Jurvetson '85 Delivers Address

Well-known venture capitalist and St. Mark's Distinguished Alumnus Steve Jurvetson '85 returned home to give the Commencement Address to the Class of 2010. With his parents Tony and Tia Jurvetson looking on, Mr. Jurvetson addressed the class of 92 boys, remarking: "Not so long ago, I was sitting in those seats where you are today. I was a bit insecure and socially awkward - in short, a young budding geek."

He went on to say, "At St. Mark's, I was a computer programming hobbyist, then became a chip designer at HP, then a management consultant, then a product marketing intern at Apple, and finally a venture capitalist investing in entrepreneurs starting new Internet companies, then nanotechnology, then energy, cleantech and synthetic biology. It's like my career path has ADD. But had I stopped at any of the earlier branches, I may never have found my true calling, when fortune taps you figuratively on the shoulder and allows you to do something special. To find your calling in life is priceless."

Mr. Jurvetson shared his memorable observations about life, education, business, the future, and life-long learning saying:  "My hope for you is that you find a reservoir of self-confidence in some aspect of your life so that you can be humble, that you learn enough to never stop learning. And rest assured that we are entering an Intellectual Renaissance interwoven across the sciences. There is no better time to be a student of technology, no better time to start a company, no better time to learn something new. Individuals with good ideas are empowered as never before."

Mr. Jurvetson concluded his remarks with the following advice to the Class of 2010: "Skip forward on your future path with a playful curiosity; consider your destiny on this planet as something grand; change the world for the better, and you will find sweet success and the sublime satisfaction of symbolic immortality.”

Mr. Jurvetson received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in just two-and-a-half years, graduating first in his class. He later earned an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A., also from Stanford. As Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, he has led investments in companies such as Hotmail, Interwoven, and Kana. Prior to his work at DFJ, he was an R&D Engineer at Hewlett-Packard and spent time at firms including Apple, NeXT Software, and Bain & Company. He has appeared on the covers of Worth, Fortune, Profit, and Business 2.0 magazines, among others, and he is widely recognized as one of the leading venture capitalists in Silicon Valley.

Click here to view Mr. Jurvetson’s entire Commencement Address to the St. Mark’s Class of 2010.

Para leer el discurso de graduación del Sr. Jurveston en español, presione aquí.
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    • Class of 2010 snapped by Commencement Speaker Steve Jurvetson '85 from podium

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St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.

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