I once demonstrated how unlevel my old Jersey City apartment was by letting a marble roll across the bedroom floor. It picked up speed as it careened toward the wall.
This memory reminds me of a profound business truth:
Real opportunities exist where things aren’t in perfect balance.
Just as that marble found its path on an uneven surface, the best innovations happen where there are market inefficiencies and gaps.
Opportunity exists in spaces where “water will not find its level.”
As Peter Thiel writes in Zero to One:
“Every new creation takes place far from equilibrium.”