Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is the cryptocurrency equivalent of an Initial Public Offering (IPO), where a company goes from private to public status by selling shares for equity. This is typically done to get funds without the need to go to a Venture Company (VC) or bank. An ICO solves the basic problem of initial coin distribution.
Early investors in the operation are usually motivated to buy the cryptocoins in the hope that the plan becomes successful after it launches which could translate to a higher cryptocoin value than what they purchased it for before the project was initiated. (Source)
What you need
Detailed White Paper
Clear Development Roadmap
Open Source Published Code
Clear and fair pricing and sale
Price discovering (pre-sale)
Developer percentage
Independent Review
Good Faith and Marketing Approach
What token buyers want
Big ideas
Great, futuristic, impossible problems
Fair economics
Token having genuine use
Roadmap to success
Incredible team
Active Community
Being part of something transformational