Every opportunity has perceived potential value. For example, imagine that a record producer called you out of the blue and told you that you had the opportunity to become a music superstar, that you could be the next Freddy Mercury…or Elvis Presley. You could be a god of music around the world, with millions of fans.

If that one person was the only one in believed in you, it might not have much value. But if he could convince a dozen leading music producers that you have that type of perceived potential value, then suddenly the gravity of the YOU MUSIC OPPORTUNITY would dramatically increase.

Would this opportunity have real value, like the money in your bank account? No. It would have potential value. That wouldn’t be value you could immediately cash in. Or could you? If a music company agreed with the producer, and funded and promoted your album, the opportunity would indeed have value you could trade for real assets.

That perceived potential value is Opportunity Gravity. It is perceived potential value that you can trade for the resources you need to scale.

How can you assess the potential value of an opportunity? By using the nine key drivers of value: including utility, scale potential, relevance, and uniqueness. The higher the gravity – or perceived potential value – of your opportunity, the more that actual hard value (such as investor money) will be attracted to you.

You can then trade this value for real assets that you need to scale, such as your team. For example, venture capital funds trade real assets – money – in return for equity in startups. Often these startups have little revenue and no profits. So, what are the VC’s trading money for? The equity they’re buying is worthless. They’re paying for the potential value of the opportunity.

The fact is: the more that you can increase the perceived potential value – or gravity – of your opportunity, the more you can attract the resources you need to transform it into a profitable reality. If you want to increase the probability that your opportunity will be scaled into a profitable reality, you must focus on increasing its gravity.