how do you buy an ico before it is on an exchange? do you need a special wallet for it as well?
Most ICOs will have some sort of guide to follow or if not you can ask for assistance without a communication channel of theirs such as telegram. Mostly they'll be ERC20 tokens so you invest from a wallet such as myetherwallet, some will have their own wallets or their own area within their site where tokens are stored until you transfer them to a wallet of your choice.