Jeff Skoll Convocation Speech
Convocation Speech Delivered at University of TorontoBy Jeff Skoll, 06.18.03
Thank you, Dr Dellandrea, for the wonderful introduction and thank you to Chancellor Jackman, President Birgeneau, Dean Martin, Dean Venetsanopoulos and the University for conferring upon me this honorary doctorate. Finally, my mother can say "my son, the doctor." Better still, since this is a doctorate of Laws, my mother can also say "my son, the lawyer." Since I'm already an Engineer, I think that completes the proud mother trifecta.
Speaking of proud mothers, this day truly belongs to those of you who are graduating today and to your families. You have come to the fruition of many years of hard work and you should be proud of what you have accomplished. But keep in mind that none of us made it here entirely on our own. We had the support of this university, a society and culture that values education and, in particular, we had the help and encouragement of our parents and families. So, to all of our parents and families here today who are bursting with pride on our behalf, thank you.
I've been asked today to share some words of wisdom with you. But given that I'm still pretty young and at one time I was the editor of the Toike Oike, our not-so-venerable Engineering student newspaper, I'm not sure what wisdom I actually have to offer. The good news is that I don't remember my convocation speaker and you probably won't either, so whatever I say will likely have a very short shelf-life.
First, I'd like to tell you a little about my background. I share this with you so that you'll see that I'm about as likely as any of you to be standing here today.
I grew up in Montreal, which as you know is a great hockey town. As a kid, I played hockey myself and though I was small, I made up for it by being slow and uncoordinated. Also, when I was about 12 or 13 I used to sell electronic keyboards door-to-door. Unfortunately, the only I song I knew how to play was O Canada, not a very popular choice in the heyday of the Separatist movement. One lady even sicced her dog on me. I knew then that I didn't have a great future in sales.
When I was 13, my family moved to Toronto. During high school, I realized I had a propensity for taking things apart but not much ability to put them back together. So I decided to study engineering.
My four years at U of T in electrical engineering were marked by long hours, hard work and the occasional disaster. In one of my fourth year classes, my lab partner and I managed to blow up his parents' basement while trying to etch some circuit boards. I'll never forget the look on his parents' faces as they staggered down the stairs at 5am through clouds of acrid smoke. Still, I'm amazed that that was the worst thing to happen with all those nights of sleep deprivation. Those of you who are graduating here today know what I mean. In fact, I think I see a few people sleeping right now.
After graduating from U of T, I decided to backpack around the world despite admonishments from my classmates that I would "never get a job" when I returned. When I did get back, I started a systems consulting business and a few years later I followed that by launching a computer rentals business. Finally, I realized that I was an engineer running two businesses and I didn't really know what I was doing, so I headed off to Stanford Business School. Years later, I created the Skoll Program- our joint engineering and business program here at U of T - so that others could avoid repeating my business follies. For example, it would have been helpful to know that revenues should exceed expenses.
While I was doing my MBA at Stanford, I met a fellow by the name of Pierre Omidyar. Just after I graduated, Pierre approached me with the idea of building a company to help people buy and sell things with one another online via an auction format. With my Stanford business degree in hand I knew I was right on the money when I said "Pierre, what a stupid idea."
Nonetheless, I decided to join Pierre and eBay was born. In many ways, I saw eBay as a true engineering challenge: how do you get millions of people together to trade in one place (Civil Engineering); how would they physically transfer their goods (Mechanical engineering); how do you leverage the Internet (Computer and Electrical engineering). Finally, how do you do all this while working 100+ hour weeks, wired on coffee and Mountain Dew (that would be Chemical Engineering).
Through my role in eBay, I have been blessed with many resources that have helped me to pursue an even bigger dream. Ever since I was a kid, I observed that many of the problems in the world - ranging from disease to crime to terrorism to drugs - were caused by the gap between rich and poor, be it rich nation / poor nation or rich community / poor community.
Through the Skoll Foundation, I now have a chance to make a difference in that equation, and we are working with some of the greatest entrepreneurs in the non-profit world to make the world a better place. I've even started making movies to tell the stories of these inspirational people and their work. Of course, I'm being mindful of the expression - the surest way to become a millionaire is to become a billionaire and then go into the movie business.
Now that you know a bit about me, I would like to share some observations that I hope will be helpful to you as head down the road to accomplishing your own dreams. These observations fall into 4 categories:
Number 1: Learning is a lifelong experience. You may have reached the end of a long journey today, but there are many important journeys to follow. The most effective people - including Nobel prize winners like Mike Spence, business leaders like Ted Rogers and social leaders like David Suzuki - all Canadians by the way - never forgot the value of ongoing learning. Moreover, no matter how intelligent and accomplished, these people always felt they could learn more by listening to other people and by recognizing the value of different opinions and different cultures. All of you graduating here today are really, really smart…but if you remain open to learning then you will one day not only be smart, you will also be wise.
My second observation comes from a line from one of my favorite books, the Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay. The line is "First with the head then with the heart." First with the head, then with the heart. What better advice for anyone starting out on his or her career? If you are able to make a life plan for yourself and then work towards that plan with heartfelt passion, you will accomplish amazing things. In my case, around the time I was graduating from U of T, I thought about what I wanted written on my tombstone and then I worked backwards from there. This technique has helped me to make better decisions throughout my life and then to feel good about those decisions. So, First with the head, then with the heart.
Number 3: Take risks. You've all heard the expression "nothing ventured, nothing gained." People have high expectations of you and while the path of least resistance is good for electrons, it is not so good for people. When I joined Pierre at eBay I took no salary at a time when I was buried by school debt and could barely afford to eat. People told me I was crazy. But if I hadn't already thought through my life plan and I wasn't willing to take a risk then I would not be here today. Remember, it is your life to live and nobody can live your dream for you. Travel, seize opportunities and don't let others' expectations keep you from fulfilling your own expectations for yourself.
Finally, give back. Conrad Hilton once said that there is a natural law that people should give back to the society that helped them achieve success. You are all people of great privilege and with privilege comes responsibility. Give back to your community, give back to your school, give back to the world and you will be repaid many times over.
In closing, I'd like to say that today is a celebration. You are graduating into a different world than when you began your studies, a world that has changed after September 11th. But for every setback there has been at least one great accomplishment - decoding the human genome, progress on AIDS, advancements in nanotechnology. Remain hopeful because there is much good to be done in the world and you as Engineers - the world's greatest problem solvers - have a unique opportunity to make a difference.
I encourage you to continue learning throughout your lives, to act first with the head, then with the heart, to take risks and to give back, because I believe that each and every one of you can potentially change the world. And that can only spell good things for all of us in the years to come.
Oh, and one more piece of advice - wear more suntan lotion!
Thank you.
Jeff Skoll was the second employee and first President of eBay, eBay Foundation and Founder of Skoll Foundation and Participant Productions
Thank you, Dr Dellandrea, for the wonderful introduction and thank you to Chancellor Jackman, President Birgeneau, Dean Martin, Dean Venetsanopoulos and the University for conferring upon me this honorary doctorate. Finally, my mother can say "my son, the doctor." Better still, since this is a doctorate of Laws, my mother can also say "my son, the lawyer." Since I'm already an Engineer, I think that completes the proud mother trifecta.
Speaking of proud mothers, this day truly belongs to those of you who are graduating today and to your families. You have come to the fruition of many years of hard work and you should be proud of what you have accomplished. But keep in mind that none of us made it here entirely on our own. We had the support of this university, a society and culture that values education and, in particular, we had the help and encouragement of our parents and families. So, to all of our parents and families here today who are bursting with pride on our behalf, thank you.
I've been asked today to share some words of wisdom with you. But given that I'm still pretty young and at one time I was the editor of the Toike Oike, our not-so-venerable Engineering student newspaper, I'm not sure what wisdom I actually have to offer. The good news is that I don't remember my convocation speaker and you probably won't either, so whatever I say will likely have a very short shelf-life.
First, I'd like to tell you a little about my background. I share this with you so that you'll see that I'm about as likely as any of you to be standing here today.
I grew up in Montreal, which as you know is a great hockey town. As a kid, I played hockey myself and though I was small, I made up for it by being slow and uncoordinated. Also, when I was about 12 or 13 I used to sell electronic keyboards door-to-door. Unfortunately, the only I song I knew how to play was O Canada, not a very popular choice in the heyday of the Separatist movement. One lady even sicced her dog on me. I knew then that I didn't have a great future in sales.
When I was 13, my family moved to Toronto. During high school, I realized I had a propensity for taking things apart but not much ability to put them back together. So I decided to study engineering.
My four years at U of T in electrical engineering were marked by long hours, hard work and the occasional disaster. In one of my fourth year classes, my lab partner and I managed to blow up his parents' basement while trying to etch some circuit boards. I'll never forget the look on his parents' faces as they staggered down the stairs at 5am through clouds of acrid smoke. Still, I'm amazed that that was the worst thing to happen with all those nights of sleep deprivation. Those of you who are graduating here today know what I mean. In fact, I think I see a few people sleeping right now.
After graduating from U of T, I decided to backpack around the world despite admonishments from my classmates that I would "never get a job" when I returned. When I did get back, I started a systems consulting business and a few years later I followed that by launching a computer rentals business. Finally, I realized that I was an engineer running two businesses and I didn't really know what I was doing, so I headed off to Stanford Business School. Years later, I created the Skoll Program- our joint engineering and business program here at U of T - so that others could avoid repeating my business follies. For example, it would have been helpful to know that revenues should exceed expenses.
While I was doing my MBA at Stanford, I met a fellow by the name of Pierre Omidyar. Just after I graduated, Pierre approached me with the idea of building a company to help people buy and sell things with one another online via an auction format. With my Stanford business degree in hand I knew I was right on the money when I said "Pierre, what a stupid idea."
Nonetheless, I decided to join Pierre and eBay was born. In many ways, I saw eBay as a true engineering challenge: how do you get millions of people together to trade in one place (Civil Engineering); how would they physically transfer their goods (Mechanical engineering); how do you leverage the Internet (Computer and Electrical engineering). Finally, how do you do all this while working 100+ hour weeks, wired on coffee and Mountain Dew (that would be Chemical Engineering).
Through my role in eBay, I have been blessed with many resources that have helped me to pursue an even bigger dream. Ever since I was a kid, I observed that many of the problems in the world - ranging from disease to crime to terrorism to drugs - were caused by the gap between rich and poor, be it rich nation / poor nation or rich community / poor community.
Through the Skoll Foundation, I now have a chance to make a difference in that equation, and we are working with some of the greatest entrepreneurs in the non-profit world to make the world a better place. I've even started making movies to tell the stories of these inspirational people and their work. Of course, I'm being mindful of the expression - the surest way to become a millionaire is to become a billionaire and then go into the movie business.
Now that you know a bit about me, I would like to share some observations that I hope will be helpful to you as head down the road to accomplishing your own dreams. These observations fall into 4 categories:
Number 1: Learning is a lifelong experience. You may have reached the end of a long journey today, but there are many important journeys to follow. The most effective people - including Nobel prize winners like Mike Spence, business leaders like Ted Rogers and social leaders like David Suzuki - all Canadians by the way - never forgot the value of ongoing learning. Moreover, no matter how intelligent and accomplished, these people always felt they could learn more by listening to other people and by recognizing the value of different opinions and different cultures. All of you graduating here today are really, really smart…but if you remain open to learning then you will one day not only be smart, you will also be wise.
My second observation comes from a line from one of my favorite books, the Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay. The line is "First with the head then with the heart." First with the head, then with the heart. What better advice for anyone starting out on his or her career? If you are able to make a life plan for yourself and then work towards that plan with heartfelt passion, you will accomplish amazing things. In my case, around the time I was graduating from U of T, I thought about what I wanted written on my tombstone and then I worked backwards from there. This technique has helped me to make better decisions throughout my life and then to feel good about those decisions. So, First with the head, then with the heart.
Number 3: Take risks. You've all heard the expression "nothing ventured, nothing gained." People have high expectations of you and while the path of least resistance is good for electrons, it is not so good for people. When I joined Pierre at eBay I took no salary at a time when I was buried by school debt and could barely afford to eat. People told me I was crazy. But if I hadn't already thought through my life plan and I wasn't willing to take a risk then I would not be here today. Remember, it is your life to live and nobody can live your dream for you. Travel, seize opportunities and don't let others' expectations keep you from fulfilling your own expectations for yourself.
Finally, give back. Conrad Hilton once said that there is a natural law that people should give back to the society that helped them achieve success. You are all people of great privilege and with privilege comes responsibility. Give back to your community, give back to your school, give back to the world and you will be repaid many times over.
In closing, I'd like to say that today is a celebration. You are graduating into a different world than when you began your studies, a world that has changed after September 11th. But for every setback there has been at least one great accomplishment - decoding the human genome, progress on AIDS, advancements in nanotechnology. Remain hopeful because there is much good to be done in the world and you as Engineers - the world's greatest problem solvers - have a unique opportunity to make a difference.
I encourage you to continue learning throughout your lives, to act first with the head, then with the heart, to take risks and to give back, because I believe that each and every one of you can potentially change the world. And that can only spell good things for all of us in the years to come.
Oh, and one more piece of advice - wear more suntan lotion!
Thank you.
Jeff Skoll was the second employee and first President of eBay, eBay Foundation and Founder of Skoll Foundation and Participant Productions
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