Recently I attended an ICO Conference in London and had a real sense of déjà vu from my .com days.

With each pitch I listened to, I felt myself asking the question “Which business problem is this solving?”

I’ve lived through the .com, mobile, and social eras, and been to many of the conferences that go along with these new technology phases.

What I heard in many cases was a solution (blockchain) looking for a problem, with the real reason behind the ICO being to make money quickly without having to raise funds the “old” way through investors and VCs.

If you are considering a crypto project, have someone you trust ask you the question:

“What business problem are you solving?”

If you aren’t solving a real business problem (regardless of the technology you plan to use) then it’s just a way for you to get rich, quick (or hope to).

This isn’t sustainable.

What I’m also seeing from stage I’ve seen during each of the .com/mobile/social phases

  • bad pitches
  • poor consumer/buyer education
  • no real call to action
  • no real passion from the speakers

History is repeating.

In this case though, the market has developed faster than the technology and it is much harder to explain than social/mobile/web.

Interestingly also at this event was the number of empty seats.