Use one-on-one breakout meetings to gather intel you can't get in a group setting. Ask directly about competitors, pricing, and evaluation status. The private, trusted environment makes stakeholders more likely to share candid details, effectively turning them into your internal informant on the deal.

When evaluating AI startups, don't just consider the current product landscape. Instead, visualize the future state of giants like OpenAI as multi-trillion dollar companies. Their "sphere of influence" will be vast. The best opportunities are "second-order" companies operating in niches these giants are unlikely to touch.

Act like an investor with your time by forming hypotheses about which industries are most likely to experience your key compelling events. By predicting where M&A or new market entries will occur (e.g., in telecom), you can proactively focus your territory on high-probability accounts before events are announced.

Bizzabo's founders, being new to the events industry, used their lack of preconceived notions to their advantage. They could question established norms and identify problems that insiders overlooked, leading to innovative solutions. This "beginner's mind" is a powerful disruptive tool.

Relying on second-hand information like surveys is not enough to stay innovative. Cvent's Head of Events realized that to bring the latest trends to her own events, she had to stop just producing and start actively attending others'. This first-hand experience is critical for genuine innovation and escaping a creative echo chamber.

In a crowded market, the most critical question for a founder is not "what's the idea?" but "why am I so lucky to have this insight?" You must identify your unique advantage—your "alpha"—that allows you to see something others don't. Without this, you're just another smart person trying things.

The most important part of a specialized conference isn't the talks, which are typically recorded, but the 'hallway track'—the unstructured conversations with speakers and other expert attendees. Maximizing this value requires intentionality and a clear goal for engagement, as these serendipitous connections are the primary reason to attend in person.

Ken Griffin warns startups against direct, head-on competition with industry giants, stating, "you're going to lose." To succeed, you must find an asymmetrical advantage—operating "under the radar" or solving niche problems incumbents ignore. Citadel initially did this by hiring unconventional quantitative talent.

Industry specialists can become trapped in an "echo chamber," making them resistant to paradigm shifts. WCM found their generalist team structure was an advantage, as a lack of "scar tissue" and a broader perspective allowed them to identify changes that entrenched specialists dismissed as temporary noise.