The Five Chimps Theory: How Your Friends Shape Your Future

Your friends literally shape your future.

The Five Chimps Theory: In zoology, you can predict the mood and behavior of one chimp by observing which five chimps they hang out with the most.

This means that your behavior, mindset, and habits are shaped by the people you surround yourself with.

On the other hand, if you surround yourself with people who are positive, motivated, and driven, you are more likely to adopt their mindset and habits. This can have a profound impact on your personal and professional life.

The 2-Minute Hack: Audit Your Five Chimps

It’s important to be intentional about who you spend your time with. If you want to grow and develop as a person, surround yourself with people who challenge you, inspire you, and push you to be your best self.

You can probably see this in real-time, with your “5 chimps friend group”:

• Are your 5 chimps in great shape? → You’ll likely be fit
• Do your 5 chimps like to read? → You’ll likely crack open books
• Are your 5 chimps starting businesses? → You might too…

I didn’t realize how accurate this theory was… Until I realized a wild amount of my former roommates have now gone on to start their own businesses:

• The leading data-driven compensation platform? Matt Schulman founded Pave (YC S20)

• Live classes with your favorite creators? Matthew Rudin founded LearnOnTIL

• A friendly crypto wallet to store, buy, send, receive, swap tokens and collect NFTs on the Solana blockchain? Francesco Agosti founded Phantom

• Open source continuous profiling? Ryan Perry founded Pyroscope (acquired by Grafana)

• Contractor management software for telecom companies? Jason Rudin founded Clad (YC W23)

• A sales observability platform? Elliot O’Connor founded Frontier

• An end-to-end content moderation solution? Ruud Visser founded Lasso Moderation

• An industrial outdoor storage platform? Dan Haroun founded Catalyst IOS

I’m beyond blessed to have become friends and lived with such talented, kind, and ambitious people.

How to apply this hack:

Two questions I now consciously ask myself:

1. Who do I need to surround myself with?
2. Who am I currently surrounding myself with?

This is SO important because:

Ambitious people need each other.

“Ambition breeds a particular kind of frustration, and the more ambitious you are, the larger it looms. Without like-minded peers, ambitious people become suffocated by life — chained by tall poppy syndrome and the dogmas of complacency.” – David Perell

Action item:

1. List your current “five chimps” – the people you spend the most time with
2. Assess how their habits, mindsets, and goals align with yours
3. Identify any gaps between your current circle and your aspirations
4. Make a plan to connect with people who embody your target traits
5. Join communities, masterminds, or co-working spaces where your ideal “chimps” gather

Learning Lesson:

You have the power to choose who you spend your time with. Choose wisely and surround yourself with people who will help you become the best version of yourself.

And remember: Choose your five chimps carefully.

See you next week.

Lets doola it ⚡

Arjun