Hi!

A lot of people ask me “How do you know so many people?”, usually after they found a LinkedIn mutual or Twitter/X follower of mine. There’s no easy answer to this question, but I’ll try my best to write something that sounds right.

This is also an attempt to explain a belief of mine: Luck is a function of surface area. It's not a new idea, but here is my perspective of it.

Full disclaimer: I am not even close to the right tail in the normal distribution of cracked people. I like to think I’m on my way to the middle, but in reality, I’m probably still closer to the left tail. As the quote goes: “There is always an Asian kid that’s doing better than you.” To this, I say keep your head down and maximize your potential. Race horses wear blinders for a reason.

Now what do we define as cracked? For me personally, I think anyone that has found something that they are good at, and consquently exploited their talents, can be considered “cracked.” They usually have a few good ideas, and even without domain knowledge, they’re scrappy, gritty, and find their way to building something people want. It is not a quantifiable characteristc; instead, I believe it depends on the impact they have around them. In my book, if you are able to make other people feel like they need to operate at your level, you are cracked.

With that note, thank you to all the cracked people I know. You inspire me everyday.

Now what is surface area, and how is luck a function of it?

Let’s start with luck

I’m going to characterize it as a meteor, with your surface area being the area a meteor could strike in. These “meteors” aren't literally meteors - they symbolize opportunities.

A few months ago, I read something on Twitter about how “luck” does not work in the way we think it does. We think luck is out of our control. That is false. In order to get “lucky,” you need to be at the right place, at the right time, with the right people. Showing up to the right place, at the right time, with the right people is in our control.

In many success stories, luck does play a role. Most successful people also acknowledge that luck played a role in their success. However, they fail to mention the hours they spent up at night learning alone, or spending hours with people they were not particularly fond of just to see how things are done differently. It is in these moments where their surface area grew.

So what is surface area?

Surface area consists of the ground a meteor could strike on. The Earth is massive, with tons of surface area. Basic physics knowledge dictates that the likelihood of a meteor striking the Earth is higher than the likelihood of a meteor striking Pluto, just because of the lack of surface area. (To any space people, I am sorry if that is incorrect and I offended you. Email me if it really troubles you.) Basically, more surface area = better.

Now from a personal point of view, your surface area consists of everything you do. If you’re in high school, you have your friends and their backgrounds, everyone you meet at x sport, or what you do at y club. At z organization you meet v person and learn q skills. As you do more and more things your surface area grows. Think of it as a video game character unlocking more parts of the map as they travel across more of it.

This comes with a caveat: you have to take a deep dive in everything you do. The 2 hours a week your spend at a random club meeting? Give it your full attention. Even if you don’t care about it, if you’re there, make the most of it. Worst case scenario you just make the people who actually care about it feel happy because someone else cares about what they care about. Superficial, surface level efforts gain nothing and are often counterproductive. They take time from when you could actually be having an impact. Quit afterwards, but if you’re there, be there.

Slowly, as you involve yourself with more and more hobbies and interests that you actually care about, you will find people that also care about the same things. You also learn skills you never would have touched otherwise. These can help years down the line, in the most random places ever.

Your “surface area” has grown, and it means that more “meteors” will land in your lap, and then it is up to you to take advantage of those opportunities. The fact that you are getting them is testament to your efforts in many fields, and means that you are doing something right. If you care about what you do, eventually the right people will notice. People will chalk success up to “luck”, but without you purposefully finding ways to increase your surface area, you never even would have had the chance of capturing the meteors.

So how do I meet cool people?

Spending all this time expanding my own surface area has meant that I never say no to anything that sounds remotely interesting, because I’ve learnt that the worst thing that could happen is learning that I dislike whatever it is. I’ve liked anything engineering since I was a kid, so I joined a robotics team a few years ago. I learnt CAD, OOP, Git, and other 3 letter acronyms/words that I still see in work I do today. Without taking the leap 4 years ago, I wouldn’t have known how to merge squashed commits or design a 3D print in Onshape, or at least it would have taken way longer to learn aboout them.

By expanding your surface area you also become an interesting person. I don’t want to talk to the guy that has nothing going on in his life, I want to hear from the guy that is making a homemade Smith machine out of wood for his backyard. Tell me about the dude that is using AI to catch fish in the seas of Japan at night while working as a doctor in the day. There should be something about you that makes someone feel like “Wow, they really care.” Dig deep, and find something you could talk about for hours to someone. By making yourself interesting , you bring something to the table, and also give them a reason to remember you.

By explanding your surface area, you increase your risk tolerance as well. Make that cold email. If you sent out 10 yesterday, send out 20 today. There’s an invite only networking event nearby? Think of a fake company, sign up as a founder, and walk in like you own the place. You feel out of place the whole time, but if you got through that door, imagine how many more you could open. (I speak from personal experience). I guarantee that if you’re nervous about sending a DM or email, you’re making the right choice. Acknowledge that it could not work out at all, and that is perfectly fine. At least you know it won’t work out instead of always thinking “what if.” Be fearless, but don’t be reckless.

There is a baseline you have to meet. Be nice to people, and make them feel like you want to hear what they say. It costs nothing to be a nice person. Never write a person off, and go out of your way, even if it is a minor inconvenience, to make someone feel appreciated. Efforts like these compound, and when you need a helping hand, you will have a ton to call. If you disagree, be respectful. If you get disrespected, make your stance known. Be coachable, you can learn from everyone. If you're coachable and a fast learner you will make it farther than the smart guy 10/10 times. If you're smart and coachable, congrats, you cracked the code. Make sure that you are the dumbest in the room. If you're the smartest, you're in the wrong room

Parting Notes

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while and this was written in the middle of the night, so apologies if some of this is incomprehensible.

Realize that we are all floating on a rock in the middle of space moving at millions of miles per hour, and no one cares about you as much as you think. I promise the person you think is watching all the time barely thinks about you.

Make sure you are making the most of your days, as they will never come back. Do not give yourself a reason to feel like you wasted your time. However bad it is at the moment, I promise it will get better.

Jump into anything with enthusiasm and give it your all while you’re there. Never let anyone make you feel ashamed about caring for something. That’s just how you know they don’t care about anything. Filter them out; they are just noise.

Maximize your surface area, do not say no to anything. As it grows, more opportunities will come, and that’s how you get lucky.

"Fortes fortuna adiuvat." - Fortune favors the brave