"I don't see it"

Venture capital, marketing and pop culture are largely about pattern matching. Something happens, something else happens and it's the beginning of a trend.

Some people (like Clive Davis and Fred Wilson, to pick two) see the trends before others, often without being able to verbalize them.

If you are around people who are able to understand these things before you are, it's worthwhile to call yourself on it, and see if you can get into some discussions about what they see that you don't. I get particularly restless if it's obvious that there's something going on but I can't see it. I can't move on until I see it too.

The more often you match patterns, the better you get.