Think of Yourself as a Researcher

Most people research until they feel confident. That’s not research. That’s anxiety management.

Real research has no logical stopping point. You go deeper because you’re genuinely trying to understand something — not because you have a meeting on Thursday and need something to say.

Coffee is a good example. Most people drink it. Some people taste a hundred, read every expert, test every machine, and walk away with a barista certification they'll never use professionally. That's not a hobby. That's the researcher identity in action.

Fanatical depth on anything you care about.

It sounds a bit unhinged when applied to espresso. It sounds like an edge when applied to a deal.

The brokers and investors who consistently outperform aren’t operating with better information. They’re operating with more of it — because they kept going after everyone else stopped. They know the asset better than the vendor. They’ve already found the problem buried in page 47 of the financials. They’d spoken with three operators in that market before the first meeting.

They’re not performing expertise. They have it.

Here’s the thing nobody talks about: this only works as an identity, not a tactic.

You can’t decide to “do more research” on a deal-by-deal basis and expect the same result. The people who are genuinely good at this don’t gear up for it — depth is just how they operate. The curiosity isn’t switched on. It’s the default.

And that’s the gap. Most people do enough to get comfortable. Researchers do enough to actually know.

Which side of that line are you on?

NB.