I agree the question can be asked in ways that are less productive than they might be, but the general approach of, "How is this different from what's already o

I agree the question can be asked in ways that are less productive than they might be, but the general approach of, "How is this different from what's already out there?" is always a good one. It lets you know a) if they know what's already out there and b) if they've done a reasonable analysis of it's weaknesses/issues and c) if they have a realistic sense of what specific pain-points their approach will address. I've avoided a lot of bad investments based on entrepreneurs who answer variants of this question with something like, "Well, they suck and we don't." This answer violates the Law of Common Humanity ("We are pretty much like Them"), which rarely bodes well for the product or the company.