[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.67,0:00:11.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This program is brought to you by Stanford University
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.04,0:00:15.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Please visit us at stanford.edu
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.21,0:00:21.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.50,0:00:27.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.25,0:00:30.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm honoured to be with you today for your commencement from one of the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.54,0:00:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,finest universities in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.00,0:00:43.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Truth be told, I never graduated from college. And, this is the closest I've ever gotten
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.97,0:00:47.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a college graduation.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.77,0:00:53.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today, I wanna tell you three stories from my life.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.94,0:00:56.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's it, no big deal, just three stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.64,0:01:02.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first story, is about connecting the dots. I dropped out of college after the first
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.20,0:01:07.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,six months. But then stayed around as a drop-in for another eighteen months or so
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.08,0:01:12.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before I really quitted. So why did I drop out?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.54,0:01:19.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It started before I was born. My biological mother, was a young, unwed, graduate student,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.25,0:01:22.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she decided to put me up for adoption.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.46,0:01:27.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graudates.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.04,0:01:32.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.17,0:01:38.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Except that when I popped out, they decided at the last minute, that they really wanted a girl.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.08,0:01:42.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So my parents, who were on the waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.47,0:01:47.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"We've got an unexpected baby boy, do you want him?"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.50,0:01:50.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They said, "Of course".
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.88,0:01:55.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My biological mother found out later, that my mother had never graduated from college,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.63,0:01:59.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that my father had never graduated from high school.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.07,0:02:05.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.28,0:02:09.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when my parents promised that I would go to college.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.32,0:02:13.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was the start, in my life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.92,0:02:17.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And seventeen years later, I did go to college; but I naively chose a college which was almost as
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.26,0:02:25.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,expensive as Stanford, and all of my working class parents' savings were being spent
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.49,0:02:27.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on my college tuition.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.77,0:02:33.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.58,0:02:36.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.94,0:02:40.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And here I was, spending all the money my parents had saved their entire life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.100,0:02:47.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.83,0:02:53.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back, it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.78,0:02:54.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.76,0:02:59.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The minute I dropped out, I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.42,0:03:04.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.75,0:03:10.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It wasn't all romantic.I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.58,0:03:14.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I returned Coke bottles for the five cents deposits to buy food with,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.66,0:03:19.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good one meal
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.44,0:03:23.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.71,0:03:27.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And much of what I stumbled into, by following my curiosity and intuition turned
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.94,0:03:30.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,out to be priceless later on.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.25,0:03:35.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let me give you one example; Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.75,0:03:41.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus, every poster, every label
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.24,0:03:45.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on every drawer was beautifully hand calligraphed.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.28,0:03:50.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because I had dropped out, and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.41,0:03:55.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans-serif type faces,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.87,0:04:00.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.64,0:04:03.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,typography great.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.81,0:04:09.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle, in a way that science can't capture,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.97,0:04:12.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I found it fascinating.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.04,0:04:16.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,None of these had even a hope of any practical application in my life.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.92,0:04:23.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.36,0:04:28.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.100,0:04:33.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the mac would've never had
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.83,0:04:37.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,multiple type faces or proportionally spaced fonts.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.16,0:04:41.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.70,0:04:49.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(laughter and applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.88,0:04:54.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I had never dropped out, I would've never dropped in on that calligraphy class, and personal
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.50,0:04:58.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.20,0:05:02.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.44,0:05:06.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it was very, very clear looking backwards, ten years later.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.63,0:05:12.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.64,0:05:16.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.27,0:05:20.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have to trust in something, your God, destiny, life, karma, whatever,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.91,0:05:26.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.10,0:05:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.00,0:05:38.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,make all the diference.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.58,0:05:43.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My second story, is about love, and loss.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.11,0:05:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was lucky, I found what I love to do, early in life. Woz and I started Apple in
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.00,0:05:53.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my parents' garage when I was twenty. We worked hard, and in ten years,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.34,0:05:57.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage, into a two billion dollar company
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.70,0:06:02.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with over four thousand employees. We'd just released our finest creation, the Macintosh,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.61,0:06:08.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a year earlier, and I'd just turned thirty. And then I got fired.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.48,0:06:14.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew, we hired
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.41,0:06:18.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,someone whom I thought was very talented, to run the company with me.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.30,0:06:23.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And for the first years or so, things went well, but then our visions of the future began to diverge.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.36,0:06:28.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and eventually we ended up falling out. And when we did, our board of directors sided with him.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.26,0:06:33.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so at thirty, I was out, and very publicly out. What had been the focus of my
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.96,0:06:37.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.99,0:06:42.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I really didn't know what to do for a few months, I felt that I'd let the previous generation of
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.75,0:06:47.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,entrepeneurs down, that I'd dropped the batton as it was being passed to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.88,0:06:53.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I met with David Packard an Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.97,0:06:57.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was a very public failure and I even thought about running away from the valley.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.94,0:07:03.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But something slowly begun to dawn on me, I still loved what I did.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.83,0:07:09.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I'd been rejected, but I
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.50,0:07:16.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was still in love. And so I decided to start over. I didn't see it then, but it
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.17,0:07:20.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could've ever happened to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.67,0:07:25.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The heavyness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.92,0:07:30.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,less sure about everything. It freed me to one of the most creative periods of my life.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.70,0:07:35.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,During the next five years, I started a company named Next, another company name Pixar,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.50,0:07:39.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.75,0:07:43.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pixar went on to create the world's first computer animated feature film; Toy Story,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.92,0:07:48.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.16,0:07:49.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.90,0:07:55.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought Next, and I returned to Apple and the technology
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.25,0:08:00.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we developed at Next is at heart of Apple's current renassaince. And Lereen and I