Episode 0028: The Dunbar

Show Notes Host: Dan Hugo Summary: Dunbar´s Number is the approximate number of close connections we humans can maintain. In theory, anyway. What is close, and what does this number mean, and why does it matter? Let´s talk about it… Dunbar What? Robin Dunbar, British anthropologist, measured primate brain size and attempted to correlate that with social engagement reach (ie how many apes are you hanging around with). Humans average about 150, though the individual number may be between 80 and as high as 250, give or take. This is a correlation hypothesis, no causal connection or really any legitimate justification for such a limit has been determined. How Close is Close If we look at engagement within our Entrepreneurial Innovation Ecosystem, we could ask ourselves if we are hitting a Dunbar limit ourselves. Are you hitting a personal limit on the number of people with whom you can have fruitful, ongoing conversations, from which you learn, and to which you offer something novel and interesting? Do we saturate our mental bandwidth with transactional engagements over actual interpersonal reaction when we treat meetups in The Scene as a replacement for more profound interaction? Do you have potential co-founders and colleagues in your circles, or mostly potential clients and competitors? Then About 15 years in Silicon Valley… so many meetups, so many different workplaces. There were many overlapping, intersectional groups, comings and goings of co-workers from previous workplaces, always the energy of an innovation culture to build on and work with… even so far as pre-social-media email shares, funny anecdotes and water cooler chats. A rich networking culture lead to second- and third-degree connections and referrals that were not always contributing to this mysterious Dunbar number Now, part 1 A quick 10 years in Vegas, working for Intel, pandemic, consulting, entrepreneurial endeavors, civic volunteer projects, more… The networking culture in the Vegas Startup Scene is extremely transactional, making it difficult to leverage non-first-order connections casually. There is very little empirical evidence that individuals in the Greater Vegas ecosystem are inclined to proactively elevate others by sharing topical information and super-connecting people without a clear personal benefit. Does this scenario lead to one reaching a Dunbar number more quickly, but with less-close connections? Are we saturated with less-effective engagement in this ecosystem? Now, part 2 What if we compare the recurring Tech Scene culture of Vegas with a purely entrepreneurial approach? What if we seek novel and interesting rather than recurring and comfortable? Meet new people and have new discussions, rather than continuing the same discussions with the same people Suppose one or two people enter your Dunbar radius now and then from meeting new people with new ideas and new perspectives, and perhaps their own projects… Maybe it is closer to 80 If you agree, when you really think about your daily Vegas grind, that your interpersonal engagements, at meetups and gatherings, are typically with potential clients or that they tend to be transactional more than not, perhaps you are saturating your personal radius. Are these mostly superficial relationships? If you venture out of your radius, do you meet new people with new ideas? Does that lead to your own new ideas? New possibilities?