How to Create Luck - Dalton Caldwell, Y Combinator Partner

TL;DR

Creating luck requires moving much faster than others to maximize opportunities for lucky events. Founders who iterate through ideas, build prototypes, and talk to many people rapidly increase their surface area for luck. Examples include Brex, Retool, and Magic, which pivoted quickly to successful ideas.

Key insights

• Speed itself increases surface area for luck: running at 15 mph vs 5 mph gives more chances to talk to customers, change ideas, write code.
• Brex was initially funded for a VR headset idea; founders realized failure within 6 weeks and rapidly iterated through half a dozen ideas before landing on Brex.
• Retool and Magic similarly changed ideas quickly by building full prototypes and launching them to customers.