Serendipity
It Doesn't Happen by Accident
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Serendipity
Buy Now for $27.79
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Narrated by:
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Simon de Deney
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By:
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David Cleevely
About this listen
Breakthroughs aren’t random. They’re designed. In Serendipity: It Doesn’t Happen by Accident, David Cleevely — telecoms pioneer, deep tech investor, and architect of the Cambridge tech cluster — explains how the world’s most successful ideas emerge not from rigid plans, but from well-designed networks, environments, and a willingness to embrace the unexpected.
Drawing on complexity science, network theory, and decades of experience founding and funding more than 60 companies — including the billion-dollar biotech firm Abcam - Cleevely shows how to build the conditions that make breakthroughs more likely. From 18th-century Birmingham to modern-day Cambridge, Silicon Valley, and Shenzhen, he reveals how innovation ecosystems really work and why many institutions suppress the very dynamics that drive discovery.
Whether you’re leading a business, shaping public policy, or building a startup, Serendipity offers a practical framework for designing environments where opportunity can flourish.
©2025 David Cleevely (P)2026 David CleevelyCritic Reviews
“As someone immersed in exponential technologies and systemic change, I found this book a revelation.” Azeem Azhar
“Most serendipitously, the story behind the word ‘serendipity’ has been a million-pound question on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? David Cleevely shows that it’s a million-pound question for all of us — a reminder that sometimes, if we let them, Dame Fortune and Mistress Chance can take us by the hand.” Stephen Fry
“How do you engineer serendipity? This wonderful book explains why unexpected successes aren’t so surprising — and how to make them more likely.” Dame Diane Coyle