> Your definition of domain expertise seems self-referential. If you define it as "knowing everything which makes a business in this area successful". Your if

> Your definition of domain expertise seems self-referential. If you define it as "knowing everything which makes a business in this area successful". Your if is a big, incorrect one. Expertise is defined as "expert skill or knowledge in a particular field." It does not mean "knowing everything which makes a business in [a particular industry] successful." There is no way of knowing whether a new business will be successful, but I think most reasonable people would agree with the statement, "An experienced individual who knows a thing or two about the industry he's in almost certainly has a better chance of being successful than a person who knows very little." > Can you explain why chipotle and chobani are massively successful? Chipotle was founded by Steve Ells, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who worked as a chef before he opened the first Chipotle. Chobani was founded by Hamdi Ulukaya. He worked on a dairy farm his parents owned as a child and ran a cheese company prior to starting Chobani. I can't respond to your meandering analyses of these companies, which seems to be based more on assumption and personal perception than fact. But if you believe that the experiences and domain expertise of these two successful founders did not help them spot opportunity and did not contribute greatly to their success, we'll have to agree to disagree.