The first thing I do when I get acquainted with a new project is study WhitePaper. Only there you can find all the necessary information about the project, including the Idea, Team, Prototype, Token Sale and much more.
Yeah, I usually read the whitepaper last.. but most of those topics you touched in the second part of your sentence is usually mentioned on the website in a summary form.. the whitepaper gets real technical on the other hand.
You can also verify ICO's if they have a prototype before they hit the market on ICO bench.