The Big Idea
Brought to you by Paddle
Opportunities don't "just happen" - they come from staying connected, helping others generously, and trusting your instincts when the right path shows up.
Serendipity isn't magic
Opportunities don't "just happen" - they come from staying connected, helping others generously, and trusting your instincts when the right path shows up.
Years ago, when I was fresh out of college and living on my own for the first time, I read a book called Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi.
I don’t agree with everything in it - the title alone feels a little over the top - but the core idea stuck with me: Stay connected. Help when you can. Introduce people who can help each other.
I've carried that theme with me ever since.
Whether it’s friends, colleagues, or online pals (like the developer community I run with two people I've never met in person), I try to be helpful when I can - without keeping score.
Choosing to be helpful
Around 2018, I had the opportunity to watch some friends complete the Techstars startup accelerator, where I picked up another mantra:
Give without the expectation of receiving.
Many people people are doing mental accounting all the time - who owes who what, who's "worth it." It's exhausting. For me, it misses the point.
The people I've encountered who seem to have endless opportunity around them are the ones who help first, without asking what’s in it for them.
Some people do suck
This is important - you don't owe everyone your time.
If someone makes a habit of taking advantage, wasting your energy, or treating you poorly, you are not obligated to stay engaged. Good faith should be earned - and kept.
Trust your internal barometer, use your powers for good.
A framework for building your own luck
- Help people when you can. Make intros. Cheer people on. Share what you genuinely admire.
- Be open to new people and ideas. Take introductions seriously - you never know which one will change your life.
- Trust your instincts. Only you know the full context of your life and goals. When something feels right, follow it.
Most of all, protect your time. Being generous doesn’t mean being a doormat.
Serendipity isn’t magic. It’s built by your choices and actions over a longer period of time than you might expect.
From Idea to Exit: SaaS Founders Spill Their Secrets
Why do some SaaS ideas soar while others stall? Paddle's panel of seasoned SaaS founders will talk on idea validation, bootstrapping vs VC funding, scaling tactics & hard-won lessons. It’s a founder therapy session disguised as a webinar.
📆 Live Webinar: April 30, 12–1pm EDT
What I'm reading
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, helped forge my outlook on building a strong network, as a bright eyed college grad.
I just finished Careless People, a memoir by Facebook's first Director of Public Policy. It is a gut-punch of a book, divulging some serious details about the casual relationship that Zuck and company had with ethics as they grew to an incomprehensibly large company. The book had me doing karate kicks in my living room.
A while back, I published a treatise on hiring called Your Resume Sucks. A reader this week reached out with a great example of someone going the distance to stand out from other applicants: check out The unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing startup from Finn Lobsien.
Shout out to Rusty in Seattle for sharing!
