Ask HN: What do you do to start and develop friendships?

I’ve been reading Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, which is about the importance of networking and developing lasting relationships, and Keith does talk about preparation (get to know a person before you meet them), about being genuine, about having something to offer, about the importance of being liked, but I think I’m missing something a bit more fundamental. While I cherish relationships I do build, developing a genuine human bond is somewhat of a mystery to me: it happens sometimes, but infrequently, and doesn’t seem to be under my control at all.