Larry Page
Field: tech
Larry Page recounts his deep family ties to the University of Michigan, where his parents met and where multiple family members earned degrees, framing the address as a personal homecoming. He shares the origin of the idea behind Google, born from a late-night dream, and encourages graduates to pursue ambitious goals with a 'healthy disregard for the impossible.' He closes by reflecting on his father's death and battle with polio, urging graduates to value family and pursue work that could make a difference in the world.
Key moments
- 01 Personal story of his parents meeting in a Michigan co-op and his family's degrees there
- 02 The late-night dream at age 23 that led to downloading the web and founding Google
- 03 Encouragement to pursue mega-ambitious goals and 'work hard on something uncomfortably exciting'
- 04 Tribute to his father, who had polio, and a call to help eradicate the disease
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Larry Page at Michigan, 2009
A homecoming speech about family roots, improbable dreams, leverage, ambition, and keeping loved ones close.
Speech arc
- 01Michigan family roots
Opening move
- 02Co-op kitchen
Speech beat
- 03Midnight dream
Speech beat
- 04Google
Speech beat
- 05Impossible goals
Speech beat
- 06Technology leverage
Speech beat
- 07Polio eradication
Speech beat
- 08Family and friends
Final charge
Homecoming: A family history begins in Ann Arbor
Page makes the address personal by tracing his parents' meeting, his family's Michigan ties, and his father's academic legacy.
Origin
The co-op kitchen story turns Michigan into the literal starting point of his life.
Inheritance
His father's hood and diploma make education feel physical and familial.
Dream
His grandfather's expectation that his children attend Michigan becomes a generational promise.
Page makes the address personal by tracing his parents' meeting, his family's Michigan ties, and his father's academic legacy.
Ambition: The impossible is a practical search strategy
A late-night idea about downloading the web becomes a way to explain dreams, PageRank, Google, and large-scale ambition.
Dream
The speech treats a vivid midnight thought as something to write down and test.
Mission
Google's purpose is framed as organizing information so it is accessible and useful.
Leverage
Small teams and software can serve millions when they find the right mechanism.
A late-night idea about downloading the web becomes a way to explain dreams, PageRank, Google, and large-scale ambition.
• Key takeaways •
Roots can launch ambition
Connects to dreams.
Write down the impossible idea
Connects to ambition.
Build leverage into useful tools
Connects to family.
Choose problems the world needs
Connects to technology.
Keep loved ones close
Connects to service.
Closing charge
Page closes through his father's death, the persistence of polio, and the reminder that family and dear friends matter most.
Big dreams return to service and family
Father
His father's polio and early death make the cost of unfinished problems concrete.
Service
The call to eradicate polio turns ambition toward public health.
Close
The final charge is to keep family and dear friends near.
Page closes through his father's death, the persistence of polio, and the reminder that family and dear friends matter most.
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Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording
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