How to determine if a cryptocurrency has a promising future? This may be a very subjective question. I've watched this video where Lark states that some coins (Monero, ZCash, DASH, etc) have a promising future and others don't.

What's the criteria to make this kind of predicion?

Is it possible to speculate the future of coins that are on their early stages (with little value and not much information about them in the community)?
Whenever I am looking into an ICO, there are some things I generally take into consideration.

1. Team

-Make sure the team is real, and verifiable. Check linkedin, or other sites to verify the teams identity. 

2. Token allocation and funding

-Check their practices and see if they are common. Pundix’s ICO is a great example. Removing total investments as soon as an ICO’s coin reaches an exchange is a widely practiced strategy. Lately, more ICO’s are looking for ways to ensure the token is held for longer terms.

3. Token or coin supply

-Check to see the burn policy, and the % of coins going to the public vs the investors. 

4. Purchase cap per person

-Some ICO's have bonuses for early investors with huge capital. Make sure there isn't 1 person holding a majority of the coin. 

5. Know the Market Caps

-Try to guesstimate and speculate a realistic market cap for an idea. If the market cap is low based on the fundraising, but something that could potentially become huge, there’s a lot of potential. 

6. Project idea

-What is the value proposition? Does it really need blockchain? Or is it just riding the hype? Make sure that Blockchain is necessary. 

7. Likely to end up on exchanges

-To cash out easily, it must hit an exchange. The more likely, the easier it is to get your profit. 

8. Working MVP or product

-Are you investing in a product or an idea that has to be proven and validated? The more developed the product is, the safer it would be to hold long term.

9. Activity among fans/investors

-Check telegram and other sites to see the feedback/hype from other investors.