Happy Accidents #023 - Neal O'Grady

Sometimes it’s not one, even two, but a string of happy accidents experienced along a journey to success.

That’s exactly what we see in Neal O’Grady’s story.

Let's dig in, shall we?

SETTING THE STAGE

Neal O’Grady grew up in the 1990’s and early 2000’s in the city of Kelowna, BC, Canada, which he informed me had the highest crime rate in all of Canada at the time (and the smallest police force…not a great combo).

It just so happens that Neal went to the same high school as a guy named Julian Shapiro, who would later go on to become an influential name in the growth marketing space and Neal’s cofounder (but we’ll get to that later).

As Neal tells it, he and Julian barely knew each other in high school, running in different circles.

Julian though was already quite popular and well known for his entrepreneurial endeavors, buying and selling domain names (at a hefty profit).

Neal was not.

After high school, Neal went on to get his degree in mechanical engineering (and as a result “had his soul sucked out of him from doing two government engineering internships”).

Determined to take a new path, he headed from the West coast of Canada to the East coast, and landed in Montreal with the goal of going to med school and becoming a doctor.

However, before even starting med school, he had a change of heart when he discovered a blogger who travelled around the world learning languages and living off the money he made from his blog.

Basically, Neal had discovered the online creator economy.

Right then and there he decided there was more to life than school. He was going to forge a new path.

But what would life have in store for Neal? What was his next move?

HAPPY ACCIDENT #1

Soon after making the decision to not pursue med school, he went to the barber for a haircut and who did he see walking across the street? Yup, Julian Shapiro. Or so he thought, anyway.

Later that day, Neal decided to look Julian up on Facebook and connect, asking if it was him he saw walk by on the street in Montreal. Turns out it was. And they got to chatting.

In fact, Julian ended up mentoring Neal, helping him to self-learn software development and how to start a business. they even lived together for a while.

But their time together didn’t last too long.

Julian ended up moving to San Francisco to work for WebFlow. Neal, however, decided to take a different route — traveling, while working as a freelance software developer.

As roommates, they’d spoken many times about starting some kind of business partnership someday. Would this be the end of that dream?

Not quite.

HAPPY ACCIDENT #2

After living out of a backpack for the next 3.5 years, Neal got a call from Julian. It was now 2017 and turns out he’d left his job at WebFlow and was looking to start a boutique marketing agency.

Would Neal want to partner with him on it?

Although he had zero marketing experience, Neal knew a great opportunity when he saw it, and trusted Julian completely. He said ‘yes’.

The partnership was born and with it, Bell Curve, their new marketing agency.

HAPPY ACCIDENT #3

In 2019, with an abundance of material on growth marketing (like this Growth Guide from Julian), Bell Curve was making a name for themselves, creating some popular online courses, and taking on some great clients.

One of those clients just so happened to be the fiancé of one of the partners at Y Combinator. What luck!

They were so impressed with the work that Bell Curve was doing, they encouraged them to apply to YC. So they did, and they were accepted.

The result was a new growth strategy and marketing education company called Demand Curve, offering a highly successful growth program that’s helped 1,000s of startups get traction and scale revenue.

Coincidently, it’s through one of Demand Curves’ programs (Un-ignorable) that I was first introduced to Neal. Un-ignorable is a collaboration between Demand Curve and Katelyn Bourgoin, who you may recall has a pretty interesting happy accident story of her own.

CAPITALIZING

As you can see from Neal’s journey, and his string of happy accidents, he’s been open and willing to capitalize on these unexpected opportunities as they arise.

It’s one thing to put in the work and set the stage for happy accidents to find you, but it’s another thing to take the leap of faith and seize those moments when they come.

Neal has done just that.

As the co-founder of both Bell Curve and Demand Curve, Neal’s been able to build quite the unplanned business portfolio. All through a string of chance encounters starting with someone he barely knew in high school.

It just begs the question, when and what will be Happy Accident #4?

Some fun facts:

• Although he’s 33 years old, Neal has never had a full-time job. Check out this Twitter thread he wrote that gives you some more of his background.

• At the age of 18, Neal weighed 300 pounds and suffered from social anxiety. Now at the age of 33, he has long since conquered both of those issues, weighing 180 pounds with friends around the world.

• Neal is self-admittedly addicted to rock climbing.

• The Demand Curve newsletter (written by Neal) has over 72,000 subscribers!

The lessons here:

• Embrace serendipitous encounters: Neal's story highlights the importance of being open to unexpected opportunities and chance encounters. Running into Julian Shapiro in Montreal and reconnecting after their high school days led to a fruitful partnership and the creation of successful ventures. By embracing serendipity and being receptive to unexpected connections, we can open doors to new possibilities and collaborations.

• Leverage complementary skills: Neal O'Grady's collaboration with Julian Shapiro demonstrates the power of combining complementary skills. While Julian had a background in growth marketing and content creation, Neal brought his expertise in software engineering and scrappy technical skills to the table. This combination of skill sets allowed them to build a well-rounded team and tackle various aspects of their business effectively. Recognizing and leveraging each other's strengths can be instrumental in achieving success.

• Seize opportunities for growth: Joining Y Combinator, one of the most prestigious startup accelerators, was a pivotal moment for Neal and Julian. This opportunity provided them with valuable resources, mentorship, and access to a vibrant entrepreneurial community. The lesson here is to actively seek out opportunities for growth and development. Whether it's through accelerators, networking events, or educational programs, embracing these opportunities can propel your business forward and open doors to new possibilities.

YOUR Happy Accidents

Check out this story from Dan Jackson on Twitter about how a Happy Accident led to him creating a $4M business!

Side note: It’s pretty cool that people are starting to tag me in their Happy Accident stories on social media. You know your personal brand is taking off when…

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