Planned Serendipity
Part choice; part fate. Part plan; part serendipity.
While we were in New York (to round off our East Coast excursion), we were catching up with old friends and making new ones over drinks. The general course of that night had a kind of ebb-and-flow to it, where things seemingly fell into place. We were able to keep plans very fluid and moved locations only if we would encounter a different set of experiences. We relied on word of mouth or Yelp for ideas on what the next venue would be like and used Google Maps for directions. At one point we began discussing what we thought was going to happen in tech to address the missing magic and growing sense of disconnection despite our ever connected world.
Adrik pointed out that letters are going to come back in a big way, noting that no one under 18 has probably ever written a letter in memorable history—it’s a lost art. Email is easier and that’s why personal mail has been replaced. It’s also why bringing letters back is simply magic. It is true, earlier while staying with a friend, Jess, in Providence during the same East Coast excursion, Adrik found and gifted her the most awesome greeting card ever made: A picture of a Chihuahua in a serious pose wearing a sombrero with simply “Hola, amigo” on the inside. She loved it, needless to say.
The conversation moved towards dating and hook-up apps and how they fail. They suck out all the magic/fate/surprise. For starters they’re only about dating rather than meeting people. So when someone messages you on Tinder or OkCupid, the intention is pretty much a forgone conclusion—in a big way there’s no mystery. Then to make it feel less special and double down on the existential disappointment, the fact that the internet made it really easy to find each other is ever present. Algorithms, ratings, and filters aren’t going to fix this.
I then proposed the idea of “Planned Serendipity” actively planning chance encounters--these apps need to seemingly haphazardly help people break the ice. Part choice; part fate. By design the experience isn’t about precisely calculating compatibility because people are better at determining what they like for themselves than computers. What we may lack and can use computers for is retrieving information on how to break the ice. It was analogous to that night, we used tech for the information, but we set the parameters and made the final decision. We ran with this idea of Planned Serendipity and started coming up with some far-out yet compelling ideas. Wingmen as apps spitting up goofy, yet engaging openers to use. Mobile social games where people need to talk to each other in order to complete tasks. Location based and automated texting apps where the conversations are run by virtualized personalities, and people could jump in at any point but the human presence wouldn’t be immediately clear to the other user—people would have to discover it. All these are simply conversation pieces as apps that could be developed.
We agreed that the next big social apps are going to be about empowering people with choices and information. Do away with the opaque algorithms like Facebook's NewsRank or compatibility rankings and start introducing strangers to each other in the real world. Providing people a talking piece to get that conversation started. Make the part people aren't good at (breaking the ice) easy and preserve the human qualities in the aspects that define how we come to know each other--those are the magic moments where we realize letters may pack more meaning than just the written message.
-Chris
Now to #WingItWednesday at SFNewTech
*We’re going to double entry this section. Adrik will be in regular font and Chris is italicized.
Based off of Notes on Adrik’s Phone
11/21/2013 1:11 AM
Steeped in serendipity. Today we moved chris into the enclave, aka the warm side of the shed around the wood stove. In doing so chris convinced me to descend the mountain and set off to San Francisco for this month’s sfnewtech meet up. I’m glad I did.
1. After bypassing the standard hwy 17 rain stopped traffic we arrived at san Jose train station with minutes to park and board and... A full car park. "crap, no one's back from work yet." "exceeeept this guy! Luckiest parking spot of the month." Happens to also be the same spot I always park in when picking up Chris.
2. Rain stops! As pictured, badass rainbow.
In addition to clear skies, the earlier rain washed the streets, clearing the air of notorious SF odors.
3. Interesting people at sfnewtech, great to meet. They need a volunteer adhoc presentation and Chris and I say to each other "wow, wish our shit was together!" No one else is volunteering so I go for it and intro with our formal Fridays then show the brown instance working. Demo well received! Here is video of it:
Video streaming by Ustream
Afterwards, one guy comes and tells us it was his favorite by far of the entire night! We also get “recognized” by other attendees because of the #FormalFriday pictures.
The reason to go to these meetup events is ultimately for finding opportunities. Was the impromptu demo Planned Serendipity? Perhaps.
4. We go to catch the train back and see a service interruption bulletin. No one knows what is actually happening so of course people look to twitter and this time it was the best source of news. One train engineer tells us Powerlines are blocking the train tracks halfway between San Francisco and San Jose but that the train was still running. It’s Wednesday and he looked like he had already given all the shits he had allotted for the week. He didn't believe what he was saying and we didn't either. So we took the opportunity to catch up with Vihang!
Additionally, on the way to Vihang's we ran into another cofounder who recognized us from the impromptu sfnt presentation. The chances! (Well, most tech people living in SF live in a handful of neighborhoods. Planned Serendipity? Perhaps)
5. Take the midnight train to San Jose and get regaled about Wisconsin politics by a tipsy operations manager here with her CEO after the DreamForce conference. For an entertaining ride home. She starts talking with her half-embarrassed/half-amused CEO about their company: A letter writing start-up for CRM… Adrik called it! So we take the opportunity to introduce ourselves and mention our earlier Letter startup conversation while in NYC. A few minutes after meeting her, she realizes we don't know about Wisconsin politics, because we're in SF (right?) and she cannot fathom our combined disinterest and ignorance of Bill Mahr's coverage of the plight of Wisconsin teachers. To make a point, she proceeded to poll the rest of the train car about their Bill Mahr viewership. We're told, she's normally an extreme introvert...alcohol is a hell of a drug.(?) The encounter was serendipitous and we saw it through. We later realize that the midnight CalTrain especially on weekends is prime for these post bar encounters where people are really open to chance conversations. Is there more Planned Serendipity in store? Perhaps.
6. Parking ticket? Lets see if our luck holds.
7. Leaving the train we met Don, a red-headed Danny McBride of an android app developer. He's making a public toilet rating app. Actually its brilliant. Only buy that $1 item for access to the best toilets. We tell him rsolv is the best way for toilet raiders...raters to decide which toilet is the best, duke it out if you will. :p
8. Get to the car. No ticket. Turn on the radio. Supertramp. Chris exclaims: "best day ever!" Part choice; part fate. Part planned; part serendipity. - Adrik & Chris
