It's pretty easy to see where the 'value' is... Being exposed to people who are willing and able to give you access to that value is what's hard. It doesn't take much intelligence to find opportunities, especially if you've had some past success; then the opportunities find you.
Truly great opportunities are those that everyone else wants to be a part of; the ones that already-successful people are queueing up for... The ones that are impossible to get.
The kinds of opportunities that come out of nowhere and disrupt everything against all odds are so rare that you're better off assuming that they don't exist.
That oddball dev who started hanging out with the sales and marketing people, forwards strategy and innovation articles to management, and started churning out powerpoints is the one who knows what's up. It's not just 'playing politics', it's developing deeper and wider situational awareness of the company and the market. It's stacking the odds in your favour and it's even more effective when so few do it.