My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Bystander Effect in Business Opportunities
A cognitive bias where obviously valuable problems get ignored because everyone assumes someone else must already be working on them, leaving trillion-dollar opportunities hiding in plain sight.
How It Works
The more compelling and obvious a problem appears, the more likely entrepreneurs assume it's already being solved by someone smarter or better-funded, creating a paradoxical avoidance of the best opportunities.
Components
Identify obvious problems that would create massive value if solved
Ask why no one is working on this specific problem
Distinguish between 'impossible' and 'everyone assumes someone else is doing it'
Research whether the technical barriers are actually insurmountable
Look for problems where incumbents have no incentive to cannibalize themselves
When to Use
When evaluating startup ideas that seem 'too good to be true' or when everyone says 'if this were possible, someone would have done it already'
When Not to Use
For problems that actually require breakthrough scientific discoveries or have fundamental physics limitations
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Example
“Supersonic flight was obviously valuable but ignored because everyone assumed it was impossible after Concorde, when the real issue was just poor fuel economy that modern technology could solve.”