In my opinion, IEO is not for crypto startups that are seeking funds to kick start their project but for projects that have raised capital already or have rich advisor and team to fund the project. Fund-raising through IEO can be very challenging for startups that need money to kickstart their project, because they will need large amount of money to conduct their tokensale on good exchanges, as this exchanges only list projects that meet their legal requirements and can also afford to pay their listing fees. So the best means to raise money or capital for new projects is to present their proposal to Venture capital firms or Angel investors.
This can be arrange. I believe exchanges have rules regarding the payment of IEO, this might be hidden or arrangements are done under the table.
If a project does not have money but have a feasible roadmap, have gathered enough attention and hype, exchanges may consider having a part of their token as payment, or a certain commision on the total amount raised. Binance had been doing this kind of stuff, they are listing those tokens that have either money to pay for listing or promised to give certain percentage of the total circulating token. The latter gives more profit than just being paid. Does
this make sense?