper to develop the personal account on our own, than to use third-party services :)). Moreover, if you also want to start your own ICO and do not know what to start with, you can always write us and we will be glad to help!
We also are opened to dialogue with any team, who are ready to integrate their own service into the ZONTO ecosystem via API and to offer their services for all ZONTO users, the amount of which is increasing everyday. Together we create the future!
See you in ZONTO.