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№ 2010.012 — Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Commencement address
Raymond S. Stata
Chairman and co-founder, Analog Devices
Raymond S. Stata, cofounder of Analog Devices, recounts his entrepreneurial journey from MIT graduate to building a multi-billion dollar semiconductor company, sharing the principles and values that guided his success. He emphasizes innovation, calculated risk-taking, empowering talented people, learning from failure, and building trustful relationships. He urges graduates to pursue work they are passionate about, stay involved with MIT, and apply their skills to solve societal problems in a world facing crisis and transition.
Key moments
- 01 Founding Analog Devices and pursuing 'Market Leadership through Technical Innovation'
- 02 Personally funding an integrated-circuit startup over the board's objections to avoid the S-curve
- 03 Learning from failures like Analog Devices Enterprises by reflecting on mistakes
- 04 Charging graduates not to play it safe and to be part of the solution to global challenges
Visual speech map
Raymond S. Stata at MIT, 2010
A commencement address about entrepreneurship, technical innovation, calculated risk, empowering people, learning from failure, and giving back to MIT.
- 01 MIT graduate
- 02 Analog Devices
- 03 Technical innovation
- 04 S-curve risk
- 05 Empowered teams
- 06 Failure review
- 07 Trust
- 08 Give back
Origin
A company grows from technical conviction
Stata recounts building Analog Devices around market leadership through technical innovation, connecting MIT training to entrepreneurial execution.
The MIT-to-company path turns engineering judgment into an institution.
Technical advantage is treated as strategy, not decoration.
Leadership follows when invention solves real customer problems.
Risk
Calculated bets prevent comfortable decline
The integrated-circuit story shows a leader funding a risky move to escape the limits of an old curve before consensus arrives.
Successful products eventually flatten; renewal requires discomfort.
Personal commitment can keep a needed experiment alive.
The right risk is often visible before it is broadly approved.
Management
Talent works best inside trust
Stata emphasizes empowering skilled people, building dependable relationships, and treating leadership as the design of conditions for others to succeed.
Hire strong talent, then give it room to operate.
Durable relationships reduce friction and increase speed.
Culture decides whether innovation can compound.
Charge
Do not play it safe in a world of crisis
The speech closes by urging graduates to pursue passionate work, learn openly from failure, stay connected to MIT, and help solve societal problems.
Mistakes become assets only when examined honestly.
Hard work lasts when attached to genuine interest.
Technical skill should meet the crises around it.
Transcript
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