Better and Faster summary

As we’ve learned, it’s easy to fall into one of the farmer traps. But luckily, it’s also possible to avoid them by cultivating the three hunter instincts.

First, don’t be complacent; instead, be insatiable. Because insatiability – constantly scanning the horizon for the next opportunity – is the core of hunter instinct #1.

It’s time to put your hunter instincts into practice: there are six scenarios, or patterns of opportunity, that will allow you to spot new business models and products, giving you a serious competitive edge.

Let’s start with two of these patterns: convergence and divergence. The former, convergence, is about taking advantage of market chaos to create opportunity by mixing and integrating the right trends. After all, you can create a winning idea by combining multiple services and products.

Let’s move on to the next two patterns of opportunity: Cyclicality and Redirection. These two approaches are all about harnessing the power of momentum, by doing things like, for instance, forecasting trends and figuring out how to take advantage of predictably recurring elements such as retro appeal, nostalgia, economic cycles and generational patterns.

This point speaks directly to cyclicality, which requires you to foster a sense of history that’ll allow you to look beyond the moment and anticipate what’s next. This can be a powerful way of carving out opportunity: consider the fact that all sorts of companies – liquor companies and auto manufacturers, fashion brands and food products – have managed to reinvigorate their businesses by tapping into cyclical patterns and taking advantage of nostalgia.

Let’s learn about the two remaining patterns of opportunity: reduction and acceleration. These are both proven methods for finding a specific market, creating a winning business idea and becoming a better innovator, decision-maker and investor.

Reduction involves targeting niche audiences with a product or service that stands out because of its extreme simplicity. Doing this gets to the core of a business concept by using crowdsourcing and localization to remove any unneeded parts.

Wake up your “inner hunter.” Familiarize yourself with the six patterns of opportunity. Done all that? Great! Now you can start narrowing your focus and zero in on a great business idea.

Of course, finding the nugget of a successful idea is easier said than done. The key is to establish a “hunting ground” and identify a cluster of opportunity – some group of products, services or concepts that have a similar approach. Then, you use the six patterns of opportunity to reframe the central idea and make it special.