Siebert's firm was, by her own description, 'a peanut' — 80,000 customers in a world of financial giants. But she competed by staying 'one step ahead in technology, products, and customer service.' The lesson was that scale was not the measure of excellence. She had built her career on spotting opportunities others missed. As a young analyst, she was given industries her colleagues thought were 'going nowhere' — radio, television, motion pictures — and wrote the first study on the value of depreciated films for television. When regulations changed in 1975, she converted her research firm into a discount brokerage, recognizing that 'when you change laws and regulations, there are always new opportunities.' When a competitor's firm dissolved, she partnered with its remaining leaders to create a new municipal bond operation. 'I hadn't planned to do that, but when I saw the opportunity, I realized that it was good business and it was also the right thing to do.'