They know things
People who are low on the totem pole are the first ones to notice when things are about to go south in any organisation. A few weeks ago, I was at a co-working space which made headlines for their large fundraise. Heavy IB words like TAM and SAM were used generously in the write ups. I ran into the Janitor in the restroom and asked him how he liked working there. He said, with a smirk, that earlier he had to refill the hand-wash 2-3 times a day, but now he was doing it only a few times a week. Which means, either people were not washing their hands, or, there were just less people coming in. Reading EBITDAs is good to evaluate how a *company* is doing. But if you want to know how a *business* is doing, make friends with the Janitor / IT / Admin. They probably won't validate your go to market strategy over a couple of drinks... ... but they know things.