There's a real paradox in markets: being too early can hurt you just as much as being too late. Get ahead of a trend, spot something genuine before the crowd does, and you're stuck bearing the costs alone. Nobody cares, the ad revenue doesn't come, and you're left footing the bill. Fast forward a year or two—suddenly everyone's talking about it, picking it up, profiting from the buzz. But by then? The early researchers are long gone, and the latecomers rake in the gains. That's the game. Being right early doesn't mean you win. It means you paid tuition so someone else could graduate.