Target and Deliver Worthy Opportunities: A Values-Based Field Guide
A practical guide to values-based opportunity recognition: use the project lifecycle to identify real needs, earn legitimacy, test trust and exit responsibly.
Category African Business
Before You Chase the Market, Find the Wound
Learn how to map the Total Addressable Void, identify who bears a problem and test whether your venture can earn the trust and legitimacy to respond.
TAM, TAV & Trust: Five Founder Proverbs for Building What Lasts
Five practical founder proverbs on service, values and trust—and how to spot opportunities that can earn lasting support.
TAM Is Out. TAV Is In: Find the Fracture, Then Build Trust
Discover how the TAV lens shifts opportunity recognition from market size and speed to system gaps, institutional fit and trust-first growth.
The $8 Million Trap: Why Funded Startups Still Fail
Discover why funded startups still struggle. Learn how startup legitimacy failure undermines trust, growth and survival—and how founders can avoid it.
Forget Market Size! The Smartest Startups Find the Void
Discover why market size isn't enough. Learn how Total Addressable Void (TAV) helps startups identify institutional gaps, build trust and grow sustainably.
Trust Before Traction: 4 African Fintechs That Cracked the Startup Legitimacy Code
Discover how four African fintechs built startup legitimacy through trust, inclusion and credibility—and what entrepreneurs can learn from them.
Your Startup Has Traction. So Why Is It Failing?
Opportunity recognition should not stop at identifying unmet needs or testing customer demand. Entrepreneurs must also ask whether the opportunity is institutionally acceptable, socially desirable, and ethically defensible.
Why a Good Opportunity Is Not Enough
Opportunity Recognition Needs a Wider Lens. Conventional entrepreneurship wisdom is not wrong. Entrepreneurs should identify unmet needs, understand customers, validate demand and test their assumptions. But those activities answer only one question:
Is there a market here?
A more complete approach asks another:
Can we pursue this opportunity in a way that people consider legitimate?
How Entrepreneurs Are Taught to Recognise Opportunities
Entrepreneurship usually begins with a question: Where is the opportunity?Conventional wisdom has a fairly clear answer. Look for unmet customer needs, identify markets with attractive demand, determine whether solving the problem can create economic value, and then test the idea before investing heavily.