On his way to changing the world with his ingenuity, a young Bill Gates saw value where others saw waste... and seized the opportunity.

In 1972, Senator George McGovern ran for president against Richard Nixon. Days after the Democratic Convention, McGovern learned that his running mate, Senator Tom Eagleton, had received treatment for depression; Eagleton was dropped from the ticket.

Thousands of useless McGovern–Eagleton bumper stickers, signs, and buttons suddenly cluttered campaign warehouses. According to Insight from the World’s Greatest Entrepreneur (1998), a bright sixteen-year-old congressional page offered five cents each for the discarded memorabilia—and later resold the items to collectors for up to $25 apiece.

The young visionary who turned cast-offs into treasure? Bill Gates.

Every day, keep the spin positive and look for possibilities within problems. “I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity,” said industrial titan John D. Rockefeller.

And if an opening seems small, embrace it anyway. The Greek orator Demosthenes reminded us: “Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.”