This is an interview I did with NextDrop Founder Anu Sridharan.  We talk about:

• A common water problem in India unheard of hear in the United States
• Her process from going from idea to creating a company
• The broader widespread challenges and opportunities for NextDrop’s approach

Check it out right here:

I met Brandon at the World Domination Summit.  He was wearing a SOMA-FM t-shirt and so immediately thought he was from San Francisco.  We listen to SOMA-FM, too.

Turns out he’s based in Atlanta, but more importantly, is a cool and generous guy.

I wanted to hang out some more but we never connected again at the conference.

But I did talk with him and we had a nice little conversation about social media.  So if you want to get through the noise and learn something (I certainly did), then listen to this:

We spent our Labor Day weekend in an awesome spot in Santa Rosa, and I brought a book on the Chinese Horoscope.  I don’t believe in horoscopes, but do love the concepts that they have of different animal traits and the types of relationships that can form.

There is the concept of the “Triangles” and there are four: Doers, Thinkers, Catalysts, and Protectors.  Personalities that fall within the same triangles get along best, and that creates a synergy.  While they are still different, they complement each other in terms of outlook on life.

When I read how “conflict” emerges because of the different personalities, I see how many of these real-life personalities play out.  Different personalities do, in fact, relate differently, and while there isn’t any ‘bad’ personality, there can be bad chemistry.

The bigger challenge I’ve found, then, is how do you find others in your same “triangle?”  Even though we have ways to be better connected than ever before, it still feels somewhat random to find the right people.  I don’t even think it’s the same as finding the right “tribe” because those are people who might agree with a point of view, philosophy, or subject matter.  The triangle suggests a deeper level of compatibility.

I suppose we could just continue to allow serendipity and the random connections across the world to be what connects us to the people who fit our triangle, but – gosh – that seems like, while it makes it enjoyable when  you do find the peeps you connect with, and there’s certainly a learning opportunity even with those in conflict, it seems like it sure would be nice and perhaps more productive to just connect with those in the triangle.

And I’m not just trying to be lazy or hyper-efficient.  You could apply the same concept to dating.  The ‘traditional’ way is to go through life and hope you bump into the right partner, but clearly people are not finding that to be effective given the increasing popularity and acceptance of online dating.

I’m not even just looking at it from the perspective of having drinking buddies.  I think you could get away with disparate personalities in that case.  But it seems that, at least as I read the descriptions of how the triangles come together, some added bonus emerges when these kindred, yet very different, spirits connect. 

Could it be that great bands like the Beatles or awesome companies could multiply if what we take as serendipitous were increased in frequency ten-fold?

But, what do you think?  Which “animal” are you?

Wired in:  Linkin Park, Meteora