Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
Steve Jobs of Apple and Pixar fame, gave a fantastic speech at Stanford in June 2005. His parting words were “stay hungry, stay foolish”. I’ve read the transcript numerous times and watched the video once as well. I only justed realised that the “stay hungry, stay foolish” idea is my “success formula” (success = ambition * persistence * luck) in different words. Steve doesn’t explicitly mention luck, but there’s the implication that you will catch a break eventually provided you “stay hungry”.
I’ve heard these ideas and stories all over the place since I grokked the concept. Billy Joel sings, “You’re Only Human”, Pete Murray with “Opportunity”, and Scribe raps “Dreaming”.
I left full time employment for a chance at an adventurous life. I’ve been going against the grain for about nine months now. I can walk over the cynical comments, I can dust off from day to day failings, and I can shrug off those who look down on me because I don’t have a “job”. The hardest aspect has been the pressure I put on myself because of the responsibilities I have to others. Inspirational stories like those above help me to keep going, and I hope they do the same for you.
A transcript of his Steve Jobs’ speech is available as well as a video copy on YouTube that I’ve embedded below.
Also, here’s a Conan O’Brien graduation speech to Stuyvesant in 2006. He talks a lot about his background and I always find these types of stories interesting. As you would expect from Conan, the speech has plenty of humor.
Tags: billyjoel, entrepreneur, inspiration, petemurray, scribe, stevejobs
