Blockchain solutions are revolutionizing the way people conduct financial transactions and empowering innovative business solutions. Enterprises are gearing toward using blockchain for several business processes due to its heightened security and decentralized architecture. The number of startups that are introducing blockchain-powered solutions is yet to reach its peak Whitepaper.
To facilitate investment opportunities, blockchain startups have to write whitepapers detailing features and guide users by providing a fundamental walkthrough. Writing a whitepaper is not a walk in the park. Authors must fully understand product features and translate them to users and stakeholders in an easily consumable manner. How can you write an effective whitepaper for blockchain projects?
Why do whitepapers matter?
Whitepapers are the bread and butter of tech startups when proposing new concepts. Blockchain tech startups developing solutions like cryptocurrency or other financial transaction platforms require whitepapers to get public support or investment. Projects of this kind are sensitive, and startups need to prove that they understand all related aspects.
A whitepaper proves that startups have conducted adequate research and have the operational capacity to bring their idea to reality. The details this publication offer instill confidence in public backers and gives them an idea of all relevant aspects of that particular project. In layman’s terms, whitepapers serve as a detailed business plan focusing greatly on technical aspects of the development process.
Writing a whitepaper can help blockchain startups in more ways than one. As much as this publication is focused on finding potential stakeholders, a whitepaper can also help consumers understand the project in greater detail. Additionally, writing this paper provides startups the opportunity to break down their project, which will simplify the development process.
Benefits of publishing a whitepaper
The main benefit of publishing a whitepaper is establishing the startup developing a blockchain product as a brand. Some blockchain startups have effectively used this documentation to introduce their new concept and establish themselves as a brand in the market. In fact, other startups wrote and published a whitepaper to solely introduce themselves to the market without soliciting financial support from potential donors or investors.
One company wrote about the features of their product, and this served as a guide for potential customers. Another side benefit of publishing a whitepaper is furthering marketing interests. When the targeted audience downloads a whitepaper, startups can include a form gathering contact information.
Down the line, blockchain startups can build mailing lists and put together consumer personas with data gleaned from the form. Undoubtedly, this detailed publication also increases user engagement since it can be categorized as long-form content. Startups have better lead generation capability from just publishing a whitepaper, improving sales margins once the project is complete.
Identifying the target audience
Before beginning authoring the paper, the first order of business is identifying who it is meant for. There are several audiences that could benefit from a blockchain project whitepaper, and some of them are:
- Financial backers; Investors, donors, sponsors
- End-users; Targeted users that will utilize the complete product
- Public endorsers; Influencers, community members
- Stakeholders; Collaborators, developers
Identifying the target audience contributes to personalizing and writing a whitepaper according to expectations. Whitepaper authors understand that there is no standardized or generic paper for blockchain projects. Instead, a paper is written according to company objectives depending on the phase of a project.
For some startups, a paper might be written to introduce a project to potential investors, and in that case, it will be angled to a business audience. Most importantly, whitepapers targeted at financial backers must justify the monetary investment being made to the project. Whereas a whitepaper that targets onboarding stakeholders might be more technical and explain the concept in greater detail.
Naming a whitepaper
Naming the publication is critical since it is the first point of contact readers will have before reading it. Since this is a very important document, the title must be carefully chosen and used appropriately. The title for a whitepaper also depends on its purpose. Remember the target audience and use catchphrases or buzzwords relevant to their respective industries.
You can take some time to consider an appropriate dynamic title. Some whitepaper authors resort to writing the title after they have written the import of that specific paper. Consider including why and who the paper was written for. For example, if it is to serve as a guide for end-users titles like “Financial Managers Guide to…”
The title of a whitepaper should be descriptive of the issues addressed in it. When writing all relevant sections, align your paper with what was promised in the title. Check out other whitepapers and see how they align their title with what is explained on the paper.
The basic structure of this publication
Although there is no definitive structure for writing a whitepaper, it should be easy to follow through and compelling. Since most papers have a clearly defined purpose, whatever is written on it should lead up to the climax, an effective call to action. A useful structure to follow is problem-process-solution which sums up all important information.
Write the problem or market gap in accordance with your research and highlight why a blockchain solution is required. Some of the problems blockchain solutions address are loopholes and inefficiencies in traditional contracts or unsafe payment methods. Highlighting why your project is necessary to fix this problem for targeted end-users sets the tone for introducing a solution.
Once that is done, explain the solution in great detail and outline how it will be fixed once that blockchain project is complete. Word it in an intriguing manner and ensure it is well-structured. A good structure allows readers to scan through the paper and have a summative understanding of what it entails.
Writing a compelling introduction
Right after your title, readers will come across the introductory section. This part serves as an executive summary of a whitepaper and should explain its purpose and list key points. In this section, authors can write about critical legal issues related to your paper and all pertinent company information.
Despite serving as an informative paragraph or section, a whitepaper’s introduction must be enticing to readers. It is the perfect place to do a little brand storytelling and introduce readers to the startup. Detail why and how you got into blockchain and other important information such as the company’s vision and mission. Do not prematurely jump into the project itself but let readers understand basic information first.
Consider using a philanthropic quote or interesting statistics before delving into seemingly boring information. Expound on your philanthropic interests and socioeconomic views that guide the business undertakings you embark on. If potential stakeholders or financial backers relate to those views, they will be primed for whatever you have to offer them.
Introducing the need for your blockchain project
As mentioned above, part of a good whitepaper structure is highlighting the problem being solved by the blockchain project. This section should be placed directly after introducing the startup, its guiding principles as well as its vision and mission. Make sure that the target audience relates to problems addressed by your blockchain project.
All wording must be written using jargon and nuances that target audiences understand. Some major problems addressed by blockchain projects include ecological issues or industry-specific challenges. For example, some startups could focus on simplifying real-estate transactions using blockchain technology. Others might be addressing challenges in the healthcare sector.
Whatever your target end-user is, explain the problem you are solving in great detail. You can use statistics and other relevant information to make this section compelling and justifiable to potential financial backers or stakeholders. Conduct surveys and other research to bring the point across to whoever might be reading the paper that can provide practical support. The research could help outsourced whitepaper writers to find lucrative careers they love within the tech industry as well.
Introduce current stakeholders
Financial backers and stakeholders that could offer skills towards the project might be interested in knowing who they will be working with. Introduce all currently involved stakeholders and list all relevant experience, skills, or training they have. Potential investors might want to conduct any background checks on all involved stakeholders, and that is why this section is important.
Being obscure about current stakeholders might discredit your project and subsequently fail to reach its target. Remember, highly skilled individuals that have the same vision as you boost the chances of the paper being well-received. List all people involved in designing, developing, and providing support services to the project.
Most importantly, list all company executives and their relevant experience with the office they are holding within your startup. To make it friendly, add profile pictures of current stakeholders alongside their job descriptions. Include any accolades or industry achievements those stakeholders have attained over time in their respective industries.
Detail how the project will be executed
The heart of any whitepaper is the project roadmap and Key Performance Indicators that investors can use to monitor performance. By the time you start writing a whitepaper, it means you’re fully aware of all project requirements and milestones. Using that information, map out a project roadmap detailing how you will reach the last phase, which is deploying your blockchain solution.
Provide a project timeline detailing when you aim to reach milestones set on the roadmap. Visualize this data and use forecasting visual aids like Gantt charts and other materials. The project roadmap should account for any contingencies that you might face during the development phase.
Transparency is pivotal to gaining the confidence of potential backers and stakeholders. Instead of overestimating or tweaking project roadmaps, lay them out as accurately as possible. Disclaimer that the roadmap is subject to change once the ball starts rolling to prevent disgruntled stakeholders from relying solely on insights shared on your whitepaper.
Incentivize potential investors
If the whitepaper is aimed at sourcing investment, dedicate a section to incentivizing potential investors to buy into your project. This might depend on the blockchain project you are working on. For cryptocurrency projects, blockchain startups can incentivize financial backers by giving them coins in exchange for their investment. Incentivizing financial backers using this method has been aptly called Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
Basically, it is exactly like an Initial Public Offering (IPO) but strictly for cryptocurrency. Since blockchain systems are decentralized, be creative about the type of incentives you use to get investors on board.
A creative way to attract financial investment could be minting and providing Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in exchange for monetary support. Some blockchain startups had more than one form of incentive when publicizing their concept. The type of incentive you choose to use is left at your discretion. However, it must be clearly explained in the whitepaper.
Opening up the platform for further discussion
Finally, readers must be able to reach out and ask questions about any points raised on the paper. Therefore, the final section of your paper must open up a platform for discussion allowing potential stakeholders to ask any pertinent questions. At the same time, you can encourage industry professionals to share any insights that could improve the project.
In this section, write up-to-date contact details, including a postal address, email, and contact number. Consider including a contact person’s name to add a human element to this section.
Writing the contact person’s name will encourage any interested parties to call or write an email since this assures them that they won’t be interacting with an AI-powered tool. The contact information section must be after the whitepaper’s conclusion. In addition, to write with the help of the best essay writing website, a brief FAQ page to answer any questions that may arise from the paper.
The bottom line
Writing a whitepaper takes some time, and it should be proofed before being published online. However, a well-written paper can provide great benefits for blockchain startups. Some of those benefits include financial backing and public support from relevant influential figures. Additionally, a whitepaper can serve as training material for consumers or marketing material to publicize the blockchain product being developed.
