Commencement—or the ability to begin or start something—is a vital part of life. Boris Pasternak, a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet, once described the talent and art of writing as “boldness in the face of the blank sheet.”
He recognized that half the battle is just starting—writing the first sentence or painting the first stroke on a canvas.
Seamus Heaney, another Nobel Prize-winning poet, put it another way: “Getting started, keeping going, getting started again—in art and in life . . . this is the essential rhythm not only of achievement but of survival.” Starting is never enough. We have to keep going, which means starting again and again. In a sense, our lives are like startup ventures. Startups need to do three things: secure capital, develop strategies for overcoming market risks, and create shareholder value.
We all have different amounts and types of capital. Our capital comes in many forms—knowledge, skills, time, money, and other resources we can dedicate to creating value in this life. For me, the classic story about capital is found in the Bible. In the parable of the talents, each man received a different sum of capital. The man who received five returned ten to the Lord, and the man with two returned four. Each achieved a 100 percent rate of return. The man who received one talent buried it and gave fear as his excuse for not doing anything with it. “Nothing ventured, nothing lost” could have been his motto.
The size of our allotment of capital is irrelevant; we must always manage it prudently and multiply it to the best of our ability. Brigham Young tells us, “We should learn how to take into our possession every blessing and every privilege that God has put within our reach” and that the greatest wealth we possess is “to know how to direct our labors rightly.”
The education we received at this great university is a major addition to our capital. But as most startups know, one round of funding never seems to be enough. The ability and continued desire to learn is one of our most important sources of personal capital. Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers, gives the following advice: “Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people . . . or find a different room.” To increase our capital base, we must surround ourselves with talent. We need to listen, think, read, study, and wonder.
Once we have assessed our capital resources, we must address market risks. As we enter or re-enter the market of life, there is no 10-K form providing quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk. We cannot foresee every possible hazard and threat. As Warren Buffet said, “In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.”
We live in a world where opposition is a natural condition. Our lives are in a constant state of tension between good and evil, risk and safety, chaos and order. There will always be risk, in business, in politics, and in our personal lives. But we must move forward in the face of that uncertainty.
In my involvement with Best of State, which recognizes achievement in a broad array of industries, I have the opportunity to learn about great Utah success stories. As I read the winning application for entrepreneur Patrick Byrne who started Overstock.com, I learned that he was rejected by venture capitalists thirty-five times. This was during a time when anyone with a half-baked Internet idea seemed to get funding. It makes a great story, since he was ultimately successful. But think about how he must have felt after the thirty-fifth unsuccessful attempt. Imagine the anxiety and the emotions that come with rejection and failure. These feelings are uncomfortable at best and unbearable at worst. These are the feelings that make people quit—that make people bury their talent.
We must face trials with resilience, as failure is often a sturdy rung in the ladder of success. The lessons learned in disappointment and despair provide a solid footing from which to calculate our next step. American war hero Eddie Rickenbacker said, “Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.”
Fear is a given. But to let fear motivate our actions is certain failure. Wayne Gretsky said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” Even if the odds are overwhelmingly against us, our chances of success are infinitely better when we take a shot.
The third thing every startup must do is create shareholder value. We all have many shareholders or stakeholders in our lives—spouses, children, parents, friends, and colleagues. Our choices need to create value for these major shareholders. But the provider of every resource is God, and we must ultimately create value for Him. He is the master shareholder. From the Lord’s reaction to the man who buried his talent, we see that God considers the time value of capital. He expects increase. If you give Him a zero percent return rate, He will adjust his asset allocation accordingly, moving talents to stronger performers.
Some use Jesus’ parable of the rich man as a lesson that we must forsake worldly possessions and wealth in order to truly follow the Savior. When juxtaposed with the parable of the talents, I think the first parable is simply a reminder of rightful ownership—that everything we have belongs to God. He expects us to create what value we can with what we have. We just need to be careful not to get too attached to the increase, as He may call the loan at any time and for any reason. Giving up wealth is not a requirement, but being willing to is.
As we go forward and this educational milestone moves into our rearview mirrors, let us determine to face the uncertain future with boldness. Let us continually increase our capital resources, face fear and other risks with courage, and create temporal and eternal value for God and mankind.
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Speech given by Dana Layton
About the Speaker
Dana Layton is CEO of Best of State and co-owner of Layton Productions. She earned her BA from BYU in 1982 and her MBA from the Marriott School in 2003. She and her husband, Mark, have five children and reside in Orem. This article is adapted from Layton’s address at the
Marriott School’s convocation 15 August 2003.
