The Serendipity Tool

Luck surface area, artificial intelligence and the power of human connections

Seemingly random encounters and conversations often trigger amazing ideas and discoveries. Maybe it’s talking to a stranger on a train and ending up in a deep conversation. Or meeting new people in your company at lunch and solving a problem together. Or overhearing two people talking in a bar that leads you to join in the conversation.

As Horace Walpole defined it in 1754, Serendipity is ‘the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.’ With in the Network Capital community, we have now seen serendipity at play numerous times, and we can assure you it is always delightful and unexpected.

In our newsletter last week, we explore how finding the Productivity/Serendipity Ratio is crucial to build your category of one. In today’s newsletter let us look at our latest product - The Serendipity Tool - and see how you can use it to create meaningful relationships and stumble onto your next big idea.

Engineering moments of Serendipity

Serendipity quite literally means ‘the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.’ So how do you make ‘chance’ work for yourself?

Here we would like to bring the luck surface area mental model.

The amount of serendipity that will occur in your life, your Luck Surface Area, is directly proportional to the degree to which you do something you’re passionate about combined with the total number of people to whom this is effectively communicated. It’s a simple concept, but an extremely powerful one because what it implies is that you can directly control the amount of luck you receive. In other words, you make your own luck.

Therefore by taking 30 minutes our every week and speaking to fellow NC Insider members about the week or your work, you are giving serendipity a chance to work for you.

The power of three

Recent study conducted by Jamie Krems and Steve Neuberg of Arizona State University and Robin Dunbar of Oxford University suggest that conversation in groups of three tends to be the most effective. It maintains the intimacy of a one-on-one conversation while removing the awkwardness and the introvert/extrovert effect from the dialogue.

Similar insights can also be found in group dating applications (popular in the US) and group backpacking programme (operating in Europe) that create mini groups of 3 to 5 people to provide a memorable experience. Both, the dating and travelling group, are known for enabling moments of serendipity and meaningful friendships.

Taking reference from the above two points, our Serendipity Tool, will match you with two other Network Capital Insider members for a 30 minute call every Thursday at 9:30pm (IST).

Why should serendipity be augmented for travel and dating only?

How does the Serendipity Tool work?

The Serendipity Tool operates with a combination of -

  1. Our AI Algorithm that matches you to two other members based on the areas of interests you share. The idea is to not create predictable matches of ‘like’ people, but to have a balance of comfort, surprise and delight in each of the group matches our algorithm recommends.

  2. Circumventing the scheduling and small-talk. Most conversations (especially with acquaintances) tend to start with a tinge of awkwardness and a plethora of emails for scheduling. We avoid this by having a weekly fixed slot for the session and by sharing prompts and context for each group to get all Serendipity Tool Sessions started. As we take care of the logistics and the experience, we expect all members to show up on time and be respectful in their conversations.

  3. The shared context of the Network Capital community. Over the past couple of years, we have worked on multiple products, helped numerous people get to their dream job and college, found many meaningful partnerships; but amongst all of this we value and cherish the Network Capital community we have build the most.

With the Serendipity Tool, we want help members build shared experiences and and relationships. We have never been an advocate for networking for the sake of networking. Instead, we believe in the potential of random encounters, serendipity and meaningful conversation as the best way to expand your luck surface area and build a category of one.

Your INSIDER Team,

  1. To signup for office hours, please use this link. It is free for all Insiders every day - no strings attached.

  2. Insiders have full access to Network Capital TV. Watch a masterclass every day. Start with Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller if you haven’t already

  3. If you are new to Insider, please read this and write to Aditi ([email protected]) for access to Network Capital TV, Insider Specific Groups, Job Board, Book Club, Interest Groups etc