how do you even know about these companies ?
You have to snoop around. Avoiding the investment rags is rule number one. They're all trying to sell you some bags they're trying to pass off on unwitting small time investors. Bunch of con men. If they're making noise and telling you to buy buy buy then you're already too late.
In the example above I knew palantir would moon because it was easy to see that we were heading into an even more oppressive police state soon, I had known about the company for a long time because it was a spook company and I knew the moment it went public that it would be going up and doing some shady deals with the Government beyond what they'd already been doing for decades. When it dipped in 2023 down to $7 or whatever it was I knew it was an easy buy because it IPOed at $10 a share and I knew there was no way the spooks would ever let it fail. I could have been wrong. But obviously I wasn't. I haven't checked it in a long time but I'm betting it's still over $150 and will only continue to rise as they become the public face of the Government's illegal spying on their own population operations.
You just kind of have to know about them and play the market for what it is: bullshit. It's all bullshit. Even the money is bullshit. Once you understand you're dealing with bullshit money being moved around by bullshit people who are all doing bullshit deals with each other you can get a win here and there.
Was a "former" spook involved with founding the company? Typically, good buy every time. True in the tech sector and any other sector. Since spooks are in every sector. Since spooks have been running the globe since 1940s openly (and long before then).
The other person's dog food example is good because pets are a good buy because people now are using pets as surrogate children. They're lonely and can't "afford" children. So they buy pets. Therefor, they buy dog food. Not just kibble either. High quality name brand food. They'll buy that stuff and eat the lowest quality food themselves. Since they're also addicted to sugar and all manner of garbage they're stuffing in their face everyday.
That's all you need to know: The market is bullshit, it's run by spooks and the average person is dumb as a bag of hammers. Once you start viewing the general public the same way the savy cocaine snorting investors do the wins start coming easy.
This is America. Anyone can get rich. Usually, by conning someone else out of their money or taking out a loan then not paying it back when you piss it all away on bad decisions.
The secret to success is to own nothing and be happy. I don't mean living like a hermit in the woods in a shack. I mean placing all your assets in a trust so you don't have to pay taxes and there is nothing tied to your legal name when the IRS comes snooping around. All the rich people live that way and they live like that for good reason: it works. Why own something when you can have controlling interest in a 501(c) that owns it instead?