I am usually very selective when choosing altcoins, I believe that's the area you are driving at, since BTC is the alpha in crypto. Firstly, I check to see if the team is competent enough, and if they have a supportive community. Obviously a community will be supportive if the team members have community interest, let's say there is a voting system before making vital decisions, it will go a long way. That aside, I check if there is a product, or atleast an MVP and check the development progress squarely. If the project is based solely on promises and hype, it's a no no for me. Let's say for example, I decided to buy some ANKR when I discovered many projects need them to run their nodes, I also decided to buy some VIDT when their video streaming platform started gaining traction. These are not investment options, just a personal instance. Once I see the team, Community and product are cool, then I'm optimistic the coin I'm investing in should do well in future everything being equal.