There’s a movie I’ve loved for years called A Beautiful Mind. It stars Russell Crowe and tells the story of John Nash, a brilliant mathematician who went on to win the Nobel Prize for his work in game theory.
If you’ve never heard of game theory, here’s the simplest way to think about it:
When everyone chases the same “best” option, the group often makes a worse decision than if people chose strategically and spread out.
In other words, the smartest move is not always going after the shiny, obvious, number-one prize.
Sometimes the smartest strategy is choosing the option most people are ignoring — the second choice, the third choice, the quiet, boring, unsexy option — because that’s where real opportunity and stability live.
If you are a new entrepreneur, or someone rethinking your product, your offer, or your business model, this lesson may be the most important one you ever learn.
Because right now, modern entrepreneurship is completely obsessed with chasing the prettiest prize.
The #1 Prize Trap in Modern Business
Every era has its version of the “#1 prize.”
Today it looks like:
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becoming an influencer
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going viral
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launching a course
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dropshipping
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crypto
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Amazon FBA
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the promise of easy money, travel, luxury, and freedom
Scroll social media long enough and you’d think everyone is one launch away from Lamborghinis, Bali, and financial independence.
But here’s the uncomfortable question most people avoid:
Do any of these businesses actually cash flow?
Do they create real wealth?
Or are most of them just very good at selling the idea of success?
Game theory explains exactly what’s happening.
When millions of people chase the same glamorous prize, the competition becomes brutal, the margins shrink, the failure rate skyrockets, and most people burn out broke, discouraged, and convinced entrepreneurship “isn’t for them.”
The tragedy is that while everyone is fighting over the shiny thing, enormous opportunity exists in the unsexy, overlooked spaces.
I know this because I lived it.
Case Study: How I Almost Missed My Market
When I started Auburn & Main, I thought I knew exactly what my business was.
I was shopping for a tiara for my own wedding.
I ordered multiple pieces.
I tested products.
I fell in love with the craftsmanship.
So naturally, I concluded:
Bridal is the market.
I poured everything into weddings:
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bridal hashtags
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wedding models
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flower girl content
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wedding shows
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wedding messaging
Not because I had validated it — but because it was the only market I personally knew.
I didn’t know anything about cosplay.
I didn’t know anything about Renaissance festivals.
I didn’t know anything about fantasy readers or BookTok.
I didn’t even know how to research those markets.
My own bias quietly defined my business.
And this is one of the hardest truths for entrepreneurs to swallow:
You are not the expert on your market.
Your customers are.
We all bring our personal assumptions into business. The danger is when we mistake those assumptions for market reality.
The Day Everything Changed
One weekend, I signed up for a local Princesses & Pirates show.
I had never done an outdoor festival.
I had never sold in person.
This was years before I opened Office Evolution.
My expectations were incredibly modest.
If I covered the $150 booth fee, it would be a win.
I expected to see some kids in princess dresses, learn something about events, and collect another data point.
Instead, I had a record-breaking sales day.
People of all ages were buying sparkly things to put on their heads.
Parents.
Cosplayers.
Fantasy lovers.
Readers.
Performers.
People who had nothing to do with weddings.
I got home around 7:30 PM, sat on the front porch with my husband, and just started crying.
I was exhausted.
Overwhelmed.
And completely in awe of what I had just stumbled into.
That single event blew my business open.
It led to:
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Renaissance festivals
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cosplay conventions
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Halloween markets
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fantasy fandoms
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BookTok communities
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and an entirely new product and growth strategy
My business is now larger, stronger, and more stable because I stopped chasing the “obvious” market and listened to the real one.
The Real Work of Choosing Your Market
This experience taught me something no course ever could:
You don’t actually understand your market until you’re inside your market.
You can research.
You can study competitors.
You can run ads.
But until you are talking to customers, watching them buy, listening to their questions, and observing their behavior, your understanding is always incomplete.
And that’s okay — as long as your business is flexible.
Which brings me to Office Evolution.
Case Study: Office Evolution and Flexible Thinking
When we opened Office Evolution Troy, we knew we were offering something different:
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flexible workspace
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no long-term contracts
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hourly offices
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clean, beautiful space
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reasonable pricing
What we didn’t know was how powerful flexibility itself would become.
Most competitors in our market require 90-day minimums.
We bend over backwards to take people’s money.
A recent client called wanting to use my conference room for two weeks as dedicated space.
My first instinct was “no.”
Then I asked myself:
Why not?
Who would this actually displace?
What would it take to make this work?
We rearranged a few things, offered a discount for the inconvenience, and turned unused space into several thousand dollars of revenue.
That decision didn’t come from rigid policy.
It came from understanding the market and thinking strategically.
Why Everyone Is Chasing the Wrong Prize
The influencer economy is today’s version of the #1 prize.
Everyone wants the spotlight.
The fame.
The viral moment.
But here’s the reality:
Influencers are just salespeople.
And every salesperson needs:
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accountants
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bookkeepers
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lawyers
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childcare
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food
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cleaners
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assistants
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therapists
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web designers
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IT support
Long after the cameras go away, people still need taxes done.
They still need houses cleaned.
They still need contracts reviewed.
They still need businesses run.
That’s where sustainable wealth is built.
Not in the spotlight.
But in the infrastructure.
There Is No Wrong Answer (If You Stay Sustainable)
When people come to me saying:
“I don’t know what business to start.”
“I’m scared I’ll choose wrong.”
My answer is always the same:
There is no wrong answer if you build it sustainably and without debt.
Figure out what you love.
Then figure out how to monetize it.
Love crocheting?
Sell patterns.
Love baking?
Sell kits, recipes, courses.
Love fitness?
Create digital programs.
Run Zoom classes.
Monetize YouTube.
There are endless paths.
The only real mistake is believing there is only one.
Where Real Opportunity Actually Lives
Game theory teaches us that when everyone chases the same shiny prize, most people lose.
Entrepreneurship works best when you choose the opportunity that fits your skills, your life, your market — not the one everyone else is screaming about on social media.
The prettiest prize is rarely the most profitable one.
The quiet, overlooked, strategic choice almost always is.