I first learned about the blue ocean business analogy during graduate school. “Blue ocean” represents an unexploited or uncontested marketplace, whereas “red ocean” is a marketplace that is widely known and densely populated, leading to rivalry and competition that turns a once-beautiful blue ocean blood-red. Here, we apply that analogy to the business of ophthalmology by first exploring an example of a failed strategy in general business, and then offering “lessons learned” that can be applied to ophthalmic practice.