Knowledge Marketplace
My First Million

My First Million

The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.

Back to Mental Models

High-Profile Criminal Capture Through Minor Mistakes

Sophisticated criminals with otherwise perfect operational security are frequently caught through small, seemingly unrelated errors rather than major investigative breakthroughs.

Decision Rule

When evaluating whether someone could be caught for high-stakes activities, focus on tiny operational security failures rather than major detective work.

How It Works

Complex operations require many small decisions, each creating potential failure points. Even brilliant operators make mundane mistakes like wrong usernames, expired licenses, or routine traffic stops.

Failure Modes

Overestimating the sophistication required to catch criminals

Focusing on major investigative techniques while ignoring simple errors

Assuming perfect OpSec is maintainable long-term

Example Decision

When assessing if someone could be Satoshi, consider whether they might have accidentally posted from the wrong forum account rather than whether the FBI could crack their encryption.