Michael Bloomberg
Mayor of New York City
Bloomberg congratulates Stanford's Class of 2013 and frames his address around the American Dream as an opportunity, not a guaranteed outcome, urging graduates to take risks and work hard. Drawing on his own experience of being fired and starting his own technology company, he emphasizes innovation, disruption, and following one's passion. He then makes policy arguments for comprehensive immigration reform and marriage equality, casting both as essential to keeping the American Dream alive.
“Work hard. Take risks. Follow your passion. Embrace innovation.”
Key moments
- 01 Defining the American Dream as opportunity through ability and hard work, not entitlement or quick wealth
- 02 Sharing how being fired led him to start his own tech company and embrace risk
- 03 Advocating for immigration reform, including green cards for international STEM graduates
- 04 Calling marriage equality the civil rights issue of our time and invoking Dr. King
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Michael Bloomberg at Stanford, 2013
A commencement address about opportunity, risk, innovation, immigration reform, equality, and the American Dream.
Speech arc
- 01American Dream
Opening move
- 02Hard work
Speech beat
- 03Fired
Speech beat
- 04Founder path
Speech beat
- 05Disruption
Speech beat
- 06Passion
Speech beat
- 07Immigration
Speech beat
- 08Marriage equality
Final charge
Opportunity: The American Dream as a chance
Bloomberg defines the dream as opportunity earned through ability and work, not a promise of easy wealth.
Chance
Opportunity is the starting point, not the guarantee.
Work
Talent needs effort and persistence.
Warning
Entitlement weakens the dream.
Bloomberg defines the dream as opportunity earned through ability and work, not a promise of easy wealth.
Risk: Getting fired becomes a door
His own firing becomes the pivot into entrepreneurship, technology, and disruption.
Setback
A career loss becomes a beginning.
Company
Risk opens space for invention.
Passion
The speech urges work that carries personal energy.
His own firing becomes the pivot into entrepreneurship, technology, and disruption.
Innovation: Disrupt what no longer works
Innovation is framed as a civic and economic force that requires openness to new people and new ideas.
Disruption
Progress often unsettles existing systems.
STEM
International graduates are named as national assets.
Policy
Immigration reform becomes innovation policy.
Innovation is framed as a civic and economic force that requires openness to new people and new ideas.
• Key takeaways •
Opportunity is not entitlement
Connects to american dream.
Setbacks can launch invention
Connects to innovation.
Innovation needs openness
Connects to risk.
Policy shapes possibility
Connects to immigration.
Equality keeps the dream alive
Connects to equality.
Closing charge
Marriage equality and immigration reform are cast as tests of whether opportunity is truly open.
Civil rights keep the dream alive
Rights
Equality is linked to democratic promise.
Inclusion
The dream must widen to survive.
Charge
Graduates should use power to keep doors open.
Marriage equality and immigration reform are cast as tests of whether opportunity is truly open.
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Transcript
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