Happenstance Review: The Most Elite Networking Tool I’ve Ever Used
David Pawlan
Co-Founder
If you know me, you know I love to network. I love meeting people, I love connecting people, and I love being the person that can introduce you to exactly who you need. But up until now, navigating my own network has been slow—like, painfully manual. I’ve kept everything sorted in Airtable with different categories for conferences, industries, and specific tags, just so I could quickly reference people when needed. And it works… but it’s a grind.
Then I found Happenstance—and I can confidently say, this tool is electric.
It’s an AI-powered search engine for your network. Instead of me manually sorting through Airtable or digging through LinkedIn, I can just search. One click, and boom—a structured breakdown of everyone in my network who matches exactly what I need. It’s fast. It’s simple. It’s a complete game-changer.
What is Happenstance?
Happenstance is an AI tool that lets you instantly search your entire network based on specific criteria. It connects to your:
- Gmail (one-click authentication)
- LinkedIn (via a Chrome extension or manual data export)
- Twitter (manual export)
- Outlook (currently in beta, but not relevant for me)
Once connected, it analyzes your contacts and lets you run searches like:
“Find me a Vanderbilt grad who’s a software engineer in Chicago.”
It then scans your entire network and spits out a clean, structured table with:
✔️ Who fits your search criteria
✔️ How confident it is in each match (green = strong, yellow = maybe, gray = no match)
✔️ Where you’re connected (LinkedIn, email, Twitter, etc.)
✔️ Any mutual connections
The kicker? It shows you the exact logic behind each result. You can actually drop down a menu and see the code it ran to generate the match. It doesn’t add any tangible value, it’s just a pretty cool UI feature that I liked - it made the platform a bit more engaging for me.
How I’m Using This (And Why It’s a Game-Changer)
1. Finding the Right People in My Network—Instantly
Before this, if someone asked me,
"Hey, do you know any growth marketers at Series B SaaS companies?"
I’d have to:
1. Scroll through Airtable.
2. Cross-reference LinkedIn.
3. Hope I remember the right people.
With Happenstance? I just type in what I need, and in seconds, I have a curated list of the best matches.
I no longer have to guess if someone is in my network. I instantly know.
2. Supercharging My Role as a Connector
I love introducing people. It’s one of my favorite things to do.
Happenstance makes this 10x easier. If someone says they need to meet a fintech product manager or an investor in early-stage SaaS, I don’t have to mentally scan my network anymore. I just search.
This tool turns networking into an actual superpower.
3. Hiring & Recruiting Without the Hassle
For hiring managers, this tool is next level:
✔️ Find passive candidates without spending hours on LinkedIn
✔️ Filter by skills, location, and education
✔️ Leverage warm introductions instead of sending cold emails
✔️ Run searches across an entire team’s network
If you’re hiring, this is a must-have. Instead of waiting for applications, you can proactively find people in your extended network who already match the role.
4. Sales & Business Development—No More Cold Outreach
For sales teams, this is a prospecting goldmine.
✔️ Identify leads in your extended network
✔️ See mutual connections for warm intros
✔️ Easily group search across a team’s network
If I were running a B2B SaaS sales team, I’d have them on this immediately. Instead of cold outreach, you can search your entire team’s network and find warm intros.
The Two Most Powerful Features: Friending & Groups
Friending: Where I See Potential (and Friction)
The Friending feature lets you combine your search power with someone else’s network.
That’s incredibly powerful, but also where my biggest hesitation comes in.
Here’s why: Your network is your oil. You have to gatekeep it. I’m not comfortable giving full access to my network just because we’re “friends” on Happenstance. It suggests who you should add, which makes me a little uneasy—I don’t want people randomly trying to tap into my network without my consent.
So for me?
❌ No random friending.
✅ Yes to selectively adding trusted friends and collaborators.
If I control who gets access, this could be a power move. But blindly adding people? Not happening.
Groups: The Most Elite Feature
Now, Groups? This is where things get really interesting.
Groups let teams share their networks for curated searches—without losing control of individual access.
✔️ Sales teams can combine their contacts for prospecting.
✔️ Hiring teams can pool networks to find the best talent.
✔️ Startups can collectively tap into investor connections.
I tested it out with Aloa’s sales team, and it was so electric. Instead of having to figure out who in our network we could start looking into and hit up for our new pitch, we just searched the exact type of profile we were looking for and immediately had a curated list of the best contacts to hit up along with which person is connected with them so you know who should be hitting them up.
Guess work - gone.
This feature alone makes the Pro plan worth it. It turns your team into a collective search engine for talent, leads, and networking.
Is the Pro Plan Worth It?
Free Plan
✅ 15 searches per month
✅ Individual searches
❌ No CSV downloads
❌ No team/group searches
Pro Plan ($30/month)
✅ Unlimited searches
✅ CSV exports (great for sales & hiring outreach)
✅ Group & team searches
For hiring, sales, and fundraising, Pro is an absolute no-brainer. If you’re running multiple searches a month, you’ll want the upgrade.
Final Verdict: My Honest Take
Happenstance is one of the most elite networking tools I’ve ever used. It eliminates manual searching, makes introducing people effortless, and gives you insane visibility into your network.
✅ Pros
✔️ Saves hours of manual tracking
✔️ See exactly how matches are generated (full transparency)
✔️ Group feature makes team networking next-level
✔️ Multi-platform integration (Gmail, LinkedIn, Twitter, Outlook in beta)
❌ Cons
❌ First search takes a few minutes (but speeds up after)
❌ Manual uploads needed for LinkedIn & Twitter
❌ Privacy concerns with friending (I personally wouldn’t use this feature broadly)
If your network is your super power, this tool helps you use it with efficiency you’ve never before seen!