It very much helps to be a multimillionaire when you are laid off.

So many people knock Jobs, but I find this commencement address really stirring.

It's also nice to read a biblical "Job" interpretation into it, for my aspergers-like enjoyment of nominal determinism.

Really? I found it a somewhat vapid feel-good piece, in ordinary Jobs fashion.

At least he didn't tell us about how he invented typefacing this time.

Just curious, what are some IT founder or comeback stories that you do find stirring/inspirational? I'm always interested in these.

I guess Jerry Yang should read this.

When you are a genius just like Steve Jobs, when your story is a success story, being fired from a company doesn't seems to be the worst thing in the world.

The definition of genius must have changed in the last couple of decades.

If there is such a thing as genius in interpersonal relations, Jobs is surely that kind of genius.

Almost every account of a face to face meeting with Jobs talks about how superbly persuasive he is. They don't call it the Reality Distortion Field for nothing.

Not to mention the fact that he's got an incredible knack for deciding what works and what doesn't. Which might sound lame, but think of how many people decide that they like things that aren't superbly-made or who make decisions that lead to trouble. Jobs isn't perfect in this regard, but he picked the iPod design, the iPhone design, had the drive to push for both products, and has managed to bring together a bunch of genius minds with brilliant ideas and get them to work together. There is absolutely a talent for this, and Jobs is possibly the best at it there is.

I think he meant Yang is not quite as genius as Jobs.

I disagree. Just because he's not an inventor does not mean that he is, by nature, a genius at what he does. His track record of success versus failure is incredibly impressive and whilst this is not done in isolation (ie its with other people) he seems to get the best out of people. I've just read iWoz by Steve Wozniak and strangely have ended up with much more respect for Steve Jobs. He gets a bad press, but thats probably because by the very Ying/Yang nature of his personality he's also a complete pr*ck at times. He's a businessman and isn't in it to make friends

So let's not be afraid of losing our jobs, on the contrary let's hope to get fired. After all Jobs is just another regular guy. There are thousands of clever, dedicated people around, just like him. We will all win, be successful for sure..

Yes, it's encouraging to have success stories but let's face it, there are a few Jobs and many other clever, dedicated people.. who happen to lose their jobs without their control..

An oldie but goodie. But, hasn't this been posted to HN before in some other format?

That "heaviness of being successful" line reminded me of "Annie Hall". "Did you achieve total heaviosity?"

He did not start Pixar. Why would he say that?

You mean that he didn't start the Lucasfilm subsidiary The Graphics Group. He did start Pixar; prior to the renaming, it had never been an independent venture.

And Jobs headed the group of people in Pixar, including designing their work studio and financing their work.