Whether teetering on the brink of new technology, hacking through a previously untrodden career path, or simply discovering value opportunities that had been hiding in plain sight, opportunity has numerous incarnations. In these clips - both old and new - the lesson remains the same: True opportunity can strike like a lightening bolt or suddenly be detected beneath our feet.
Video: Problem-Solving Paradigm
Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
0 min.
30 sec.
Take a big problem, apply the best minds to its prospects, add the fuel of entrepreneurial energy and a touch of capitalist greed, and one has the perfect recipe for solving any social, environmental, or cultural dilemma, says Khosla Ventures' Vinod Khosla. Mere good intentions are not enough to invoke real change. But the course of industry can only be altered when all angles of the problem-solving pyramid are in place.
Video: Value Creation from Opportunities
Tina Seelig, Stanford Technology Ventures Program
4 min.
3 sec.
Tina Seelig, Executive Director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, walks us through a life-changing hands-on classroom activity where students are taught to identify opportunities in nooks and crannies. With five dollars in seed funding and two hours of execution, she reports on the success of the exercise, and that many students reaped over one hundred times the initial investment (and others built a business without using any funding at all). Look for problems around you, says Seelig, and convert them into opportunities that create value. Embrace the opportunity to challenge assumptions and identify true cultural, social, or technological need.
Video: Optimizing Career and Life Opportunities
Randy Komisar, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
2 min.
7 sec.
Komisar talks about what he looks forward to in his career and life. He advises others who are unsure about the future to find ways to optimize their situation, the people they work with, and the flow of available opportunities. He also notes that the notion of being in motion is an important aspect of who he is and what he enjoys doing.
