Open to Serendipity

Gokul Rajaram got his start at Google by accident. He applied to Cisco to be a networking PM. Cisco rescinded the offer. Google was his backup. And that 'failure' led to him creating Google AdSense.

But here's the real story. At Google, he walked around the office at 6pm when others went home. Found some engineers working on a side project. Asked if he could help. That side project became AdSense.

Gokul's lesson: great careers aren't built by doing your job and getting promoted. They're built by knowing lots of people, staying curious about what else is happening, and being open to serendipity.

This is what we should teach kids.

Not 'pick a career and pursue it relentlessly.' But: stay curious. Talk to people. Help others without expecting anything back. Pay it forward. When something unexpected shows up, don't dismiss it - explore it.

Gokul later got recruited to Square because he had casually advised a startup that Square acquired. He helped for free. No equity. Just being useful. That reservoir of goodwill came back years later.

Curiosity plus generosity equals luck. Your child's best opportunities won't come from a plan. They'll come from being the kind of person good things happen to.