Hidden Arbitrage

Your advantage is hiding in plain sight.

Everyone has arbitrage. You might not see it yet, but it’s there. And the crazy part? You’re probably sitting on it right now, calling it boring — or worse, irrelevant.

Let’s put this into perspective: what’s arbitrage? It’s simple — it’s something you have that someone else needs. A gap only you can bridge. And everyone has one. The problem is most people don’t recognize it. They’re too close to it. Like Charlie Munger says, “The real edges are always simple. They just don’t look like edges when you’re standing on them.”

What’s obvious to you is magic to someone else.

Last week, I found myself at a conference in Prague. I was speaking with agency owners — some running lead-gen shops, others building voice AI tools. Experienced folks. Smart. But when I started explaining the connector business model and how I’ve systemized it, they looked at me like I was a genius.

Here’s the punchline: nothing I said was groundbreaking. It was just normal to me. But for them, it was sorcery. What’s baseline knowledge for you feels life-changing to someone else. It’s that simple.

Think about it: maybe you speak two languages. To you, it’s just Tuesday. But to a company trying to enter that market? That’s a $50,000 problem you can solve with one phone call. Or let’s say you worked in pharma for a year before quitting. You might think that’s wasted time. To a biotech startup, you’re the insider they’ve been searching for — and they’ll pay you $20,000 to make one introduction.

This happens all the time. People sit on gold and call it dirt.

Stop ignoring your "just."

You know what kills me? When people say, “I just worked in finance,” or “I just speak Spanish,” or “I just know people.” That just is the problem. It blinds you to your edge. What’s normal to you is rare to 99% of people.

Let me break it down. If you grew up in India, you might think knowing people in India is standard. It’s not. Most US companies don’t have that access — and that’s an information asymmetry. That’s arbitrage. It’s worth money. The same goes for your network. Maybe you have a cousin running a logistics company. You think it’s random. But to an e-commerce brand struggling with shipping, your intro could save them $100,000 a year.

Your life isn’t random. Your skills aren’t random. Your network isn’t random. These are assets. You just haven’t recognized them yet.

Someone else is monetizing your edge.

Here’s the scary part: someone out there has your exact skills, your exact network, and they’re making $10K a month by connecting dots. That should piss you off. They’re not smarter. They’re not more connected. They just see their advantage and use it.

It’s wild how we envy other people’s talents — wishing we could sing like that guy or close deals like that girl — but rarely do we stop and examine what we already have. The stuff that feels boring to us, I promise, someone else is desperate for. And they’ll pay you for it.

Arbitrage in action.

Let’s make this practical. Here are a few examples of real-world arbitrage:

1. Geography: You live in a country where $2K a month is life-changing money. But you’re connecting companies in Europe or the US where $2K is a rounding error. Close a $10K deal, keep $2K as your fee — that’s five months of living expenses for you. For them, it’s negligible. You’re playing globally while everyone else competes locally.

2. Language: You speak Mandarin and English? Congrats, you’ve unlocked markets invisible to English-only speakers. You can connect Chinese manufacturers with US buyers — nobody else can do that at scale. Or Arabic and French? You’re bridging MENA companies with European partners. Those intros are worth $20K, $50K, $100K because you have access.

3. Network: You know people in tech. You know people in cybersecurity. Tech companies always have security issues. Cybersecurity firms are hunting for clients. You make one intro, charge 10% of the first-year contract, and walk away with $10K for a 20-minute coffee chat.

4. Culture: Maybe you grew up in one culture and live in another. You understand how both sides think. When you connect people, you’re not just making intros — you’re translating expectations. You’re making both parties feel understood. That’s rare. That’s valuable.

5. Time Zones: You live in India, awake during US business hours, connecting SaaS companies with local dev agencies. You’re the bridge because of time zones. Nobody else wants to be awake at 3 AM — you do. That’s your edge.

Your past isn’t wasted time.

Here’s a mindset shift: your past jobs, experiences, and connections aren’t random events. They’re access points. If you worked in biotech for two years before leaving, you know the pain points, the players, and the solutions. That’s insider knowledge. Use it.

Maybe your edge is cultural. You grew up in Morocco but now live in Italy. You understand what Americans expect, what Europeans expect, and what Asians expect. When you connect people, you’re not just making intros — you’re bridging worlds. That’s arbitrage.

The million-dollar realization.

Arbitrage doesn’t need to be impressive. It just needs to exist.

You think speaking Spanish is nothing special? To a US company trying to break into Latin America, that’s everything. You think knowing a few people in finance is random? To a startup looking for funding, those intros are worth $50K.

Pick one arbitrage — just one. Geographic? Cool, connect Western companies with talent in your country. Language? Connect businesses across barriers. Network? Introduce people who should already know each other. You don’t need all the edges. You just need one.

And here’s the thing: once you see it, you can’t unsee it. You’ll wake up thinking, I’ve been sitting on a goldmine this whole time. Because everyone has their own advantage — regardless of where they’re from.

Action beats analysis.

This isn’t a “make money online” hack. This is how operators move in real markets. For decades. It’s not new — you’re just now realizing you can do it too.

So my advice? Stop overthinking. Pick one edge. Start connecting dots. Take action. Someone out there is already monetizing what you have. Why not you?

Peace.