My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Monitor competitor crises for talent acquisition opportunities
Why It Works
People leave during crises when their confidence in leadership is shaken, creating acquisition windows
Prerequisites
How to Execute
Set up Google alerts for competitor news
Maintain relationships with key talent
Have standard offer packages ready
Move within hours not days
When It Fails
When the crisis is resolved quickly or when talent loyalty is stronger than expected
Real Example
“Microsoft hiring OpenAI team during board crisis”
Related Knowledge
Board Governance SaaS
Boards make poor decisions due to lack of context, misaligned incentives, and poor communication processes
Solidarity Shift Framework
When a key insider publicly defects from controversial leadership decision, it immediately shifts public perception from
Acquire competitor's entire team and technology during their internal crisis
Acquire the people, technology, and institutional knowledge of competitor without paying acquisition premium
Cannibals Island Test
The ability to thrive in completely hostile environments with no resources or allies - the ultimate test of leadership c
Intelligence as unfair advantage
Don't downplay intelligence when hiring - it's a legitimate competitive advantage like physical attributes in sports
You could parachute him into an Island full of cannibals and he'd be the king
Ultimate test of leadership is thriving in completely hostile environment with no resources