Serendipity on the Internet
When I quit my super stable, high paying job at Amazon, I explained to my perplexed mother that I was quitting to "leverage the potential for serendipity on the internet". She, of course, had no clue what I was talking about, so this one's for GloMom.
The Internet is Not Predictable
I knew that I didn't want to be working at a big company, but I didn't know specifically what I did want to do. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to put my thoughts, ideas, projects, and energy out into the world, and let the internet be my guide as I find my way towards something that was more 'me'.
In the words of the brilliant Daniel Vassallo:
I had some faith that if I could do some potentially interesting things and talk about them online, that good things would happen. But of course it was just faith, I hadn't truly experienced it for myself. Until Saturday. Some cool things happened to me on Saturday, and the best part was reflecting on how it was all the result of serendipity.
If I hadn't..
If I hadn't reached out to Packy McCormick, I may have never had the confidence to publish my first article about Peloton. I asked him for feedback on the idea, and he was really enthusiastic about it.
If I hadn't published the first Flywheel article about Peloton and the two subsequent articles about Zoom and Robinhood, I may not have had the confidence to really, truly, actually walk away from Amazon. For real this time. The positive reaction to the first three articles was one of the important factors that allowed me to feel great about the decision.
If I hadn't written those articles, I also would never have felt like I could credibly apply for or get into the On Deck Writer's Fellowship. And if I hadn't quit my job, I wouldn't have felt like I could handle the workload.
If I hadn't gotten into the On Deck Writer's Fellowship, I would never have come into contact with Leo Polovets, a well-known venture capitalist with about 40,000 followers on Twitter.
If I hadn't come into contact with Leo Polovets, he would probably never have come across The Flywheel and tweeted this:
If Leo hadn't tweeted about The Flywheel, my subscribership wouldn't have almost quadrupled in two days, and I wouldn't have had the absolute pleasure of sending this email earlier this morning:
I also very likely wouldn't have had the messages pour in through Twitter DM that are leading to some very interesting opportunities for future articles.
Put Your Stuff Out Into the World
I now no longer think it's just a matter of faith that good things will happen. Now I know for sure that, as long as I keep doing what I'm doing, good things will happen.
Put your stuff out into the world. Just do it. Do it before you feel ready (you never will!).
Nobody can find your ideas if they stay in your head. Nobody can boost you or reach out to you if they don't have any information about you.
Put your stuff out into the world.