Things happen.
The question is how can a founder accelerate the possibility of serendipity. For advice, I turn to Jerome Barthelemy, professor at the ESSEC business school, who has written an article, “To Drive Innovation, Create the Conditions for Serendipity.“
Serendipity can broadly be defined as making discoveries by accidents, of things you were not looking for. Think Viagra, Lasik, Penicillin. The list is endless.
Scientists embrace ambiguity, unpredictable events, confluences and opportunities that are not obvious, not on the radar. By contrast, business leaders and investors are not that good at “trying to understand the unknown.”
Barthelemy says serendipity is a three-step process.
First is the “unexpected event.” The investor looks at your deck on a Wednesday and says . Then three weeks later you answer the phone, and there is a whale on the line. (This actually happened to me at my first company). And it turns out he wants what you are selling. Answer the phone.
This is what I love about the game. It is the walk-off home run after the fan has left the stadium, it is the buzzer beater, it is “I went to a children’s birthday party, and I meet a guy whose boss, it turns out, needs exactly what I have and we are introduced the next week.” That is not exactly the classic go-to-market strategy, but it happens all the time.
Second is “when someone sees value in the unexpected event.”
Let’s talk about TAM, total addressable market. Every investor asks that question. Every deck has that number followed by billions. Never true. What might be true is your real serviceable market today is modest. What is also true is that every market has a series of tangential, connected extensions, tentacles, networks. Add water, it grows.
Third is “when someone leverages the serendipitous opportunity.” You are open enough to see a non-obvious market that with some modest modification of your technology could become a customer.
“We’ve been making derailleurs this way for 20 years.” And the next guy in the store runs the Tour de . Change the way you make bicycles.
Barthelemy has some rules to potentially increase the shots on goal.
“Encourage openness to surprises.” The way I describe this in my little world — return phone calls, go to the meetings that you are positive will be a total waste of time. You never know.
Bernard Sadow was coming back from a holiday in the Caribbean. He saw a worker pushing a big cart on wheels, then he looked at his two large, heavy suitcases. The rolling suitcase was born.
Unexpected observations only show up if you are looking. Eyes wide shut.
I love my wife. When we are walking in New York, she is rigorous, disciplined, focused. She knows where we are going. Me, I like to go into random storefronts that catch my fancy. Just a combination of wander and wonder.
And some wasted time in stupid shops.
“Foster cross-disciplinary interactions.” Barthelemy says that when you combine people with diverse skills and backgrounds, innovation can bubble up. You want to create the space and time for non-obvious connections. “Oh, I didn’t know you play the violin.”
Finally, Barthelemy says, “Make experimentation an integral part of the culture.” The ink jet printer. An employee accidentally touched the ink syringe with a hot soldering iron. The aha moment, heat triggers the spray, not pressure.
Serendipity is not the same as luck. Rather it is a way of thinking, behaving and exploring that allows for possibilities that you did not know were available.
However, this also creates a problem for an investor. The venture capitalist has a model, and you come along and do your dog and pony and then explain that lots of other good things are going to show up.
“And what are those?”
“Well, I’m not sure. They haven’t shown up yet.”
“So you want me to invest in you and your company with the hope that you will find things you weren’t looking for that will prove to be extremely profitable?”
I will not provide his answer as this is a family newspaper.
Entrepreneurial management sees and s the potential for serendipity, when the unexpected and unknown appear. Allow for surprises. Embrace them.
Rule No. 793: Now you see it, now you don’t.
Senturia is a serial entrepreneur who invests in startups. Please email ideas to [email protected]
