Now, what are ICOs? Akin to its sibling, the stock market's IPO(Initial Public Offering), wherein you offer the shares of your company to the general public and they become 'Shareholders' of your company which are then tradeable on the stock markets which its listed on, ICO is a more advanced version of raising funds for a company, let's call it the 'Blockchain way'.

I wanted to check what Wikipedia had to say about it and being a fan of this tech, it wasn't very optimistic.
Initial coin offering (ICO) is an unregulated and controversial means of crowdfunding via the use of cryptocurrency, which can be a source of capital for startup companies.

This is how the article starts as of today, at least. With more than 1000+ Alt coins in the markets already and several new coming up every month, so many sketchy and scammy ones try to gulp in people's money, people who were in this just for a quick buck without much know-how. We all know that anything as speculative as this demands dedication from people's side as well, but does that mean their hard-earned money is just up for grabs for people with bad intention? Many wouldn't see eye to eye with me on this, hence this article. I see why Wikipedia or many such articles have bashed this idea of ICO somehow or the other. few countries have followed the suit too( which I think is definitely momentarily).

But, as always, with great tech come great earning opportunity and people like uncle Ben who'd show you the right path. But keep in mind, they can only show you the path, you gotta decide whether to tread on it or not. Hence, even after being directed in the right direction, you gotta DYOR (Do Your Own Research). That's not very difficult, eh? So who are these uncle Bens I'm talking about? I have two on my mind. I have been following their paths of research and it's been a much simpler journey for me in this weird world of internet money of ICOs.

• Verified ICOs

I have been following them sometime now and it's just brilliant. Especially their telegram group where the founders/Analysts have created a well-balanced environment of discussions. You can request them to review ICOs. They'll fetch you a small paragraph on it almost the same day on the group, not the website. It is a small team now and they are in this altruistically. No money involved, at least not as of yet. These guys are growing rapidly. What I like the most about them is the way they structure their review. Along with ICO dates, official website they also talk in detail about:

• Concept: talks about the concept if it's worth the blockchain tech or is it just another mom-pop store trying to raise some money
  

• Team: talks about if the ICO has a solid team behind it which can make it sail through the concept stage.

• Execution: deals with intrinsic questions like, "Do they have a solid road-map ahead?" "How is the marketing being held?" "Have they clarified things in the whitepaper?' etc.

• Analysis Flags: "Do they have GitHub code?" "Are the social media following and likes, retweets etc being faked/pumped?"
  

• Synopsis: Finally, their personal take on it. [never forget DYOR]

Website: https://www.verifiedicos.com/
Telegram: https://t.me/VerifiedICOs

Next up on stage is Uncle Ben_2.

• Picolo Research

Let me tell you something from my investing portfolio. I invested in Chainlink(LINK) ICO with hundred percent confidence because of these guys. Need I say more? Hell, yes! Let me elaborate on their structured reviews a bit here, the rest you can explore on yourself with the website link down below. ;)

Check the snapshot below and I wouldn't need to explain anything else, much.

Once you select the ICO that you are interested in(Did I say that they too entertain requests?), you will be taken to a synopsis of that ICO and then ,a detailed one on that. How cool is that? The reports are comprehensive with a 'Star rating' wherein in each rating means something IN (Report, Avoid, Risky, Spec(speculative)-buy, Buy). You can check their Chainlink's report right here: https://picoloresearch.com/27/chainlink-link/attachment

Not important for this post, an extra piece of information, they have launched their own ICO now, which is already in the crowdsale stage. Here https://astronaut.capital/

Website: https://picoloresearch.com/

Disclaimer:

• This is no financial advice. I am just sharing the way I personally deal with ICOs and try to make money by picking out the best(hopefully) of the crowd. All opinions are personal.
• All the pictures have either been taken from the respective websites or via Google search.

Always remember, Do Your Own Research. #DYOR