PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Noel J. Lindsay AU - Justin B Craig TI - A Framework for Understanding Opportunity Recognition AID - 10.3905/jpe.2002.320030 DP - 2002 Nov 30 TA - The Journal of Private Equity PG - 13--24 VI - 6 IP - 1 4099 - https://pm-research.com/content/6/1/13.short 4100 - https://pm-research.com/content/6/1/13.full AB - The issue of opportunity recognition, as opposed to opportunity evaluation, has received far less attention. Yet it is opportunity recognition that often drives deals. This article presents and tests six hypotheses on opportunity recognition against a sample of 262 respondents divided among financiers and entrepreneurs. The hypotheses measure the differences between respondents' views on the following topics: alertness to opportunities; creativity and idea generation; search process and strategies; causes of opportunities; opportunity sources; evaluation; and “feel.” In general, both groups had similar responses, but several interesting differences were discovered.