Apple's system of serializing every component to the motherboard wasn't just for quality control. It was a direct response to a massive fraud scheme in China where organized groups would hollow out new iPhones, sell the valuable parts, and then use the broken shells to claim brand new replacements under warranty.

Sanctions on major Russian oil companies don't halt exports but instead push them into opaque channels. Russia uses independent traders and restructured ownership to create "unknown" cargos, removing sanctioned company names from documents. This model, proven with smaller firms, maintains export volumes while obscuring the oil's origin.

While most acquirers rely on brokers, platforms like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace can be a hidden source of off-market deals. Very small, less sophisticated business owners often default to these simple platforms to sell, creating unique opportunities for diligent searchers.

The actual business of a high-level drug enterprise is not just selling a product, but managing immense risk. Their competitive advantage—their "moat"—is the ability to navigate a system of extreme violence and legal peril, which requires a high level of entrepreneurial skill.

If your business relies on third-party suppliers for deals (e.g., real estate wholesalers), the fastest way to grow is to acquire one. Your superior monetization model allows you to extract more value from their operation, giving you control over the entire supply chain.

Auto parts company FBG funded its acquisition spree with a sophisticated fraud using "invoice factoring," a corporate version of a payday loan. By selling the same tranche of invoices to multiple private creditors, it illegitimately raised funds, leading to a collapse with $2.3 billion unaccounted for.

Due to extreme demand and limited official stores, scalpers backed by triads created a massive arbitrage opportunity. They controlled distribution, buying iPhones in bulk and selling them at huge markups. This shadow economy became so profitable that, on a per-unit basis, these groups were making more money than Apple itself.

In the 1860s, a power vacuum in Sicily coincided with a global craze for lemons, making orchards more profitable than French vineyards. A new organization emerged not to grow lemons, but to run extortion and protection schemes on the lucrative trade, evolving into the mafia.

When a bank forced Clayton Motors into bankruptcy and seized its assets, Jim Clayton formed a new corporation. This new, legally distinct entity then bid at the bank's auction, buying back its own inventory at bargain prices and relaunching the business almost immediately.