When I research a Web3 project, I don't start with its token price or how much attention it's getting. I start with the product. Because before I can decide whether a project is worth paying attention to, I need to understand what it's building, who it's serving, and whether there's evidence that people actually need it. Here are a few things I look at: 1. The product What can someone actually do with it today? Not what's promised for next year. What's working right now? 2. The users Are people returning because the product is useful, or is most of the activity driven by incentives? Both matter, but they tell different stories. 3. The token If the project has a token, what role does it actually play? A token existing doesn't automatically mean it has meaningful utility. 4. The adoption Look beyond the headline numbers. Users, transactions, TVL and revenue can all be useful metrics, but none tells the whole story on its own. The important part is understanding what those numbers actually represent. 5. The sustainability Would people still use the product if the rewards stopped tomorrow? It's not always easy to answer, but it's a question worth asking. 6. The risks What could hold the project back? What depends on another protocol? What hasn't the team explained clearly? I don't expect every project to have everything figured out. But I want to know the difference between what's already working, what's still being built, and what's simply being promised. That's how I approach project research. The goal isn't to find a reason to like every project. It's to understand what we're looking at before forming an opinion.