I tried voice-to-text as an experiment. That made Cursor on mobile possible. Cursor on mobile made a daily questions system possible. The daily questions system made writing posts on walks possible.
Four experiments. Each one laid a foundation the next one required. I couldn’t skip steps. I couldn’t see step 4 from step 1.
That’s an experiment chain. One experiment creates the conditions for the next. You don’t plan the chain. You discover it by running the first link.
Some chains are sequential like that one. Each experiment is a prerequisite for the next.
Other chains branch. Someone learns to cook as an experiment. That one skill splits into meal prepping to save money, hosting dinners to build a social life and starting a food account to attract an audience. Same first link, three different chains running at once.
Sequential chains go deeper. Branching chains go wider. Either way, the first experiment is doing more work than you think.
The pattern is the same in both: the first experiment was driven by curiosity. The last one produced real value. The gap between those two is the chain you can’t see from the start.
You can plan an experiment. You can’t predict where it leads.
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What got easier this year because of something unrelated you did last year?
