Honestly, I generally think that its pre-ico should be banned, it only spoils the market ICO
After having a pre-ICO experience myself and knowing a couple of other projects who did. I do totally agree with you. It is better to go for a seed round or to an institutional investor in the so-called "pre-ICO". Soon there will be a pre-pre-pre-pre-ICO of ICO
And that is more than likely what we will do. Even if we sold, we are currently checking with private and institutional investors who are opened to cryptos technologies to back us up for the ICO stage.
I think that doing so helps:
1- Secure trust in future investors
2- In future exchange negotiation
3- Ensure you are legally compliant so nobody gonna lose money if the government goes after you