Aspiring entrepreneurs constantly ask me where to find good business ideas. It isn’t because they lack ideas — they lack awareness. Put in its simplest terms: they haven't learned to think like an entrepreneur yet.
Great business concepts aren’t hiding in secret think tanks, pitch decks, or “disruptor” brainstorming sessions. They’re hiding in plain sight, camouflaged as everyday annoyances, inefficiencies, and stupid decisions that everyone complains about — but almost no one acts on.
If you can spot friction, you can spot opportunity.
And if you can’t spot friction, it’s not because the opportunities aren’t there. It’s because you’ve been conditioned to tolerate mediocrity instead of questioning premises.
Businesses are born when someone finally says, “Why the hell does this still work like this?” — and refuses to accept the lazy answer.
Case in point: I’m writing this from a human longevity facility that I’m at for testing. They’re at the forefront of preventive and predictive medicine. I’m undergoing a battery of tests including genome sequencing, blood tests, and a head-to-toe MRI. It’s a multi-modal approach using machine learning and other AI technology to detect degenerative disease early, or even before they happen.
Every person 50 and above should get this testing, yet almost no one does. Why? Because it’s costly, and insurance companies and governments don’t want to spend thousands of dollars testing people who aren’t showing symptoms. Unfortunately, some of the diseases being tested for grow rapidly and by the time symptoms appear, it’s sometimes too late to do anything meaningful about them.
That’s an example of a hole in the market...
Insurance companies and governments are acting foolishly. At some point they’ll recognize the error of their ways and will actively promote testing like this. But in the meantime, there’s a huge opportunity for savvy entrepreneurs like the founders of this facility I’m visiting.
Here’s something worth sitting with for a moment—because it explains why this pattern repeats everywhere…
The level of prosperity you experience will never exceed the level of responsibility you’re willing to accept.
The biggest opportunities almost always exist in markets dominated by fear-based institutions. Insurance companies, governments, and massive bureaucracies don’t innovate — they defend. They optimize for cost control, liability avoidance, and political safety, not human outcomes. That’s why entrepreneurs keep eating their lunch.
Most people see these inefficiencies and complain about them. Entrepreneurs see them and think, “Someone is going to get rich fixing this. Why not me?”
You don’t need a genius IQ to do this. Just the willingness to notice what others normalize — and take responsibility for doing something about it.
Now take that same logic and apply it in any one of thousands of different markets…
- Ask a bus mechanic the stupid ways the fleet management wastes money.
- Ask a delivery driver the foolish mistakes the company they drive for doesn’t understand about their app.
- Ask yourself: what are the ridiculous, slow, or inconvenient things that drive me nuts?
Every time you discover a challenge—you’ve also discovered an opportunity to solve a problem or add value. (And every challenge you ignore is a decision not to act.) The world doesn’t need more opinions — it needs more people willing to step into responsibility, add value, and stop waiting for permission.
Jump in. Solve the problem. You’ll make the world better — and very possibly make yourself wealthy in the process.
Peace,
- RG
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Got in a philosophical discussion with a co-worker about billionaires, he thought they shouldn't exist.. and surprisingly multi-billionaire Mark Cuban agrees.. says it's ridiculous the amount of money I have.. could never spend it.. but he worked his ass off, totally self-made.. and as soon as you put a cap on how much people can earn, your economy goes in the toilet.. but Cuban has spent $200 million building a plant to bring drug costs down in the States.. co-worker said it's f-up when a few people control 90% of the wealth.. well, until something better is invented.. that's the way it is.. figure out your own way to contribute and make your own pile.. cheers Napa David
"billionaires, he thought they shouldn't exist" - Isn't that reasonable? The whole society is built on fear.
"it's f-up when a few people control 90% of the wealth" - And they are far from being the smartest, but the luckiest.
"well, until something better is invented.." - Now that's a business idea - that's exactly what Randy is talking about.
You hit the nail on the head, Randy! It’s comical how the most brilliant business ideas are often disguised as the everyday nuisances we all grumble about. When we start questioning the status quo, that’s when the magic happens.
Excellently noted and said!
I really enjoyed Randy's reasoning and both smart comments.
If you have a legitimate solution to a legitimate problem, and I think I do, keep this mantra in mind. It's one I keep going back to. "You can be successful at anything if enough people know what you do." If, on the other hand, you don't have a legitimate solution to a legitimate problem, you might as well hang it up and try something else.