Find­ing it dif­fi­cult to dis­cover good/great peo­ple? Ben Cas­nocha (author of My Start-Up Life) sug­gests relax­ing your usual fil­ters (Ivy League edu­ca­tion, big breasts, etc.) and instead sug­gests seek­ing out the under­rated geniuses who aren’t amaz­ing at what you typ­i­cally seek.

Peo­ple who earn the label “hid­den gems” are hid­den because they lie unturned after a pop­u­lar, blunt fil­ter is applied to a pop­u­la­tion. To find good, under­rated peo­ple, de-emphasize pop­u­lar filters.

If you want to find a smart per­son who has time to be your friend, try to find a bad self-promoter. The pop­u­lar fil­ter, at least in busi­ness, is in favor of charis­matic per­son­al­i­ties and clever mar­keters. Find the bril­liant mind who’s a so-so mar­keter and revel in her availability.