In general, the ICO has the same principles of choosing a company as it is for ordinary investment. It is possible to single out several rules of behavior for a potential investor.
First of all, you need to look at the team and their experience. It is important, whether they did any similar projects in the past, and if so, how successfully they ended. Perhaps, the team has parallel business projects, which are currently developing and making a profit. If so, most likely, the team has reason to believe.
The next step is to look at the business model and its realism. It does not matter how the money is attracted - in the course of the ICO, by "live money" or loans - the business should create added value.
Otherwise, it will not attract investors, but the banal alignment of the pyramid. In ICO there are such examples when the founders of the project promise a profit of 100% for three months. And the first investors really get this money. But all the rest of their investments just lose.
An additional indicator of the potential success of investments is that the project is already in place and has some assessment. That is it is desirable, that it was not a start-up, and money was involved in already working and at least minimally profitable project.
An important criterion is the frequency of payments. If such an item is present in the business model, this is a big plus.
If the investor is set for real dividends, then there is no point in investing in small-town projects. That is, the size of the market for which the project team is waving is also the determining criterion. Ideally, you need something global, with an eye to the whole world.
In the project itself, the role of the token, which is released under the ICO, should be detailed. The company should have a clear goal of producing tokens and an extremely clear understanding of what the investors' funds will go to. Figures are accepted only with detailed economic justification.
From the outset, it is important for a potential investor to understand the pattern of earnings at all stages of the ICO. How much you need to invest where these funds will be directed, what will it receive in return and in what terms, how will the company grow and its revenues, on what terms can it use tokens in the future and so on. Transparency of processes is one of the most important conditions for investment.
In early 2018, many projects that received money for the ICO will have to report to investors. I'm sure there will be a lot of disappointments, and interest in ICO will subside, and project requirements will increase.