Don't follow your passion

The best startup advice you’ve never heard — from Ben Horowitz’s unforgettable Columbia speech

Hey everyone — welcome back to Product Market Fit.

This week, I want to share one of the best graduation speeches I’ve ever heard. It’s from Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, who spoke at Columbia back in 2015. What makes it so good is that it’s not the typical “change the world” fluff. It’s real, it’s funny, and it’s packed with wisdom — especially if you’re building something.

Ben starts by talking about how lost he felt when he got to college. He had no idea what to do with his life — a feeling most of us know well. Then, during a random class in a building that “looks like a mix between a prison and a Catholic school,” he heard about Alan Turing’s concept of a universal machine — the idea that one machine could do anything, given the right code.

That idea blew his mind. He decided right then he was going to study computer science. His friends told him it was a terrible idea. “That’s a trade,” one of them said. “You’re at Columbia — study something real.” But Ben stuck with it. Why? Because he had found something he believed in, even if nobody else did.

And that’s the first real lesson:
1. Think for yourself

Not in a rebellious teenager kind of way, but in the sense that most of the world rewards conformity — yet all breakthrough ideas start with someone seeing the world differently. As Ben puts it: “The only things that create real value are the things you believe that others don’t.”

He shares a great example. Years ago, a young entrepreneur named Brian Chesky pitched him on a startup idea: renting out air mattresses in people’s apartments. Ben’s first thought? “That sounds like a terrible idea. Probably only serial killers would use that.”

But Brian had a secret. He’d already tested it — and people actually wanted it. He’d studied the history of hotels and realized that the original model was inns and bed-and-breakfasts, but they were inconsistent. What Airbnb could do was make each one transparent and reliable, combining the charm of a B&B with the scale of a hotel chain. The result? One of the biggest hospitality companies in the world, built on a belief almost everyone thought was dumb.

That leads into Ben’s second big insight:

2. Don’t just follow your passion — follow your contribution

This one’s a bit controversial. We’ve all heard “do what you love,” but Ben flips it. The problem, he says, is that passions change, they’re hard to prioritize, and — crucially — we’re not always good at them. Loving something doesn’t mean the world needs you to do it. Just ask any American Idol reject.

Instead, figure out what you’re great at and how it can help others. Contribution beats passion every time. Over the long run, the value you create will matter more than what you take.

And finally, despite all the headlines about how the world is falling apart, Ben offers a different perspective. He rattles off stat after stat about global progress: poverty is at an all-time low, literacy is up, life expectancy has increased, war and violent crime are down, and for the first time in 40 years, carbon emissions were flat. It’s not a utopia — but it’s progress.

And the biggest opportunity? Access. Today, a girl in Bangladesh with a smartphone has better information than a Columbia student did twenty years ago. That’s wild. The only question is: what will she do with it — and what will you?

So here’s where it all lands:

3. You don’t need to save the world. Just unlock your piece of it
Ben closes by saying the class of 2015 doesn’t have to be the generation that saves everything. But it can be the generation that unlocks human potential — by thinking independently, building courageously, and contributing something real.

Honestly, it’s one of the most startup-applicable graduation speeches I’ve heard. I’d bookmark it for those moments when your idea feels too crazy, too different, or too early. Because that’s usually where the best ones start.

Until next time,
— Guillermo

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