For most projects, the whitepaper is just an idea projected into the future. Only rarely is there a prototype or actual existing product. When I read whitepaper I try to think about how realistic the plan is and what kinds of assumptions about the market and competition are being made. For example, I've read whitepapers for projects with great ideas but the feasibility depends on huge user adoption. How is the project going to get the users it needs in order to have a working product? Sometimes the whitepaper will discuss the marketing campaign that is planned, sometimes it doesn't mention anything about this issue at all. In other cases, I've read strong whitepapers but when you take a step back you see that the market niche the project is aiming for is already quite saturated one is forced to ask why people would stop using existing services that meet their needs to try something new and unproven? The question of how some of these companies will break into the markets they plan to "disrupt" remains too often unclear. In general, I think it's smart to read whitepapers with an to how practically feasible an idea is. Is the assumption of user adoption realistic? Is there an existing market for the services being offered? What is the competitive advantage over existing services? Etc.