Zak Ebrahim
Zak Ebrahim, the son of one of the terrorists that planned the attack on the World Trade Centers, presents a talk on how a person that is brought up in a world of violence and dogma can choose another path. Despite being groomed for a life of hatred, he talks about how he chose another direction for his life and how others can do the same.
For the victims of terrorism, I will speak out against these senseless acts and condemn my father’s actions. And with that simple fact, I stand here as proof that violence isn’t inherent in one’s religion or race, and the son does not have to follow the ways of his father. I am not my father.
Uldus Bakhtiozina
Photographer and artist, Uldus Bakhtiozina, presents a lighthearted talk on her native home in Russia. Using photography, she pokes fun and shows the audience how we should never take ourselves too seriously.
I’m 27 years old. For Russian society, I’m an old maid and hopeless to ever get married. That’s why you see me in a Mexican fighter mask, in the wedding dress, all desperate in my garden. But remember, irony is the key, and this is actually to motivate girls to fight for goals, for dreams, and change stereotypes.
Female Founders Conference 2014
Y Combinator holds its first ever Female Founders Conference at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. In her opening remarks, Livingston says that the sold-out gathering is “the most over-subscribed event” in their history.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in five years, we feel like 2014 was the tipping point for female founders.
She shares some basic advice that she likes to share with all start-up founders: the importance of having determination, empathy, living frugally at the start, and focus. She then goes on to spell out some key pieces of advice for female founders in particular: Having children and starting a business is hard — but possible; It’s OK to be the ‘quiet cofounder’; Learn how to code — and don’t be afraid to start up with a spouse or personal partner.
Don’t feel like there’s anything weird about starting a startup with your significant other. We have significant evidence it works.
Media & Telecoms 2014 speech
Highfield gives a speech at the Media & Telecoms 2014 conference, titled Reinventing Local Media.
I became convinced, reading enough articles by Mark Sweeney, that the official name of our company was “beleaguered Johnston Press”…There was a tsunami that hit the regional and local press industry. In just one year, 2007-2008, Johnston Press’ share price fell 99%. The dotcom crash that hit the local press industry happened eight years after the dotcom crash, but my God, it was every bit as severe, and every bit as rapid. That was the shift of the classified industry, particularly in motors and property, away from print and on to Autotrader and Rightmove. Well that shift’s happened. That’s gone. The industry that we are now in, of providing local news and information to people in communities that really matter to them, is a pretty stable business. Since then we have had a four-fold increase in share price.
Launch Festival 2014
Graham gives the keynote speech, and talks about how a successful idea has to start with a small consumer base:
It’s impossible to make something that a large number of people want. You’ve got to find something that a small number of people want, a lot…you’ve got to know who those first users are and how to get them…you sit down with those 500 people and throw a huge party and make them super, super happy.
Jamilia Lyiscott
Lysicott presents a smash-poetry style look at what it means to be “articulate” and the three differents languages that she speaks – at home, in the classroom and with her friends. In her speech she challenges her audience to look at those with broken English not as “ignorant” but as speaking with a tongue or their own and to consider the past that has shaped and brought that language into being.
Yes, I have decided to treat all three of my languages as equals because I’m “articulate”.
Wes Moore
Moore, an Army paratrooper and captain, recounts the difficulties he experienced upon returning from Afghanistan to the United States. He talks to his audience about how to speak to veterans about their experiences abroad and encourages them to ask veterans for their stories and to take the time to listen to what they have to say.
We signed up because we love this country we represent. We signed up because we believe in the idea and we believe in the people to our left and to our right. And the only thing we then ask is that “thank you for your service” needs to be more than just a quote break, that “thank you for your service” means honestly digging in to the people who have stepped up simply because they were asked to.
Sebastian Junger
Junger speaks about the experiences he has had alongside of American soldiers in Restrepo and the observations that he has made when war creates a strong connection amongst them. The author poses that many soldiers end up missing war due to the isolation that they experience upon returning home.
Compared to that, war, psychologically, in some ways, is easy, compared to that kind of alienation. That’s why they miss it, and that’s what we have to understand and in some ways fix in our society.
Paul Bloom
Bloom, a psychologist and professor at Yale, poses the question “Can prejudice ever be a good thing?” In his talk he states that prejudice is often natural, rational and even moral. He argues that it is only be acknowledging this and then taking control of it when our bias goes wrong that we can use it to work to our benefit.
A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life.
Affirms MLK legacy
Bond speaks at a luncheon for Southern Christian Leadership Conference luncheon on his 74th birthday, on the theme of the MLK Day celebration, “The Legacy Continues.”
It has been only a short 50 years since legal segregation was ended nationwide…Paradoxically. Barack Obama’s victory convinced many that all racial barriers and restrictions had been vanquished and we had entered racial nirvana across the land…The greatest impediment to achieving racial equality is the narcotic belief that we already have. For most of my adult life, I have been engaged in what once was called race work — fighting to make justice and fairness a reality for everyone,” said Bond, who in 1960 helped organize lunch counter sit-ins, voter registration rallies and the freedom rides that forced federal transportation integration laws.The racial picture in America has improved remarkably in my lifetime. Forward in the struggle. Inspired by the achievements of the past, sustained by a faith that knows no faltering, forward in the struggle.
Nikolai Begg
Begg, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering, gives a talk on his work updating commonly used medical devices. Using physics, he has taken the trocar and improved upon it to the lower the risk of surgeons puncturing any vital organs when placing an opening in the skin.
Jackie Savitz
Savitz, a marine biologist and ocean advocate, gives a talk on the most important ways that we can go about cleaning up and healing our oceans so that fisheries can begin to produce more heavily. In doing so she believes that we will not only help to preserve our oceans and its wildlife but will also be able to look towards fixing the hunger problems all across our world.
We know that we can manage our fisheries sustainably. We know that we can produce healthy meals for hundreds of millions of people that don’t use the land, that don’t use much water, have a low carbon footprint, and are cost-effective. We know that saving the oceans can feed the world, and we need to start now.
Chris Domas
Domas, a cybersecurity researcher, gives a talk on the rising “cyber warfare”. In this lecture he reveals some of the methods that researchers are using to break apart binary code and receive a better understanding of the potential threats that await on the cyber field.
Beyond Sport Summit appearance
JBL appears to speak at the Beyond Sport Summit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as an ambassador for WWE. Layfield:
You had people coming together who want to make a difference and want to use sport to make that difference
Stephen Burt
Burt, a literary critic, gives a talk on the importance of poetry and how it can help us handle and explore various emotions and issues in life. For example, having to deal with the fact that we will all someday die. He reads from various poets that have guided him along the way in his life.
Poems can help you say, help you show how you’re feeling, but they can also introduce you to feelings, ways of being in the world, people, very much unlike you, maybe even people from long, long ago.
Funding tips seminar
Gouw and Stanford University finance professor Strebulaev talk about angel and venture capital funding at Silicon Valley Open Doors event in Mountain View. Gouw tells entrepreneurs to think of the term sheet as a prenuptial agreement where the relationship between the entrepreneur and VC is like a marriage that will last about eight to 10 years. To make it work, Gouw points out five strategies:
1: Focus on doing a set number of things right
2: Know the value of the venture capitalist – VCs can help the entrepreneur with follow-on rounds of funding and finding the right talent.
3: Strong boards are critical – in the end the best boards vote unanimously
4: Vesting can be costly – find an equal vesting ground for everyone
5: Funding goals – make sure they match your personal goals
USC Commencement speech
Rucker gives a speech at the 2013 Spring Commencement at the University of South Carolina. He receives an honorary degree of doctor of music, due to his contributions to Country music.
I love the University of South Carolina. If it wasn’t for that place I would have never met the guys, it would have never happened for me
Julian Treasure
Treasure, chair of Sound Agency – a company that works with various businesses on how to use sound, presents on how to speak in such a way that others will be inclined to listen. He gives an example of habits that should be broken in our communication, provides various vocal exercises that can be used to make your speech more powerful and gives tips on how to speak with empathy.
Urges countires to stop supporting enemies
Assad pledges to continue fighting terrorist violence and urges foreign countries to end support for his enemies while also offering a national dialogue and a constitutional referendum to end Syria’s crisis. Assad uses an hour-long speech in Damascus to propose what he calls a comprehensive plan that includes an expanded government. He refers to plots against his country and the role of al-Qaida, long-portrayed as the leading element in the uprising.
We are now in a state of war in every sense of the word, This war targets Syria using a handful of Syrians and many foreigners. Thus, this is a war to defend the nation.
Assad also thanks Russia, China and Iran for supporting Syria in the face of hostility from the US, Britain and France.
Startup School 2012
Livingston talks about co-founders leaving and other issues that can de-rail a startup:
It’s a red flag when you find yourself wondering if you can trust your co-founder
Investors tend to have a herd mentality, which she says is a Catch-22 situation, but once it is overcome it can work in the company’s favor:
If they like you, others like you. If noone likes you until others do, what happens when you talk to the first one? Noone likes you. You’re really starting off in a hole and you have to work your way out of it.
