Ron Gutman is a tech and healthcare entrepreneur
Ron Gutman
Ron Gutman said Steve Jobs gave a commencement speech when he graduated from Stanford University.”The only way to be successful is to do what you love,” Gutman recalled from the speech. Gutman, the founder of several companies, also advises people to frame challenges as adventures.
A serial tech entrepreneur recalled some words of wisdom that Steve Jobs shared with him that have helped him face challenges over his career and kept him moving forward.
Ron Gutman is a technology and healthcare entrepreneur and the cofounder of digital health company Intrivo, which invented the On/Go COVID-19 rapid at-home test used by millions of people in the US. Gutman is also an adjunct professor at Stanford University.
Gutman, who has headed numerous companies during his career, told Business Insider that Steve Jobs gave a commencement speech when he graduated from Stanford in 2005. One piece of advice stayed with him over the years.
“What Steve used to say, and he said it in one of the discussions that I had with him: ‘The only way to be successful is to do what you love,'” Gutman told BI in an interview. “I would add that the only way to be happy is to do what you love.”
Jobs gave the commencement address at Stanford on June 12, 2005, and shared a story about being fired from Apple 10 years after co-founding it with Steve Wozniak. Jobs said it led to a creative period in his life during which he founded two companies and fell in love.
Apple later acquired one of Jobs’ companies and he returned to the tech giant.
“I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did,” Jobs said during the speech. “You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
Frame challenges as adventures
Gutman explained that if you’re not passionate about the work you’re doing or are solely motivated by money, you’re more likely to give it up for something else.
Instead, he advises people to do work they love and frame challenges as adventures.
“I always translate challenges to adventures,” he said. “You could look at it as if you’re in the hero’s journey and you’re just slaying dragons. You’re doing what you need to do to make sure that things are working and it’s tough and it’s difficult and the world is terrible but it’s just a matter of framing.”
Keeping a positive mindset can turn a challenge into something that is exciting and a learning opportunity.
Additionally, surrounding yourself with people you love working with turns every challenge into an adventure.
“The people that are in your vicinity, your team, your peers, the area in the industry that you’re choosing to tackle, make sure that these are people that you enjoy being with even if it wasn’t work,” Gutman said.
“If you get into this challenging craziness, you’re like ‘Okay, I’m surrounded by great people. We’re in this together. We’re helping each other,’ and it makes the whole thing an adventure.”