E145: How to Design a Life That Creates Opportunities with Anne-Maria Salmela

To get the question when you're in the startup environment, oh, how do I get into the most sexy startup or how can I work with a billion dollar company that is starting earlier than on the final success round? So question number one, how did you find all those people to talk to? Did you use some platform? Was it LinkedIn or do you have your own way to spot the talent?

Yes.

So I walked in with a very clear articulation of what I'm looking for and what I'm good at and what work environment I'm compatible with.

So I think it's important to have that predetermined in your mind because it helps narrow down your focus a lot.

So for me, I knew I wanted to work with a serial founder and I also wanted someone who who had a lot of like stability in their presence, like not going ups and down with the waves of hype cycles.

I love the phrase, you can tell a lot about a man's character when they have everything and when they have nothing.

And that is especially the case for a founder.

You can be on a high from winning or getting a hundred million dollar fundraise, but you can be on a low when you have a bad quarter.

So who is someone that can ride that wave with resilience is super important.

And so A, I had a clear understanding of what I wanted.

B, I put myself out there and I focused on like, how can I maximize my surface area of luck So that means traveling to different locations and cities where I have a hypothesis that I would enjoy living there.

How can I meet as many interesting people there? And how can I get a coffee with someone at this interesting event? After I get a coffee with them, I ask them to introduce me to two more people.

or another person in the network.

And then that compounds and keep compounding after that.

And then you can also think about ways of how can I be of value to them? How can I introduce them to each other or help them some way in their life? So that's also beyond just a coffee chat.

It's like, how can you maintain a relationship that's abundant? And eventually the combination of those two things ends up at your goal.

I truly believe it.

How long did it take you to find Resolve AI and Spiros? I would say it took

a couple of months of intentionality, but I'm also a believer that it's like 80% work and 20% luck.

So I had done the work to be in a position to receive the luck, but you can't 100% maneuver it into the 100% all the time.

Yeah, but what I'm also hearing, you were so clear what you want, what can you bring on the table that immediately eliminates lots of miscommunications in a way.

And so resolve, why resolve and why the team you're working right now with, what really caught you? Oh yeah, that's the chapter where I really want, as you said, to work as a dog, to learn, to bring the value and to thrive.

Yeah, absolutely.

I also want to comment on the previous question.

topic is that I'm also a believer of thinking about like an elevator environment.