Leading blockchain consulting firm, skillfully crafting premium token sale packages for companies aiming to raise capital through public token sales: Iinuma Consulting Partners

Arthur Iinuma’s journey to founding Iinuma Consulting Partners began with a keen interest in Bitcoin in 2016. He observed its rapid transformation from a fringe technology to a mainstream topic, but noticed a substantial information asymmetry in the blockchain and digital currency markets. Despite the buzz around Bitcoin, few grasped the underlying distributed ledger technology and its broader implications beyond digital currency. Driven by curiosity, Arthur delved deep into research, becoming proficient in blockchain technology. Recognizing the value of his newfound expertise, he began sharing his knowledge, attracting individuals eager to learn from him. This demand inspired Arthur to establish a consulting company, initially offering generalized blockchain consulting services. Over time, the company evolved to specialize in token sale and launch services, addressing a crucial need in the market.

Arthur’s dedication to bridging the knowledge gap in blockchain technology ultimately led to the successful creation of Iinuma Consulting Partners.

 In conversation with Arthur Iinuma, Principal Consultant, Founder, and CEO of Iinuma Consulting Partners

Q. What inspired you to create your company and its offerings?

In 2014 I invested in my first start-up as an angel investor.  In the years following I would go on to invest over $3M of my personal capital into a dozen different companies.  I co-invested alongside nine-figure funds and billionaire family offices.

Despite watching several of these companies exit into the public stock markets, what I saw was an industry that was closely guarded by its gatekeepers with perfectly curated deals and founders.  Any deviation from this rigid framework automatically disqualified a company from getting a term sheet.  I would see some founders receive several term sheets while others would not be invited to pitch.  The average time to exit would be 7 years, and some companies I’ve invested in have not had a major liquidity event even after 10 years.  This system seemed heavily biased, hardly fair, and broken.  Everyone is making too much money to care.

My first foray into the digital currency markets was eye-opening.  Companies could have direct access to public investors, bypassing the gatekeepers completely.  What would be a second-year Series B round in the traditional markets could be raised in weeks on a first offering in the crypto markets.  Some of these companies would experience five-digit percentage returns just months after investment with exit liquidity on the public token markets - that’s a 100x return on the principal.

I was inspired to create a more organized way for these companies to tap into the token markets, raise capital, and list on the public crypto exchanges.  That has evolved into the services that I offer today.

Q. Can you explain about your services in brief?

Sure, I’d be happy to explain. I primarily offer two key services:

1. Token Sale Package: I specialize in creating comprehensive marketing documentation for web3 companies. This package is designed to clearly explain a project’s business plan and token functionality to both institutional and retail audiences. The primary goal is to generate awareness, educate investors and users, facilitate capital raising in the token sale market, and ultimately, support the successful launch of the tokens into the public markets.
2. Launch Advisory: Under this service I provide guidance and support to projects throughout the token sale and listing process. This includes coordinating introductions to key stakeholders such as investors, launchpads, exchanges, influencers and KOLs, PR agencies, market makers, developers, and other essential service providers. My launch advisory services are tailored to the specific needs of each project, ensuring a customized approach for the best results.

Q. With over 260 projects delivered, what sets your token sale package apart from competitors, and how do you ensure the success of each project you undertake?

Most of my competitors are not taking a holistic approach when evaluating what deliverables will maximize the outcome for the client. For example, they may focus on just the writing aspect of a whitepaper and roughly explain the project without exploring the relevancy of its token, its economics, or how this will be evaluated through the critical lens of an investor. They’re simply providing a writing service to get paid for without an understanding of how their work is valued in the token sale process. Many of my clients can write just as capably as the people they hire. So, they’re looking for an expert who understands exactly how to craft a story that explains the value proposition of the project while addressing the problem-solution statement with appropriate cadence and flow. The writer needs to understand the audience and fine-tune the writing to maximize its impact on that audience. Thus, a white paper cannot be a one-size-fits-all document.

This is why my services consist of several different types of documents and deliverables. To illustrate more clearly, a 30-page whitepaper is not an ideal format to present to a venture investor on a call. A presentation deck is far more ideal. But before we can create a pitch deck or a white paper, we need to develop the rationale for the necessity of the token and create a balanced issuance model that is fair to both the token buyer and the issuer. All of this needs to be broken down into distinct deliverables with the proper expertise for each. And I do mean expertise; being a good writer is simply not enough. The author needs to understand both the web3 technologies that underpin the product as well as the business or service offered. The work is then to paint an easy-to-follow story of the project that has the right amount of technical and business discussion to be meaningful. Finally, we need to wrap everything up in a bow and make it presentable to both a private investor and a public buyer. This is why I put emphasis on the graphic design and appearance.

The end result is a well-thought-out business plan that is separated into relevant documents that are shared and reviewed as needed.

Q. Your offerings include whitepapers, investor presentations, token economics models, one-pagers and websites. Could you elaborate on how each of these components contributes to a successful token sale, and how you tailor them to meet the specific needs of your clients?

A token sale is a complex endeavor that takes months to orchestrate. There are multiple parties involved in the process, including institutional and high-net-worth investors, partners, new employee hires, web3 developers, launch platforms, exchanges, legal counsel, accountants and other consultants, market makers, and public buyers—the list goes on. There’s no “one size fits all” document that fits the needs of the product presentation and explanation to each participant and audience. After working with founders to launch over 20 projects and collecting valuable feedback from the parties involved, I evolved my offerings to best fit the needs of the modern token sale.

My most-viewed document is the token economics document; this used to be buried in a whitepaper somewhere with perhaps just a paragraph explanation and a chart. I set an industry standard by creating a standalone document that covers token utility, uses, and functionality, along with the metrics of the offering. Investors go directly to this document, even before looking at anything else. There’s a rationale that applies to the needs of each of the other documents, and that is why I’ve designed a packaged approach.

Q. Your expertise extends to designing scalable and economically viable token models. Could you share some insights into your approach to designing token economics and how you ensure the long-term sustainability of projects you work on?

Many founders assume they can bolt on a token model to any business they want to raise capital for and therefore dismiss the importance of token economics. They simply see tokens as a means to an end—raising capital for their project. However, token holders are left holding the proverbial bag, and if zero consideration was given to how these tokens would accrue value, then we can only expect that they would decline to zero over time. So we must carefully evaluate the need for a token, why end users would buy, use, and hold it, and how they benefit from doing so just as much as the token issuer. Therefore, the token needs to be carefully and thoughtfully woven into the business model.

The reality is that some businesses do not benefit from the issuance of tokens and therefore have no business pursuing a token launch.

Q. Can you discuss a particularly challenging project you’ve worked on and how you navigated obstacles to achieve success? What lessons did you learn from that experience?

One project I worked on was on the verge of shutting down. The founder worked tirelessly to pivot and find a strong fit for their product in a fast-evolving market. However, as sentiment cooled and liquidity evaporated, he was faced with a difficult decision: burn through whatever remaining capital he had trying to find a product-market fit or shut everything down. I proposed we explore re-launching and bringing our loyal community of token holders and investors with us. This was a first for both of us, and few projects had successfully managed such a transition through a bear market. With a supportive but understandably, cautious community, we went through with the process, which resulted in a substantial return for all of the existing holders while successfully pivoting into a new narrative that ended up being one of the most discussed projects of its time.

The project had over half a million followers on X alone and was covered by dozens of influencers and KOLs. The token launched successfully and continued to set new all-time highs well after the launch.

Q. The success stories of projects like GameGPT, Rainmaker Games, and Bondly are impressive. Could you walk us through your role in these projects and how your contributions helped them achieve their fundraising and market cap milestones?

My official title was “Advisor,” but this is a pretty generic term, and typically, advisors are simply lending their face and name to a project with minimal value added. I worked with these companies to research and source institutional capital, such as crypto VCs, as well as launchpads and centralized exchanges. Beyond this, I worked with these founders on the pitch strategy, how to address questions around the product and token economics, and how to quickly close these deals.  Together with the materials from the token sale package I created for them, all of these projects raised and launched successfully. My advisory consulting services extended post-launch to work with their market makers to help build momentum in the token and preserve the price for as long as possible. 

Q. How do you stay updated with the rapidly evolving landscape of blockchain and cryptocurrency regulations, market trends, and technological advancements to provide cutting-edge consulting services to your clients?

General research, such as reading industry publications like Coindesk, evaluating upcoming and past projects and their launches, and spending time on X, gets me about 50% of the current event knowledge I need. The rest comes from conversations with industry insiders such as launchpad operators, influencers, clients who have already launched, and my network of industry professionals.

Q. What are some of the challenges that remain in your business?

Governments and regulation, especially here in the U.S. and other Western markets.  There’s almost zero attempt to evolve legislation to enable a framework where public token sales can occur.  Instead, we’re faced with increased reporting and tax requirements, and regulation by enforcement.  It took 9 years for the SEC to approve Bitcoin ETFs.

There are also challenges endemic to the industry.  It is still fraught with scams, and meme coins with no business model, no utility, and no value are taken more seriously than established projects.  

Q. Transparency and verifiability are emphasized in your services. How do you ensure transparency throughout the consulting process, and what mechanisms are in place for clients to verify the efficacy of your recommendations?

The first step is to maintain a publicly visible profile with ample links to resources and information about my services, pricing, portfolio, and track record. This makes auditing by a prospective client much easier; many of my clients come into our first call fairly well-informed.

The beauty of the crypto and blockchain space is that it is designed with the ethos of transparency. Therefore, prospective clients can review my past projects using public sites and learn how much these projects raised and how their tokens performed in the secondary markets. This transparency also serves to keep me accountable and ensure I do my best work on every project I work on.

Beyond this, I believe spending time explaining my process and my experience, running through expectations, and addressing all of their questions with confidence helps to provide my clients with the information they need to decide.

Q. What are some of the promising changes occurring in the industry?

Some of the traditional VC money has trickled into the web3 markets.  Andreessen Horowitz has been a big deployer of capital even though it’s likely they haven’t made any meaningful returns for their LPs.

Digital currencies are part of the mainstream conversation and are a hot topic in the upcoming U.S. election.  The SEC recently approved eight spot Ether (19b-4) filings - a decision that seemingly came out of the blue but reportedly was a result of political support.

Bitcoin is now more accessible than ever with ETFs that can be purchased in many retirement accounts.  Even with the challenges, today is a better place to be in crypto than when I first joined in 2016.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

Yes! I recently added web design and development to my package as well as launch marketing services, both of which I am constantly refining and executing at the same caliber as my other services.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

AI is continuing to gain rapid adoption. We are seeing a world where Web3 and AI are converging. Most of the projects I am working on today are either reimagining AI in the context of Web3 or integrating its use within their business model. I think in the not-too-distant future we may see examples of the first AI workers transacting with each other using digital currencies and exchanging services and resources with each other for the benefit of their human owners. Regardless of what’s in store for us, my goal is to continue to be at the forefront of these emerging technologies to ensure that I can continue to provide high-caliber services for the next generation of web3 entrepreneurs.

Meet the leader behind the success of Iinuma Consulting Partners

Arthur Iinuma, Principal Consultant, Founder, and CEO

Arthur Iinuma is a leading authority in the web3 industry, with eight years of experience guiding companies through the intricacies of blockchain technology. As the founder of Iinuma Consulting Partners, he has played a pivotal role in the successful launch and growth of numerous web3 projects. Arthur’s passion for blockchain extends beyond consulting; he is an avid NFT collector and has collaborated on multiple NFT launches. His commitment to the decentralized ecosystem is further evidenced by his investments in various web3 ventures and the authoring of two US blockchain patents.

Arthur’s journey in the crypto world began in 2016 with his first bitcoin purchase, followed by Ethereum and Litecoin acquisitions. He was also an active participant in Poloniex’s “Trollbox” community in 2017. As a former licensed trader at Morgan Stanley and VP at UBS, he initially transitioned from traditional finance to crypto trading, employing a sophisticated arbitrage strategy across six centralized exchanges before pivoting into token launch services.

Arthur contributes his insights to Forbes and CoinTelegraph, sharing his extensive knowledge of blockchain technology and market dynamics. His unique blend of traditional finance experience and innovative blockchain expertise makes him a trusted advisor and thought leader in the web3 space.

“I set an industry standard to create a standalone document that covers token utility, uses, and functionality, along with the metrics of the offering. Investors go directly to this document, even before looking at anything else.”