Invite Randomness
There is a magic in the unexpected. You can get work done in your office. You can excute an idea there. But to have the idea. To become inspired requires randomness. We need to explore to create.
7/10/20263 min read
Inspiration rarely comes from staying locked up in your office. It comes from wandering into the world. Experience the new and unexpected.
We walk down the street and see some weird shit. All of a sudden we’re connecting dots that we never even saw before. A new insight into human behavior. A new learning about ourselves. A solution to a problem in our business. The world invites randomness.
Random conversations. Random observations. And random connections.
Shaan Puri, a successful entrepreneur, once attended an agricultural conference. He was a tech guy who had no business being there. He didn’t understand the seriousness by which these farmers discussed soybean futures and recent corn yields. But he met with the organizer. A gentleman who ran a daily email newsletter.
In that daily newsletter, he would send out industry insights and an entertaining meme or joke. The wild thing is, people paid monthly to be part of this newsletter.
Shaan heard this and was inspired. He knew nothing about agriculture. But he saw the opportunity to do the same for crypto news. A daily newsletter that updated readers about what was happening in the crypto world. In 10 months he started it and sold it for 8 figures.
He randomly attended an agriculture conference that inspired him to start his next business, which he then sold for over $10 million. The unexpected led to inspiration. His execution led to his profit.
I think randomness is half the magic of traveling. We fly off to a new city, country, or place. We expect some things. But the magic is in the unexpected. Randomly walking into a bookstore and picking up a life-changing novel. Meeting a Russian hitchhiker who tells you his story of the fallout of Chernobyl. Kissing and dancing with a Lebanese model when you signed up last minute for a bar crawl in Madrid. The spice of life comes from the random and unexpected.
Typical networking is often a waste of time. But for me, networking is my method of inviting randomness. I meet new people. I have new conversations. Most things lead nowhere. But occasionally, I make a valuable connection. Someone says something that changes my approach, business, or methodology. A new collaborator or client appears.
I went to a mastermind where a seasoned entrepreneur said, “Marketing is speculation.”. That blew my mind. When a business owner invests in marketing, they are hoping and praying that it will lead to new and more clients. Marketing works. But you don’t know always which part is working. Is the brand building and top-of-funnel stuff ineffective? Or is it compounding the results of your bottom of the funnel ads? Marketing is indeed, speculation. But it is the necessary evil to grow any business.
I once went to a marketing conference where I met the owner of a small agency. He advocated for a more versatile business employment model. An interesting fellow, so we had coffee. During that conversation he said something that was so obvious but had eluded me. He called me a marketing psychologist. So simple and brilliant. The lightbulb went off for me. Since that day, I’ve introduced myself as a marketing psychologist. An intriguing intro that makes someone ask, "What is that? Who the fuck is this guy?"
Last night I went to a talk about architecture, permitting, and rezoning processes. I wanted to hear from the head of permitting and design what the city’s plan is moving forward. What real estate opportunities could I leverage? Would any of my moves align with government incentives or direction? Yet, I didn’t find the answer to any of these questions.
Rather, I ran into an old friend who was performing at the event. I hadn’t seen him in 10 years, and this motherfucker could sing back then. He still could. I did not expect to feel the joy of recognizing someone who I hadn’t thought of, or seen, in years.
Furthermore, he was wearing jeans with these cool patterned patches custom put into them. That inspired me. I took a picture of his pants and sent them off to a fashion designer friend. I told the designer that he needs to sell his version of these at his next fashion show. That people would happily pay $250-500 for jeans like that. That I want to wear those at his show.
Randomness made me feel an unexpected joy. Randomness inspired an idea. Randomness allowed me to meet some cool new people. When we venture out into the world, it is the unexpected that often changes our trajectory. The surprise and joy of the unforeseen transforms us from our mundane and usual to our most energized and inspired version of ourselves.
Invite more randomness. A good life demands it.