Interest compounds because you leave the principal alone and let time do the work, karma compounds the same way if you actually leave your good deeds alone instead of cashing them in right away. Larry Chiang’s version of karma is not mystical, he says it can be tracked, measured, and channeled like any other resource in a business. He tracks it in small deposits: a thank-you sent the same day, a favor returned before it is asked for, a tip that is generous rather than exact.
Larry says the habit of writing thank-you notes is what put Nike on his sponsor list, one relationship compounding into a much bigger one. The compounding only works if you reciprocate fast, because a favor returned six months late reads as an afterthought, not as karma. Forgiveness fits the same account: holding a grudge is like withdrawing your own principal early and paying the penalty yourself.
This is the same discipline behind his house money idea, the 70/20/10 split from The Richest Man in Babylon that builds a cushion so you never negotiate desperate. A cushion of goodwill works the same way as a cushion of cash, it lets you make the generous move without calculating what you get back.
People who track karma like a strict ledger, expecting an instant return on every favor, are the ones who never see it compound. The compounding shows up months later as a referral you did not ask for, or a vendor who quietly moves you to the front of the line.
None of this replaces asking directly for the deal, Larry is clear that karma opens the room, it does not close it for you. Treat every thank-you, every tip, every returned favor as a small deposit, then let enough of them sit untouched to compound.
Details: Watch Larry explain karma in action
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