英语演讲君按
Evan Spiegel是著名社交软件Snapchat “阅后即焚” 的CEO, 只有24岁的他如今公司已经估值220亿美金，2015年，他在美国南加州大学USC的Marshall商学院给毕业的本科生做了毕业演讲。他鼓励毕业生们应该留意自己与众不同的地方，然后朝着自己属于的方向不断加速。
在这次演讲中，Spiegel提出了3个观点。无论你是一个24岁的亿万富翁，还是一个刚刚从军队退伍怀揣创业梦的中年人，这些观点都值得你去仔细玩味。
Piegel给加州大学毕业生的一些建议
● 我们可以做的最伟大的事情就是给我们的追赶者提供最好的基础。
● 相信自己，你有能力证明别人甚至你自己对你的期望是正确的。
● 别人总会对你有不同的看法，而不管你做什么，都无法让所有人满意，所以最重要的是你找到一件对你而言最有意义的事，你最喜欢做的事。
● 踏入社会后，你会犯很多很多的错误，这并不可怕，你只需要在犯错之后马上承认错误并且请求得到原谅就好。
● 全职工作将是你即将面对的挑战，最难的部分就是你必须学会解决没有答案的问题。
● 我希望在座的各位一定要记住，我们不可能可以预计的到今天我们所作出的努力，明天究竟会得到什么样的结果。
● 不要害怕提出你的异议，找到一件可以让你拒绝出售的事情去做。
年仅24岁的Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel并不是生来就是一个温文尔雅、心思缜密的绅士。去年的时候，一封他在斯坦福大学上学时发的一封邮件遭到了泄露，他在邮件里说的话跟“绅士”这个词可是一点都靠不上边。由于邮件内容过于不雅，我们就不在这里传播了。
在很多人眼里，Spiegel是一个非常有礼貌的人，你可能很难相信邮件里的不雅之言居然出自他之口。然而人都在不断地成熟，经过几年的历练之后，Spiegel变得更加稳重睿智。最近他受邀在一个大学的毕业典礼上进行发言，要知道Spiegel本人并没有顺利从学校毕业。但是在科技圈，没上完大学好像并不是什么丢人的事情，有时候甚至是一个值得炫耀的资本。
比起啃书本，Spiegel更喜欢将时间和经历放在开发Snapchat上。这个移动消息服务成功俘获了亿万用户的心，人们使用这个应用来发送消息、图片和视频内容，而且这些内容在被接收方阅读之后，在10秒钟内自动消失。这就是一段时间来非常火热的阅后自焚应用。
这家公司在很短的时间内就席卷了移动消息应用市场。当然他们的成长道路也并非一帆风顺，与许多其他企业一样，他们也遇到了挑战和困难，例如邮件泄露、用户账户被盗以及被指抄袭其他人的创意等。但是作为公司的联合创始人兼CEO，Spiegel一直以来都能够做出明智的反应，带领企业走出泥潭。
大约一年半以前，Spiegel拒绝了来自Facebook的30亿美元巨额收购邀请。这个消息刚一曝出的时候，人们普遍的反应都是不理解，甚至还有人指责Spiegel此举是不成熟，甚至是傲慢的表现。但是尽管遭到了非议，Spiegel却成功用事实给了这些人有力的回击。今年早些时候，消息称Snapchat成功获得了一轮2亿美元的融资，领投方为阿里巴巴。此次融资之后，Snapchat的估值达到了150亿美元。而Spiegel也成为了当今世界上最年轻的亿万富翁。事情发展到现在，我们发现这个曾经看上去有些傲慢的大学辍学生正在从事一个伟大的事业的时候，Spiegel在南加州马歇尔大学的毕业典礼上发表了讲话，这次讲话也让人们看到了他的另一面。
在这次演讲中，Spiegel提出了3个观点。无论你是一个24岁的亿万富翁，还是一个刚刚从军队退伍怀揣创业梦的中年人，这些观点都值得你去仔细玩味。
拥抱自己与众不同的地方
其实Spiegel参加过毕业典礼，只是他并没有像其他人一样顺利拿到学位。他详细讲述了自己在那一天的情况，他和别人一样穿着学士服，但是只是静静的坐在那里。虽然有些尴尬，但是他还是参加了整个毕业典礼，只是因为他不想错过最后的庆祝活动，也不想在同学之间显得格格不入。
他在这次演讲中说到：“从众的心态无处不在，我们很自然的就会产生这种心态，以至于有时候忘了这种心态的力量。我们想要被周围的人所接受，我们想要成为某个团队的一份子。这就是我们的天性。但是人类区别于动物的一个重要方面，就是我们有的时候会听从灵魂深处的声音，然后开始朝着一个与其他人不一样的方向开始前进。”
在民主的环境下，敢于提出不同的声音是让别人认识到自己的关键方式。我们应该留意自己与众不同的地方，然后朝着自己属于的方向不断加速。
尊重那些追赶自己的人
在这次演讲中，Spiegel用著名艺术家Bob Kooning和其偶像Bill de Kooning的事迹进行了举例。Rauschenberg的偶像是画家Bill de Kooning，有一次Kooning为了让Rauschenberg得到机会，他删除了自己的作品。
Spiegel表示：“我很喜欢这个故事，因为Bill de Kooning保持了足够的谦逊，他意识到我们能够做的最好的事情，就是给那些正在追赶自己的人提供一个良好的基础。我们也必须要有这种认识。”
为追赶自己的人打造基础，这个理论在世界上任何一个地方都可以适用。但是对于Snapchat公司CEO来说，这种做法理念似乎已经成为了一种天性。
创造一些你自己并不想卖出的东西
Spiegel表示：“换句话说，如果你已经将自己创造的东西卖出，那么不要让它成为你创造力的终点。”
他表示：“总有人问我这样的问题： ‘你为什么没有出售自己的企业?现在这个企业根本没法赚钱。它只是一个只能流行一时的东西。如果选择将企业出售，你现在已经可以安稳退休了。你到底是怎么想的?’”
在拒绝了Facebook的收购邀请之后，Spiegel遭到了很多人的批评。但是当你在从事一项自己热爱的事业时，你不能因为其他人的质疑放慢你的脚步。他表示：“总会有人对你指指点点。无论你做什么在这些人眼中都不够好。你要做的就是找到对你自己来说最重要的东西，找到你热爱的东西。”
Spiegel英文演讲稿
Dean Ellis, honored guests, faculty, family, friends, and the Class of 2015:
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for your generosity. Thank you so muchfor inviting me to join you in celebrating your graduation day! Three years agoI could never have comprehended such an opportunity. Thank you, thank you,thank you.
About three years ago today I was right where you are. I was sitting in afolding chair, just like that one, wearing my cap and gown, waiting to walk onstage. But I wasn’t graduating. When they shook my hand and took my picture,they handed me an empty folder. You see at Stanford they let you “walk” throughgraduation even if you haven’t actually finished the requirements necessary toreceive your diploma. You get to pretend you are graduating just like everyoneelse, even though you aren’t.
The University had created this alternativefor students who were using the summer term to finish up their degrees. I wasusing it because I was embarrassed, and I didn’t want to be left out of thecelebration. What was I going to do? Stay in my dorm room while all of myfriends processed into the stadium and tossed their caps into the air withoutme?
So I sat in the hot sun and listened to Cory Booker speak for what felt likequite a while, and I waved to my family who had traveled all the way to watchme not graduate.
By the way, hi Mom!
It only recently occurred to me, while preparing this address, how totallyabsurd this whole charade was. It reminded me that oftentimes we do all sortsof silly things to avoid appearing different.
Conforming happens so naturally that we can forget how powerful it is – we wantto be accepted by our peers – we want to be a part of the group. It’s in ourbiology. But the things that make us human are those times we listen to thewhispers of our soul and allow ourselves to be pulled in another direction.
Conformity is so fascinating and sopervasive that it has been studied for a very long time. It turns out there aretwo things that can dramatically reduce conformity in a group setting. Thefirst is a single dissenting voice. The second is the ability to communicateprivately with other members of the group.
Our government gives us the right to privacy and the right to express ourselvesfreely in the hope that we might mitigate conformity. Democracy wasn’t designedto promote popular thought. It was architected to protect dissent.
For, as President Kennedy said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and theenemy of growth.”I recently fell in love with a story about a great piece ofAmerican art.
It’s about Bob Rauschenberg. When he was a young artist, he went to visit hisidol Bill de Kooning. He was terribly nervous, clutching a bottle of JackDaniels, for liquid courage, because he wasn’t just visiting. He was there toask de Kooning for one of his drawings.
Bill de Kooning knew just what he was up to– Rauschenberg had recently been experimenting with his own work. He had beencreating paintings and then erasing them. But that wasn’t enough. He didn’twant to erase his own work, he wanted to erase the work of his hero.
So de Kooning obliged but he took his time, torturing the young artist as hewandered around the studio selecting a piece. He wanted to find a piece that hereally loved. As he thumbed through his portfolios, he found one that wasparticularly hard to erase, comprised of layers of lead and charcoal. He gaveit to Rauschenberg.
According to Bob, it took nearly two months to erase the drawing.
It was Jasper Johns who framed the drawing and gave it a title, “Erased deKooning by Bob Rauschenberg.” It was Jasper Johns who recognized that in theprocess of erasing de Kooning’s drawing, Rauschenberg had in fact createdsomething new, his own work of art.
I love this story because Bill de Kooning had the humility to recognize thatthe greatest thing we can do is provide the best possible foundation for thosewho come after us. We must welcome our own erasure.
I’m asked one question most often: “Whydidn’t you sell your business? It doesn’t even make money. It’s a fad. Youcould be on a boat right now. Everyone loves boats. What’s wrong with you?”
I am now convinced that the fastest way to figure out if you are doingsomething truly important to you is to have someone offer you a bunch of moneyto part with it.
The best thing is that no matter whether or not you sell, you will learnsomething very valuable about yourself. If you sell, you will know immediatelythat it wasn’t the right dream anyways. And if you don’t sell you’re probablyonto something. Maybe you have the beginning of something meaningful.
Don’t feel bad if you sell out. Just don’t stop there.
I mean shucks, we would have sold our first company, for sure. But no onewanted to buy it.
When we decided not to sell our business people called us a lot of thingsbesides crazy – things like arrogant and entitled. The same words that I’veheard used to describe our generation time and time again. The MillennialGeneration. The “Me” Generation.
Well, it’s true. We do have a sense ofentitlement, a sense of ownership, because, after all, this is the world wewere born into, and we are responsible for it.
The funny thing about “Erased DeKooning” is that it isn’t for sale. It’s safeand sound in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It’s tremendouslyvaluable, but it bares no price.
You already have inside of you all of the amazing things you need to follow thedreams that you have. And if you get stuck along the way there’s a ton of freeinformation available on the Internet.
Have faith in yourself and the person you are going to become. Know that youare capable of all of the growth that will be expected of you and that youexpect for yourself. You will tackle every challenge headed your way – and ifyou don’t – it won’t be for lack of trying.
Someone will always have an opinion about you. Whatever you do won’t ever beenough. So find something important to you. Find something that you love.
You are going to make a lot of mistakes. I’ve already made a ton of them – someof them very publicly – and it will feel terrible, but it will be okay. Justapologize as quickly as you can and pray for forgiveness.
When you leave, here you’re going to face agreat challenge: a full-time job. The hardest part is going to be getting usedto solving problems that don’t yet have answers.
In times of despair, you may believe the cynic who tells you that one personcannot make a difference – and there are times it may be hard to see your ownimpact. I beg you to remember that it is not possible at this time or any timeto know the end results of our efforts. That is for our God alone.
Please voice your dissent, anticipate your erasure, and find something youaren’t willing to sell. Congratulations to the class of 2015! Fight On!
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