Ultimate Guide | After this heart-warming article, I will teach you how to write the best white paper from entry to proficiency!
This article comes from: Blockchain Camp (ID: blockchain_camp), author:Blockgeeksimage description
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Data source: PwC Strategy&, Crypto Valley Association, 2018
In the first half of 2018 alone, the amount of funds raised by global ICO activities reached as high as US$13.7 billion. Considering that the amount raised by ICOs in the first half of 2018 alone is almost double the amount raised by ICOs in the whole of 2017, it is not difficult to imagine why ICOs have become Such a hot topic right now.
Before ICOs became household names, companies that needed financing had no choice but to opt for an IPO (Initial Public Offering). The principle of an IPO is simple but the process is complex. Private companies need to become public companies by selling company stock to the public, and the IPO process involves a lot of due diligence, formalities and paperwork. Because of this, some valuable companies have lost the opportunity to go public for better development.
However, the emergence of ICO changed all that.
With an ICO, developers and entrepreneurs can raise millions of dollars without going through unbearable paperwork, the only thing they have to do is submit a white paper.
In other words, the fate and future of the entire company is based on the quality of this white paper. This is why white papers are very important. A white paper can allow you to raise millions of dollars in 24 hours, or you can lose everything you lost because of the wrong investment.
As the saying goes: Men look at shoes, women look at hair. Only by understanding the routines of the white paper can you see through the deceit of some projects and avoid walking on the wall of martyrs for blockchain investors. It can be said that learning to write white papers and distinguishing reliable white papers is the basic skill to eat in this circle.
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According to Wikipedia: A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that succinctly introduces readers to a complex issue and introduces the issuer's approach to solving this issue. It is designed to help readers understand a problem, solve a problem, or make a decision. "
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Churchill's White Paper, published in 1922, is believed to be the origin of the term "white paper"
At that time, in addition to "white paper", there was also "blue book", both terms derived from the color of the document cover, and white paper was considered a blue book with a small audience.
Since then, the white paper has evolved into an entrepreneur's best friend. Because no document explains better to investors in a business than a white paper:
What problem are you trying to solve?
How will your project address these issues?
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The Importance of White Papers
According to some surveys conducted by the Savvy B2B Marketing blog in 2009, "Trial software and white papers are the most commonly used and most effective form of content when researching IT domain problems and solutions."
The blog also surveyed various potential investors and found that:
77% of investors have read at least one white paper in the past 6 months, compared to 68% in the previous year.
When formulating investment strategies in the technology industry, 84% of investors believe that white papers of technology companies have at least a moderate influence on decision-making.
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Data source: Eccolo Media
Here are some conclusions they drew from their research:
49% of respondents use white papers to assess whether they should buy a stock, making white papers the most commonly used form of content;
White papers are the most influential form of content marketing ahead of case studies/success stories, product brochures/databooks, detailed technical guides, videos/multimedia files;
In the pre-sale stage, if the target investors do not know the problem you are going to solve, the white paper is the best form of content presentation;
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Data source: Eccolo Media
If these statistics and data still don’t convince you, let’s turn our attention back to 2008, when an anonymous programmer named Satoshi Nakamoto released his own white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” . This white paper not only introduced us to Bitcoin and blockchain technology, but also paved the way for other cryptocurrencies and the entire ICO industry.
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How to write a good white paper
Preparation before writing:
Writing a quality white paper is not an easy task, so you have to do some homework before you start writing. As the old saying goes, sharpening a knife is not the same as chopping wood by mistake. What you need to do before writing is:
Research, research, research!
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One important point is that the white paper should be based on real data. So, in order to write a good white paper, you have to lay out a lot of facts. A white paper supported by scientific research data is a high-quality white paper. Therefore, we must go all out in the research and do not adopt any compromise approach.
Gain experience by reading other white papers
Chances are some work has already been done in your field? If so, look carefully to see if they have published a white paper. If so, then you should first carefully read the white papers of predecessors to see how they solved the problem and how you can improve.
At the same time, you can also focus on those aspects that can demonstrate the unique selling proposition (USP) of the project. In addition, it is also a good choice to review classic white papers such as the Bitcoin white paper and the Ethereum white paper.
organize all materials
After distilling all the research and creating all the pictures and diagrams to illustrate it, it's not easy to bring all these disparate pieces together in one document. Therefore, you should organize all the information in advance so that you can flexibly process the information and adjust the structure in the writing.
lock your readers
Before writing, one of the most important questions is, who is the main audience of your white paper?
You can think carefully: Does your reader belong to a certain age group? Are they located in some specific area? What fields are they interested in? What kind of investors will your project attract?
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How to go about building a white paper
After all the preparatory work, now you need to bring all the materials together and create your own white paper. Fear not, although you may have no previous experience, it is still very valuable to try to write your own white paper from start to finish. Because no one knows your product better than you.
The white paper does not have a fixed structure, it just needs to meet your needs. But having said that, no matter what structure you follow, a good white paper must address several questions that potential investors may have, which means answering the following questions:
What is the main purpose of this project?
Is there a viable business model for this project?
What is the main problem that this project will solve?
How does this program differ from competitors? What is its uniqueness (USP)?
How does the project party plan to use the funds raised by the ICO?
Does the project's token serve any utility function?
Does this project need a blockchain?
Who are the members of the project team and what are their resumes?
Has the project finished building prototypes, or is everything still theory at this point?
Here are some general sections a white paper should have:
1. title and abstract
The title and abstract sections combined are less than one page. But if your white paper lacks these two parts, 90% of readers will not be able to read it.
I don’t need to say more about the importance of a good title. Recall how many times you have read articles on official accounts that you were not interested in just because the title was attractive? A good headline should immediately grab the reader's attention, make them curious, and prompt them to learn more.
For example: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System is a good title.
Essentially, the abstract is the essence of your project. People usually read your abstract to understand what you're going to say next. A good abstract needs to be able to attract readers and inspire their desire to read the whole white paper.
2. Introduction
After the abstract is the introduction section. Don't be careless, you still need to walk on eggshells now. A white paper that attracts readers needs at least five pages, of which the summary and introduction should add up to about two pages, at most two and a half pages.
In the introduction section, you must rationalize why you want to create the project, and then briefly introduce why the current economic, political, management, etc. environment needs this project. That is to say:
Why is your project important?
Why does your project matter at this moment?
The whitepaper of Nagricoin (a fertilizer project that promotes organic farming) does a good job in the introduction section and can be used as a reference:
To test the effectiveness of Nagri's fertilizer, the team spent $5 million in scientific research and field testing over the past seven years. Tests were conducted in more than 10 countries, including Brazil, Uruguay, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan, Italy, Ukraine and Russia. The research involved large private agricultural businesses, as well as national research centers and laboratories in various countries.
Test results show that Nagri-HL increases the yield of different crops by between 10% and 30%, depending on the geographical area and climatic conditions in which it is grown. At the same time, a clear increase in yield was also observed with the addition of Nagri-HL to almost all known fertilizers and plant protection products.
The Nagricoin team used data to scientifically demonstrate the credibility of the product and how it can improve agriculture, one of the pillars of our time.
3. Problem, solution and product description
After a brief presentation of the project, you have to go into depth about the problem you are trying to solve and the proposed solution, i.e. your product. The most taboo thing here is that many projects simply show the beauty of page design and layout, but do not really go deep into their own products to answer various questions that readers may throw.
This part is the essence of the whole white paper, and it is also the place where you need to impress the readers most thoroughly. This link can help you build your business model, or it can destroy your business model. So, please take the time to provide a clear technical description of the product and how you plan to achieve this goal.
Don’t ignore the power of pictures and diagrams. A picture is worth a thousand words, so you can include pictures and diagrams in the description to explain the concept to the reader and help build an intuitive understanding visually. If necessary, you can find a professional designer to design these pictures. But remember, apart from the pictures and charts, everything else needs to be done by yourself.
Obviously in this section, it is essential to spell out the specifics of your white paper to help readers better understand your product. For example, your project may have an integral component that you need to explain to the reader here (eg Plasma is part of OmiseGo). Especially those you didn't mention in the introduction section, don't forget to explain here.
As you write this section, I believe you may feel like walking a tightrope. Maybe your mind is full of colloquial expressions when you mention a pen, which is normal at first, but you should try to reduce the use of these colloquial expressions as much as possible. At the same time, you can't forget the solution part and the product description part. You need to find the balance between these parts to achieve the best expression effect.
Every claim you make throughout your white paper should have solid references in order to convince readers.
One final little detail to make sure you use the tone of the instructional language, not the words of the salesperson.
4. Token economics
Just as the rights and interests of shares are defined in detail during the IPO process, in the white paper you need to correctly describe the role of tokens in your business model, and it should be as clearly defined as possible without ambiguity. Generally speaking, the more equity a token has, the higher its value.
If your token is not clearly defined, investors participating in an ICO will be more or less speculative in nature. In other words, they will not have realistic expectations for your token, and only hope that the price of the token will rise to make a profit. Once the market fluctuates, they will sell your tokens and run away, which will bring a devastating blow to your project.
I believe this is definitely not the token you want.
Your token should not be just a token, a springboard for people to exchange for bitcoin or fiat currency. A good token should be a liquid commodity that people want to hold in their portfolios. Clearly defining the rights and interests of the token will do this to a large extent.
Because if you don't, then most likely your project will fail. According to the Deloitte Insights report released in November 2017, the failure rate of blockchain projects is as high as 92%, mainly due to "the lack of practical application scenarios and the rapid loss of community members."
The turnover rate of buying and selling of tokens is one of the key factors affecting the future speculative value of tokens. It mainly depends on people's recognition of tokens, but not many people really understand its meaning.
If the turnover ratio of buying and selling of a token is regarded as a mathematical formula, then it should look like this:
Buying and selling turnover rate = total transaction volume / average network-wide transaction volume
From this, it can be seen that the turnover rate of buying and selling is directly proportional to the total transaction volume of the pass, and inversely proportional to the average transaction volume of the entire network. If we make a deformation of the above formula, it will be as follows:
Average network-wide transaction volume = total transaction volume / transaction turnover rate
This means that the higher the turnover rate of token buying and selling, the smaller the average transaction volume of the entire network.
Here we get some mathematical definition, however what does that mean and why we say this formula can be the deciding factor in the success or failure of an ICO.
Because in essence, the turnover rate of buying and selling shows how much people attach importance to the project token.
5. Token usage guide
Imagine if you were investing in an ICO project, wouldn't you want to know exactly how the company will use your hard-earned money?
In the same way, as a project team, it is necessary to accurately show the purpose of investment to investors. In fact, investors are very savvy these days. With so many ICO scams out there, it makes sense for investors to be more cautious about where their money goes.
Therefore, you should have a detailed plan and arrangement for how to use this investment. In the white paper, investors want to make sure that the money is being used to build the product and not be used to "improve your quality of life."
This point can be referred to the example of Status (known as the "decentralized version of WeChat"). The Status project raised more than 100 million US dollars in the ICO stage. How to use this money is clearly described in the white paper.
The following is an excerpt from the white paper:
20% of the SNT (the token of the Status project) created during the ICO will be allocated to the Status core developer (Status Core Dev); the tokens obtained by the founders and the project team will have a 24-month binding period (vesting period ). This means that the tokens they hold cannot be traded immediately, further binding the interests of the founders and the project team to the long-term goals of the project.
6. Roadmap
Every white paper should have a detailed roadmap documenting the various milestones of the project and their deadlines. The roadmap can be designed as a time map, which is more visually intuitive.
Why give a roadmap?
First, a roadmap helps investors understand how your project will be realized. They can have realistic expectations of your project.
Second, the roadmap can be used to monitor the progress of the project. Hold project developers accountable.
The roadmap should at least have a detailed work plan for the next 12-18 months, which should include the timing of product beta releases.
7. Team and Advisors
Obviously, one of the core elements of a white paper is introducing your team to the reader. A luxurious team lineup is of great help in attracting huge investment.
What is a luxurious team? Taking OmiseGO as an example, here are the advisors of their team:
Vitalik Buterin: Founder of Ethereum
Dr. Gavin Wood: Co-Founder of Ethereum and Founder of Parity, the Ethereum wallet software
Joseph Poon: Co-inventor of the Lightning Network
Vlad Zamfir: Ethereum co-founder and creator of the Ethereum Casper protocol
Julian Zawistowski: Founder of Golem project, a decentralized global computing power market
Roger Ver: Owner of Bitcoin.com
Seeing such a luxurious advisory team, you will not be surprised why they can raise 25 million US dollars in 24 hours, right? It was even said at the time that the project team was the most important part of any white paper.
As Andrew Chapin, co-founder of the decentralized advertising platform Benja Project, said: "Every angel investor will invest in a good team with a bad idea, because they know that a good team can get rid of the original idea and quickly go to success."
There is an old Chinese saying: "When you get close to vermilion, you get red; when you get close to ink, you get black." You should make sure you are on a good team, and you also need to make sure you show that good team and their talents in detail in the white paper.
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How to Design a White Paper
At this point, the writing content of the white paper is almost the same. One point that is easy to overlook for novices is that, just like appearance affects people, the layout of the white paper is as important as the content of the white paper. You should pay attention to the following key points when typesetting:
the cover
First of all, the cover of the white paper needs to look stylish, clean and professional.
In this regard, Nagricoin's cover does a good job. Not only does their cover look neat, but you can tell at a glance that they are in the agricultural field.
Pictures for explanation and adjustment
Your white paper should have the following images:
Explain the concepts you're talking about.
Give the reader a little time to adjust.
The Bitcoin white paper frequently uses images that explain how the various blockchain mechanisms work to help readers understand the blockchain. For example the following 2 examples:
Make your white paper more interesting
Try to add some fun design elements without compromising the professionalism. Decentralized energy company WePower does a fantastic job on their team introduction page. They know the importance of this page and the level of attention from the outside world, so they designed such a page in a cool way to make the reading process more enjoyable for the readers.
Common pitfalls to avoid
If you are considering submitting your ICO white paper for expert review for a second opinion, then you should do some self-examination before submitting. These are common mistakes that all white papers are prone to, and you can avoid them by doing a simple self-check:
Spelling mistakes: Never make a word misspelling, it will look very unprofessional. But don't worry, just check it with the grammar checking software Grammarly.
Objectivity: All your conclusions and opinions should be objective and not subjective.
Castles in the Air: Most white papers set extremely wild goals without any theoretical support. If you claim to do something, you should at least indicate how it will be done in the future. Actions speak louder than words.
Token Dynamics: If your token doesn’t make sense, there could be a big problem with your business model. You should go back to the beginning and redesign the entire business model immediately.
Team: Every member of the team should be up to the task. Remember, investors who are interested in the project will vet your team members. Make sure your team has no weaknesses.
Unrealistic roadmap: "We'll build a multi-tiered blockchain with millions of transactions per second in two months!" Stop dreaming, you can't.
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Congratulations, through this article, I believe you now have a comprehensive understanding of how to write a white paper. I highly recommend reading as many other successful ICO white papers as you can. Learn from each other in reading, and you will learn more.
Good luck with your project and hope you write a killer white paper! come on!
