How To See Opportunities Others Miss

Most people think opportunity is about being early. It’s not. It’s about being observant when others are complacent.

Here’s what separates the people who find gold from the ones who step over it;

Study What Used to Work (But Stopped)

Passion blinds people. Patterns guide people.

The most successful founders didn’t “follow their passion”; they followed data, behavior, and timing.

Look at what dominated 5-10 years ago in your industry. Why did it die? Was it the idea that was bad, or just the execution/timing/technology?

When you start seeing patterns i.e. user behaviors, pricing gaps, workflow bottlenecks, you’ll realize opportunity isn’t luck. It’s pattern literacy.

Train yourself to connect dots faster than others do. That’s how you predict shifts while everyone else waits for confirmation.

Follow the Money Moving, Not Where It's Sitting

Most people chase the visible winners, the saturated markets, the hyped trends, the crowded spaces. But money doesn’t stay still. It flows.

Every few years, consumer behavior, technology, or regulation quietly shifts how capital moves. If you trace where budgets are starting to go, where users are beginning to spend, what companies are suddenly hiring for, you’ll always be ahead.

That’s the secret: watch the flow, not the pool. By the time something’s mainstream, the margins are already dead.

Study a different field, then bring it back

Original thinking doesn’t come from staring harder at the same problem. It comes from changing the lens.

For instance, study psychology to solve business and marketing problems. Study politics to understand systems, etc.

Steal patterns from other domains and apply them where no one else does. That’s how you build insight no competitor can replicate.

Train your eyes. The opportunities are everywhere.

Most people just don't know how to look.