You Make Your Own Luck (co-delivered talk)

As part of the very first student-led Heads' Lecture Series at Haberdashers' Elstree Schools, Ravjoth Brar and I, shared our journey building Beri Labs, an AI education start-up creating real-world AI tools for schools.

What makes an individual lucky? Is it natural talent? Being in the right place at the right time?

Drawing from our own experience of cold pitches, strategic pivots, and (many!) rejections, we spoke about how to stop waiting for luck and start cultivating it. We outlined six key tips to cultivate your luck:

1. Be Proactive - Don't wait for opportunities to fall in your lap. Notice gaps. Act on them.

2. Have a Clear, Actionable Goal - Set something ambitious but achievable. Break it into smaller steps.

3. Lay the Foundations - Build credibility and relationships early. Network. Talk to people. Make yourself known. When the opportunity arrives, the connections are already there.

4. Judge a Book by Its Cover - First impressions matter. When you pitch an idea, you're asking for someone's time and attention so prepare accordingly.

5. Luck = Preparation + Opportunity - You can't control everything. But you can position yourself so that when moments come (and they will), you're ready.

6. Fail Fast, Learn Faster - Rejection is normal. The people who cultivate luck don't have higher success rates; they just try more. Yes, they face more rejections. But they also succeed more. And crucially, they learn from what went wrong.