1
00:00:08,090 --> 00:00:10,290
I try and make anything I do as relevant

2
00:00:10,290 --> 00:00:13,680
to the people who are listening
to me at that moment,

3
00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:15,280
so where are you guys?

4
00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:16,955
How many of you are undergrads?

5
00:00:16,955 --> 00:00:17,960
Show of hands.

6
00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:19,430
Virtually everyone, oh my God.

7
00:00:19,430 --> 00:00:20,442
Let's do that again.

8
00:00:20,442 --> 00:00:21,880
How many of you are seniors?

9
00:00:22,835 --> 00:00:23,840
Juniors?

10
00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:24,844
(Cheering)

11
00:00:24,844 --> 00:00:25,950
Sophomores?

12
00:00:25,950 --> 00:00:26,955
(Cheering)

13
00:00:26,955 --> 00:00:28,304
And freshmen?

14
00:00:28,304 --> 00:00:30,560
All right. Good stuff.

15
00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,680
I'm going to talk to you
as if you're juniors.

16
00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,600
I'm just going to land
in the middle somewhere.

17
00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:37,720
It's all good.

18
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,508
So, the theme is going to be
the flow of talent.

19
00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,120
The graphic that kicks us off,
if I can get this thing to go -

20
00:00:49,340 --> 00:00:51,265
Hey, Mike, where do I point this thing?

21
00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:53,905
Sorry.

22
00:00:54,752 --> 00:00:55,922
Thank you.

23
00:00:57,069 --> 00:00:58,504
Or should I click this thing?

24
00:01:00,265 --> 00:01:03,361
This is the graphic we're going to use
to kick off the discussion.

25
00:01:03,361 --> 00:01:04,989
For those of you who are seniors,

26
00:01:04,989 --> 00:01:07,540
this might be more familiar
than if you're a freshmen.

27
00:01:08,100 --> 00:01:09,580
So what this graphic represents

28
00:01:09,580 --> 00:01:13,141
is that it's a lot easier
for a young, smart person right now

29
00:01:13,141 --> 00:01:15,110
to become a banker, consultant, or lawyer

30
00:01:15,110 --> 00:01:17,545
than it is to do just about anything else.

31
00:01:17,545 --> 00:01:18,960
I resemble this.

32
00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:22,263
I graduated from Brown in '96,
and did not know what I wanted to do.

33
00:01:22,263 --> 00:01:25,420
So I went to law school,
which clarifies absolutely nothing.

34
00:01:25,420 --> 00:01:26,420
(Laughter)

35
00:01:26,420 --> 00:01:28,880
For those of you who are thinking
about law school,

36
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,580
you should know that awaits
if you do that.

37
00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:33,840
(Laughter)

38
00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:37,580
I graduated from law school and,
not knowing what I wanted to do still,

39
00:01:37,580 --> 00:01:39,977
I became an M&A and banking
attorney in New York,

40
00:01:39,977 --> 00:01:42,000
because that's what you did
out of Columbia

41
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:43,507
if you didn't know what to do.

42
00:01:44,464 --> 00:01:46,407
I was there for about five months.

43
00:01:46,407 --> 00:01:49,430
I went home dispirited
that Thanksgiving, to my parents.

44
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:51,520
I said, "You know, Mom and Dad,

45
00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,080
when I was young, I didn't dream
about being the scribe.

46
00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,883
I dreamt about going in the woods
and killing something."

47
00:01:58,743 --> 00:02:01,280
They, of course, didn't know
what I was talking about.

48
00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,000
I then went back to my job and said,

49
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,790
"You know what, I feel like I'd like
to try and build something,

50
00:02:06,790 --> 00:02:08,692
but I don't know if I have wherewithal."

51
00:02:08,692 --> 00:02:12,558
So I took a week off from work,
and then tried to start this company.

52
00:02:12,558 --> 00:02:16,090
Made enough of what felt like progress
so that I then went and quit my job,

53
00:02:16,090 --> 00:02:17,560
and then started a dot-com.

54
00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:18,722
This was around 2000.

55
00:02:18,722 --> 00:02:20,880
Had its mini rise and maximum fall.

56
00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,490
We raised about a quarter
of a million, got some press,

57
00:02:23,490 --> 00:02:24,910
but then the bubble burst.

58
00:02:24,910 --> 00:02:27,490
How old were you guys
when the bubble burst in 2001?

59
00:02:28,475 --> 00:02:29,480
(Audience) Eight.

60
00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:30,955
Eight, nine.

61
00:02:30,955 --> 00:02:31,971
(Laughter)

62
00:02:31,971 --> 00:02:35,000
So, do you guys have
any recollection of that time?

63
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,909
Maybe your parents watching CNBC,
very sad for a little while,

64
00:02:37,909 --> 00:02:39,054
or something like that.

65
00:02:39,054 --> 00:02:40,064
Anything like that?

66
00:02:40,064 --> 00:02:42,447
There are adults among you
who remember this stuff.

67
00:02:42,447 --> 00:02:43,450
When it burst,

68
00:02:43,450 --> 00:02:46,320
it was like a giant hand
went through the streets of New York

69
00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,759
and swept away any company
that was not nailed down,

70
00:02:48,759 --> 00:02:50,050
including my little outfit.

71
00:02:50,050 --> 00:02:51,433
At this point, I'm 25.

72
00:02:51,433 --> 00:02:53,400
I've just lost investors about $0.25M.

73
00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,950
I still own $100,000 in law school debt.

74
00:02:55,950 --> 00:02:58,721
My parents are like, "What happened?
You used to be smart."

75
00:02:58,721 --> 00:03:00,520
(Laughter)

76
00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:03,514
At this point,
I had been bitten by the bug

77
00:03:03,514 --> 00:03:06,270
and said, "You know what,
I think I really want to do this.

78
00:03:06,270 --> 00:03:08,700
I want to learn how to build
a business, a company."

79
00:03:08,700 --> 00:03:10,097
I'm going to submit this you.

80
00:03:10,097 --> 00:03:11,810
What should young Andrew do now, 25,

81
00:03:11,810 --> 00:03:14,394
lying on his floor,
looking up at the ceiling?

82
00:03:14,594 --> 00:03:16,250
What's the next step?

83
00:03:16,535 --> 00:03:17,620
(Audience) Try again?

84
00:03:17,620 --> 00:03:21,400
Try again, but how to try again,
given that I just raised money and lost,

85
00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,097
and it's like 2001, 2002
when no one wants to invest in anything?

86
00:03:27,813 --> 00:03:29,835
(Audience) Getting them to believe in you.

87
00:03:29,835 --> 00:03:31,590
Wow, I don't know what that means.

88
00:03:31,590 --> 00:03:34,400
(Laughter)

89
00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,790
Okay, so I'm going to submit
something else to you.

90
00:03:36,790 --> 00:03:40,085
Let's say you wanted
to become a chef, really bad.

91
00:03:40,085 --> 00:03:41,430
What might you do?

92
00:03:41,430 --> 00:03:42,536
(Audience) Chef school.

93
00:03:42,536 --> 00:03:44,113
Chef school. Another possibility?

94
00:03:44,113 --> 00:03:45,130
(Audience) Get a job.

95
00:03:45,130 --> 00:03:46,264
Get a job where?

96
00:03:46,264 --> 00:03:47,750
(Audience) As a chef at a cafe.

97
00:03:47,750 --> 00:03:50,000
Right, you would take your chef knife out,

98
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:51,627
and you would go down on one knee.

99
00:03:51,627 --> 00:03:54,680
You would go to someone
and say, "Be my master." Right?

100
00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,178
You'd find someone who's a better chef.

101
00:03:58,178 --> 00:04:01,040
So that's what I did:
I found an experienced entrepreneur.

102
00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,940
And I became his lieutenant,
his VP of something or other.

103
00:04:04,940 --> 00:04:07,734
And so for four years, I supported him

104
00:04:07,734 --> 00:04:10,080
as that company raised
about seven million dollars

105
00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:11,680
and three million in revenue.

106
00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,360
Then I became the CEO
of a company called Manhattan GMAT.

107
00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:15,480
Has anyone heard of it?

108
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,078
Juniors, seniors, maybe?

109
00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,840
Manhattan GMAT grew from being
a relatively small GMAT boutique

110
00:04:20,840 --> 00:04:23,800
to number one in the US
over the next five or six years,

111
00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,949
to the point where we were acquired
by The Washington Post in 2009

112
00:04:26,949 --> 00:04:28,960
because we were number one in the US.

113
00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:30,401
Washington Post owns Kaplan.

114
00:04:30,401 --> 00:04:32,240
We were beating the tar out of Kaplan.

115
00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,730
Kaplan got tired of it,
so the CEO calls me and says,

116
00:04:34,730 --> 00:04:36,080
"Hey, let's talk."

117
00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,850
We have a little bidding process,
and the company gets acquired.

118
00:04:39,850 --> 00:04:43,190
It's one of the reasons I'm very familiar
with this particular picture;

119
00:04:43,190 --> 00:04:45,779
many of the people my company started
in Manhattan GMAT

120
00:04:45,779 --> 00:04:47,220
were bankers and consultants

121
00:04:47,220 --> 00:04:49,745
who weren't really finding
what they were looking for

122
00:04:49,745 --> 00:04:50,990
as 20-something year olds,

123
00:04:50,990 --> 00:04:53,516
so they would take the GMAT,
apply to business school,

124
00:04:53,516 --> 00:04:55,030
and then go to business school.

125
00:04:55,030 --> 00:04:57,422
So, I'm going to continue with this.

126
00:04:57,422 --> 00:04:59,720
Let's take a look
at what the actual numbers are.

127
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:01,560
Let's take Harvard's class of 2011.

128
00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,791
What were the most common things
to do out of Harvard a year ago?

129
00:05:04,791 --> 00:05:05,796
Shout them out.

130
00:05:05,796 --> 00:05:08,240
(Crosstalk)

131
00:05:10,035 --> 00:05:11,705
Yes, finance.

132
00:05:11,705 --> 00:05:13,422
(Audience) Doctor.
A.Y.: Consulting.

133
00:05:13,422 --> 00:05:15,675
Law. Not accounting.

134
00:05:15,675 --> 00:05:16,855
(Laughter)

135
00:05:16,855 --> 00:05:18,715
And the fourth is med school.

136
00:05:18,715 --> 00:05:19,720
The question is,

137
00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,804
what proportion of Harvard students
did one of those four things?

138
00:05:23,424 --> 00:05:26,310
(Audience responses)

139
00:05:26,517 --> 00:05:28,810
All right, so I've got
between 40 and 90 percent.

140
00:05:28,810 --> 00:05:32,138
And as usual, the wisdom of crowds,
the truth is exactly in the middle.

141
00:05:32,138 --> 00:05:33,710
It's 65 percent.

142
00:05:35,876 --> 00:05:39,360
Then you have the potpourri category,
which is a little bit of everything.

143
00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,720
It's grad school, nonprofits,
industry, government, IT, military.

144
00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:45,280
Then you have its own line item,
Teach for America.

145
00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:46,363
18 percent apply.

146
00:05:46,363 --> 00:05:49,515
Four percent actually become
Teach for America corps members.

147
00:05:49,515 --> 00:05:50,770
Then, undecided;

148
00:05:50,770 --> 00:05:53,800
10 percent went to Europe,
and then became consultants.

149
00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,200
(Laughter)

150
00:05:57,110 --> 00:06:01,638
So this is the picture
from Harvard, a year ago.

151
00:06:01,638 --> 00:06:03,100
Let me get some feedback.

152
00:06:03,100 --> 00:06:05,290
It this surprising, unsurprising?

153
00:06:05,987 --> 00:06:06,993
Not surprising.

154
00:06:06,993 --> 00:06:08,880
Now, I throw the normative question.

155
00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,280
Is this a good thing,
a bad thing, or neutral?

156
00:06:12,610 --> 00:06:15,914
(Audience) Bad. Neutral.

157
00:06:15,914 --> 00:06:18,941
Wow, that one's fraught, right?

158
00:06:18,941 --> 00:06:21,920
Let's keep on going.

159
00:06:22,050 --> 00:06:25,071
If you take a look at other top schools,
the picture's the same.

160
00:06:25,071 --> 00:06:27,110
The picture is the same
here at Georgetown.

161
00:06:27,110 --> 00:06:30,049
I didn't pull the Georgetown stats,
but they're quite similar.

162
00:06:30,049 --> 00:06:32,236
You can see that it's not
just a Harvard thing.

163
00:06:32,236 --> 00:06:34,600
It's really a "any top school" thing.

164
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,100
I've spoken at 40 universities
around the country,

165
00:06:38,100 --> 00:06:40,110
and they all say the same thing.

166
00:06:40,110 --> 00:06:42,320
So what does that mean
in terms of our country,

167
00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:43,468
let's say, "regionally"?

168
00:06:43,468 --> 00:06:45,000
If you have half your smart kids

169
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,010
becoming bankers,
consultants, and lawyers,

170
00:06:47,010 --> 00:06:48,557
where are they going to live?

171
00:06:48,557 --> 00:06:50,122
(Audience responds)

172
00:06:52,634 --> 00:06:56,480
New York, DC, maybe Chicago.

173
00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,314
(Audience) Boston.
A.Y.: Boston.

174
00:06:59,340 --> 00:07:02,360
San Francisco, LA, those are the top six.

175
00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:04,640
We just listed the top four.

176
00:07:05,441 --> 00:07:07,410
So then you have the rest of the country,

177
00:07:07,410 --> 00:07:11,320
much of which is struggling
with job growth and economic development.

178
00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:13,670
One of the things we think
this graphic represents

179
00:07:13,670 --> 00:07:16,460
is that if you're a smart kid
from, let's say, Florida,

180
00:07:16,460 --> 00:07:17,628
who comes to Georgetown,

181
00:07:17,628 --> 00:07:20,250
the odds of you becoming
a banker, consultant, or lawyer

182
00:07:20,250 --> 00:07:22,550
and living in New York,
Boston, DC are very high.

183
00:07:22,550 --> 00:07:24,180
Odds of you going back to Florida,

184
00:07:24,180 --> 00:07:26,320
starting a business,
creating jobs: very low.

185
00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,325
You end up with a systematic talent drain
on most of the country

186
00:07:29,325 --> 00:07:32,700
if they happen to get identified
by a national university.

187
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:35,390
This is the picture you end up with.

188
00:07:35,390 --> 00:07:37,365
What do you guys think, empirically true?

189
00:07:37,365 --> 00:07:38,450
(Audience) Yeah.

190
00:07:38,450 --> 00:07:42,162
Absolutely. Wow, all right.
We're starting to get something.

191
00:07:42,162 --> 00:07:45,400
Good stuff. Why is this the case?

192
00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:47,936
Those of you who are freshmen,
raise your hands again.

193
00:07:48,276 --> 00:07:50,762
How many of you who have
your hands up, keep them up,

194
00:07:50,762 --> 00:07:53,060
know what management consulting is?

195
00:07:53,395 --> 00:07:55,300
(Laughter)

196
00:07:55,300 --> 00:07:59,160
So how is it that that world
goes from that

197
00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:03,170
to, let's say, 20 percent of the class
at least applying for consulting jobs

198
00:08:03,170 --> 00:08:04,462
and maybe even converting?

199
00:08:04,462 --> 00:08:05,935
How does that happen?

200
00:08:06,060 --> 00:08:08,400
Seniors, chime in, please?

201
00:08:09,140 --> 00:08:10,290
(Audience) Salary.

202
00:08:10,290 --> 00:08:12,780
Money's there. What else? Keep going.

203
00:08:12,780 --> 00:08:14,170
(Audience) Creating new jobs.

204
00:08:14,170 --> 00:08:15,420
Sorry?

205
00:08:15,420 --> 00:08:16,420
(Audience) Security.

206
00:08:16,420 --> 00:08:18,469
Security, fear.

207
00:08:18,469 --> 00:08:20,074
(Laughter)

208
00:08:21,345 --> 00:08:22,675
Keep going. Keep going.

209
00:08:22,675 --> 00:08:24,210
(Audience) Diligent recruitment.

210
00:08:24,210 --> 00:08:27,000
Yes, resources. This is not an accident.

211
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,560
People spend money and time

212
00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,820
educating the market, that is all of you,
over your four years.

213
00:08:32,820 --> 00:08:35,230
By the time you're a senior,
you'll know the names;

214
00:08:35,230 --> 00:08:37,970
McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, etc.

215
00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,450
Let's take a look at how this list looks.

216
00:08:41,450 --> 00:08:46,080
Prestige, easy to find, progress,
seek the next level, opens doors.

217
00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:49,520
Money's on the list,
gain skills, community;

218
00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,008
and then there's this last one,

219
00:08:51,008 --> 00:08:54,255
which is something pro-social,
like change the world.

220
00:08:54,255 --> 00:08:56,840
This even applies if you become
a banker or consultant,

221
00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,200
because the theory is,
you must become a baller

222
00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,100
before you can come back
and change the world. Right?

223
00:09:04,230 --> 00:09:07,010
Then you can come back to the people
with loaves of bread.

224
00:09:07,010 --> 00:09:08,440
(Laughter)

225
00:09:10,030 --> 00:09:14,160
Those of you who are seniors,
can I get a - yes, this is accurate?

226
00:09:14,385 --> 00:09:15,390
(Audience) Yes.

227
00:09:15,390 --> 00:09:17,080
All right, thank you.

228
00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,951
Now, I usually talk to people
who are interested in startups,

229
00:09:19,951 --> 00:09:22,329
so this is a little bit overly broad.

230
00:09:22,329 --> 00:09:24,470
But let's say you
were interested in startups.

231
00:09:24,470 --> 00:09:27,194
Show of hands: how many of you
are interested in startups?

232
00:09:27,194 --> 00:09:28,200
A significant subset.

233
00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,378
The seniors among you,
why is it that it's unlikely

234
00:09:31,378 --> 00:09:34,460
you're actually going to go
work for a startup when you graduate?

235
00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:36,640
Risky.

236
00:09:36,810 --> 00:09:37,980
Money.

237
00:09:37,980 --> 00:09:38,881
(Audience) Loans.

238
00:09:38,881 --> 00:09:40,121
Loans.

239
00:09:41,084 --> 00:09:42,140
(Audience) It's scary.

240
00:09:42,140 --> 00:09:44,936
It's pretty much the opposite
of the last slide. Right?

241
00:09:44,936 --> 00:09:46,420
It's like you're not recruited.

242
00:09:46,420 --> 00:09:48,600
It's hard to find.
There's no structured path.

243
00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:50,290
There's no community or peer group.

244
00:09:50,290 --> 00:09:52,920
Unclear prospects for training,
advancement, or success.

245
00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:54,914
No network, idea,
money, tech proficiency.

246
00:09:54,914 --> 00:09:58,080
But a lot of you really want to,
and then you talk about doing it,

247
00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,151
but first, you want to
"learn about business "and then come back.

248
00:10:01,151 --> 00:10:02,160
Is this accurate?

249
00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:03,229
Am I - ?

250
00:10:03,229 --> 00:10:04,844
(Audience responds)

251
00:10:05,394 --> 00:10:07,124
It's like I was one of you.

252
00:10:07,124 --> 00:10:08,920
(Laughter)

253
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So here's the big question
that Venture for America seeks to answer:

254
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What would happen
if the same proportion of talent

255
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that is currently flowing
to banking, consulting, and law school

256
00:10:18,380 --> 00:10:20,710
were instead going to startups
around the country?

257
00:10:20,710 --> 00:10:21,907
How long would that take

258
00:10:21,907 --> 00:10:24,110
to impact job growth
and innovation nationwide?

259
00:10:24,110 --> 00:10:26,370
How many years?
Can I get an over/under on this?

260
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(Audience) Five.

261
00:10:27,411 --> 00:10:28,531
Five.

262
00:10:28,531 --> 00:10:29,546
(Audience) One.

263
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One, wow.

264
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(Laughter)

265
00:10:31,853 --> 00:10:35,763
That's belief. That's self-belief.
You should become an entrepreneur.

266
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So between one and five years.

267
00:10:38,936 --> 00:10:43,616
And so we see - "we,"
as in certain people -

268
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(Laughter)

269
00:10:45,948 --> 00:10:48,572
we see that there are structural forces

270
00:10:48,572 --> 00:10:51,620
that make this reality
very difficult to achieve

271
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because, if you think about
who can come get you

272
00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,640
here in this collection
of intellectual capital,

273
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it's high-resource organizations
from high-resource industries.

274
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And so startups are actually
neither of those things.

275
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Startups are generally low-resource.

276
00:11:07,921 --> 00:11:09,920
And they also don't have the time horizon.

277
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They can't recruit you
eight months in advance.

278
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They don't need 20 of you.
It's all real-time.

279
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And if they came, they would have
a hard time competing.

280
00:11:17,124 --> 00:11:19,680
So how would you go about
trying to fix this problem,

281
00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:22,720
if you decided that this
is a vision worth achieving?

282
00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:24,320
If you said, "You know what,

283
00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:28,880
this is actually potentially
a rosier picture"?

284
00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:30,460
And speaking personally,

285
00:11:30,460 --> 00:11:33,040
I believe it's even a rosier picture
for the individual

286
00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,080
because there's something
about what you do

287
00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:38,960
that comes to define you
over a period of years.

288
00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:41,240
You will actually become
a different person.

289
00:11:42,260 --> 00:11:45,280
If there's one thing
you remember from this,

290
00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:48,160
as a young person, you imagine
that you are a static self.

291
00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,072
Like, I'm young Andrew, and I say,

292
00:11:50,072 --> 00:11:53,040
"Hey, I'm going to do X,
and then I'm still going to be Andrew,

293
00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:54,284
I just will have done X."

294
00:11:54,284 --> 00:11:56,560
The truth is, Andrew changes

295
00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,880
if you have him go to law school
or be in a law firm,

296
00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:02,060
look at contracts all day, or whatnot.

297
00:12:02,060 --> 00:12:04,070
We're all very adaptable.

298
00:12:04,070 --> 00:12:05,435
And so,

299
00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:11,480
in my view, the activities
that lead you down the startup road,

300
00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,880
actually end up forming a different self

301
00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,310
that I'm going to go on a limb

302
00:12:15,310 --> 00:12:18,744
and say, for some of you,
would be more appealing.

303
00:12:19,454 --> 00:12:22,100
If you were to want
to try and affect this change,

304
00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:23,690
what would you do?

305
00:12:26,370 --> 00:12:29,360
(Audience) Think of it
as primary school for startups.

306
00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,880
Maybe you'd tinker
with the educational system.

307
00:12:34,900 --> 00:12:37,352
(Audience) [Inaudible]
just like what they do

308
00:12:37,352 --> 00:12:40,470
to get psychologists to go
and practice in rural areas,

309
00:12:40,470 --> 00:12:41,629
Yes.

310
00:12:41,629 --> 00:12:45,960
If you were me, what you would do is
you would go raise a million dollars,

311
00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,633
and then start an organization
that does this.

312
00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,730
(Laughter)

313
00:12:54,620 --> 00:12:57,333
So I started an organization
called "Venture for America."

314
00:12:57,333 --> 00:13:00,348
And this is particularly relevant
for the seniors among you.

315
00:13:00,599 --> 00:13:03,280
We recruit top college graduates
from around the country.

316
00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,089
If you get into the program,
we bring you to a training camp

317
00:13:06,089 --> 00:13:10,180
with, let's say, 80 other ass-kickers
who all want to be entrepreneurs.

318
00:13:10,450 --> 00:13:15,320
We train you. McKinsey comes. IDEO comes.
Cambridge Leadership Academy comes.

319
00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,640
David Tisch comes from Techstars.

320
00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:19,600
Everyone comes, trains you,

321
00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:24,480
and then you go in groups of 10 or so
to a city that needs talent,

322
00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,399
and you work at a startup there
with an existing entrepreneur.

323
00:13:27,399 --> 00:13:28,560
What we're doing here -

324
00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:31,200
and I'm going to do
something I shouldn't do;

325
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,280
but whatever, I'm going to do it.

326
00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:34,720
So what we're going to do is,

327
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,656
we're going to give you
all of these things that you want,

328
00:13:37,656 --> 00:13:40,090
because it's prestigious,
it's ultraselective.

329
00:13:40,150 --> 00:13:42,358
All of these things, progress,
open the doors -

330
00:13:42,358 --> 00:13:44,470
you get a community,
you get the whole thing.

331
00:13:44,470 --> 00:13:46,436
Because we are adults.

332
00:13:46,436 --> 00:13:47,920
If we want you to do something,

333
00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:49,920
we shouldn't expect you
to have to somehow

334
00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,248
swim against some
violent current to do it.

335
00:13:52,370 --> 00:13:54,890
We should actually pave the path.

336
00:13:55,165 --> 00:13:57,080
That's what Venture for America's about.

337
00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:58,085
It's about giving you

338
00:13:58,085 --> 00:14:00,767
all of these things that you want,
that we know you want,

339
00:14:00,767 --> 00:14:04,164
in order to do what you want to do
and what the country wants you to do.

340
00:14:04,164 --> 00:14:08,041
That's build a business in Detroit,
New Orleans, New Haven, Baltimore,

341
00:14:08,041 --> 00:14:11,520
Cleveland, Providence, etc., etc.

342
00:14:12,700 --> 00:14:15,600
Venture for America
is in the process of doing this.

343
00:14:16,770 --> 00:14:18,189
If you come into the program,

344
00:14:18,189 --> 00:14:20,723
you agree to work for a startup
company for two years

345
00:14:20,723 --> 00:14:22,364
with an existing entrepreneur

346
00:14:22,364 --> 00:14:25,070
at around, let's say,
$36 to a $38K a year,

347
00:14:25,070 --> 00:14:27,031
which doesn't sound like a lot of money,

348
00:14:27,031 --> 00:14:29,520
but the guys in Detroit,
whom I'm visiting next week,

349
00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,380
they're living in a fancy building
with a pool and a gym,

350
00:14:32,380 --> 00:14:34,452
for 400 bucks a month.

351
00:14:34,922 --> 00:14:36,736
So you actually can live pretty well.

352
00:14:36,736 --> 00:14:39,790
Plus, they've got 11 buddies around,
they have little road trips,

353
00:14:39,790 --> 00:14:41,684
and they have a good time.

354
00:14:41,684 --> 00:14:43,120
Then throughout the two years,

355
00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,202
we supply you with
programming and support.

356
00:14:45,202 --> 00:14:47,930
At the end of the two years,
we give $100K in seed funding

357
00:14:47,930 --> 00:14:51,080
to whoever's made it through the two years
and has done a good job.

358
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,085
It's like a combination of everything
you guys grew up watching,

359
00:14:54,085 --> 00:14:56,560
"Real World," "Survivor," "Road Rules."

360
00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,224
(Laughter)

361
00:14:59,834 --> 00:15:00,950
So this is the plan.

362
00:15:00,950 --> 00:15:03,610
We're going to create
100,000 new US jobs by 2025.

363
00:15:03,610 --> 00:15:06,870
I just want to bring it back to the theme.

364
00:15:07,142 --> 00:15:09,120
What you guys do is all important.

365
00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,560
Intellectual capital
attracts financial capital,

366
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:12,782
as well as the reverse.

367
00:15:12,782 --> 00:15:15,595
If you had enough talented people
heading in this direction,

368
00:15:15,595 --> 00:15:18,190
then you would see the impact
that we're talking about,

369
00:15:18,190 --> 00:15:20,152
in terms of job creation and innovation.

370
00:15:20,152 --> 00:15:22,111
So this is our goal as an organization,

371
00:15:22,111 --> 00:15:25,501
to revitalize American cities
and communities through entrepreneurship,

372
00:15:25,501 --> 00:15:27,938
to enable our best and brightest,
that's all of you,

373
00:15:27,938 --> 00:15:30,530
to create new opportunities
for themselves and others,

374
00:15:30,530 --> 00:15:32,443
and restore the culture of achievement

375
00:15:32,443 --> 00:15:35,495
to include value-creation, risk,
and reward, and the common good.

376
00:15:35,495 --> 00:15:38,995
I think I'm before my time,
but that's cool. That's all I had to say.

377
00:15:38,995 --> 00:15:40,000
(Laughter)

378
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:41,500
Thank you all.

379
00:15:41,500 --> 00:15:42,990
(Applause)