Scaling Trust

Historically, access is permissioned based on network. We know the same person? Then you must be cool, here’s “access”. But access is only given out once trust is established with someone. Mutual connection is one form of trust building. It’s in the best interest of society to build out additional ways to build trust beyond the “mutual connection”, as this is quite exclusionary.

Ideas i’ve had in this department include monthly updates, which proves consistency, yielding trust over time. I could look at 10 people who want a meeting with me and I can see who has the most consistent and high quality monthly updates. I’d pick the top 3, and I can infer they won’t waste my time because they’ve built out their track record over time via updates.

More recently, I’ve been thinking about if there was a way to infer how someone interacts with someone else, they will act similarly to you. For example, if someone opens the door for 9 people, you can assume he’ll open the door for the 10th. And if he lets the door slam in the next person’s face, 9 times, chances are he’ll let it go the 10th time too. Prove you are a type of person who writes checks, and you’ll be treated as someone who writes checks. Prove you’re the person who takes every meeting but never invests, and that’s how you’ll be known. Can you know how someone will act if you have never met them before and don’t have any mutual connections? I think there’s a way.