so when I was in first grade I fell in
love her name was Emily Baker and she
was the most beautiful girl in my class
of 25 kids you see our relationship
started when we went on a field trip to
an industrial bakery and I still
remember very clearly what all
transpired she she came up right up next
to me and she did the unthinkable she
held my hand a sensation of electricity
flew from my fingertips through my arm
to my brain where I realized oh my god
do I have a girlfriend
I looked at her bewildered demanding an
answer and this cool girl she doesn’t
even look back she just stands there not
saying a word and that’s when I knew I
had a girlfriend
fast forward to second grade and two
very tragic things happen number one on
the first day I realized that Emily
Baker and I are no longer in the same
class and number two during recess I
find out that she left me for another
boy I was heartbroken
you know only if I could only if I could
tell her how much I really really liked
her maybe she’ll take me back except I
couldn’t you see a tiny detail left out
I emigrated when I was in first grade
and I couldn’t speak a word of English
so I could not literally tell her how
much I liked her I was absolutely
heartbroken and in short I was
absolutely disgusted now stop right
there right there it’s one of the most
beautiful most meaningful moments in my
life that is when I got my first chip on
my shoulder not being able to speak
English was the very first chip I ever
had on my shoulder you see this
conversation today is for the losers the
losers who want to become the winners
this one is for the underdogs the
underdogs who always wanted to change
themselves but didn’t know how
this one is for all those who dreamed of
becoming extraordinary but today are
looking down at the road of mediocrity
and deluding themselves that that’s what
they wanted all along this one is for
you
so listen very carefully because I’m
going to tell it to you very bluntly you
have some deep insecurities you do and
if you don’t know what I’m talking about
it’s simply because your insecurities go
deeper than you can notice see I know
this because I am one of these people so
today we’re going to be talking a lot
about the theme of creative chaos well
right now I want to talk about how to
create something out of this chaotic
place we call our insecurities now some
people call it in few already complex
other people will call it having
something to prove I call it having a
chip on your shoulder whatever you want
to call it just know this that chip on
your shoulder will be your single
greatest asset to building your success
now here’s the reason why having a chip
on your shoulder is absolutely crucial
to your success you see I work in
venture capital and that basically means
I meet with entrepreneurs and they pitch
me their ideas and it’s really great and
if it is so great our funds will
basically invest in the startup now
here’s one little trick that I like to
use to separate the real entrepreneurs
from the fake entrepreneurs go to an
accelerator go to an incubator basically
anywhere where entrepreneurs gather to
work together but go between the hours
of 4:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on a Friday
evening and see what you find
Hustler’s man that’s when you’re going
to find the hustlers and I’ve talked to
these hustlers
and they really have one thing in common
even though they come from all walks of
life from all sorts of different
problems that one thing is hunger and
I’m not talking about any type of hunger
I’m talking about this unforgiving
relentless type of hunger that comes
from their insecurities their fear of
failure and this desperate need to be
part of something bigger than themselves
it comes from their chip on their
shoulder where it does not come
from is some market need it doesn’t come
from a brilliant idea it doesn’t even
come from a smart mind it comes from
deep within this insecurity place see it
comes from this crazy deranged person
who refuses to take a salary and a
normal job just because you’re obsessed
to prove something to the world
it comes from their chip on their
shoulder and if you look at every one of
the greatest entrepreneurs of our time
Elon Musk Steve Jobs Jack Ma they all
have this chip on their shoulder and
bigger the chip hungrier they are so
what I want to do today is I want to
walk you through how I’ve been thinking
about my chip on my shoulder and I won’t
invite you to do the same just walk
alongside with me as I identify mine I
want you to identify yours and as you’ll
see as I walk mine back to its
characteristics I want you to do the
same and what we’re going to do is we’re
going to try to flip your biggest
liability into your biggest asset so the
biggest the first step here is to
identify your chip on your shoulder and
this one’s pretty easy I like to think
mine actually is deeply rooted in Who I
am I’m an immigrant I came from an
immigrant family and it’s true that the
very first chip on my shoulder is not
being able to speak English but the true
story behind it is not some heartbreak I
had in first grade but the very first
meal I ever had in the United States of
America I still remember very clearly it
was very late our family went to this
fine sandwich sandwich establishment
called subway and this very exciting
state called Indiana and I still
remember my seven year old self my baby
sister my parents we all kind of stumble
into the subway with with four luggages
trailing behind this my father and I go
right up to the counter and there’s a
teenager right on the other side and it
becomes very clear to the three of us
that the two of us do not speak English
now if you know anything about trying to
order a subway sandwich
from a white teenager in Indiana not
speaking English is not the way to do it
no I was young at the time but I knew
exactly what was happening
the teenager grew very frustrated and
dismissive and my father became very
small I want to tell you a little
something about my father he’s a better
man and a father that not will ever be
you see when I was little he used to be
the best storyteller he would at bedtime
read these bedtime stories and he would
record himself on cassette tape so that
when he was away during the day I could
replay his voice and I can just follow
along the picture that’s the kind of man
this my father was I want you to imagine
having this hero who lost his own father
when he was in fourth grade who put
himself through college having this hero
figure in your life being reduced down
to stutters as he’s trying to order a
sandwich from a teenager I was young at
the time too young to articulate it but
I knew what I felt what I felt was
embarrassment what I felt was shame what
I felt was the weight of my first chip
on my shoulder and of course it didn’t
stop there and I came to actually resent
my Korean culture as I grew up I came to
resent the fact that my mom she couldn’t
speak English I resented the fact that
all my American friends and their
parents were invited to dinner parties
after their kids football practice but
my parents weren’t but you know what I’m
talking about because you have your own
chip on your shoulder
you have your own grudge your own
resentment your own perplex Minh of why
things are the way they are I want you
to just hold that in your mind because
we’re going to try to harness that today
the second step is to have the courage
to start asking why and delve deeper
into that chip on your shoulder for me
this is very important because this is
the hard
our part this is where it gets ugly this
is where it gets unglamorous and
negative for me this really happened in
high school when I started to ask why
why was it that I resented my Korean
culture so much well it was the reason
why I couldn’t speak English well why
did it frustrate me so much that I
couldn’t speak English well it made me
feel helpless why did I feel helpless I
felt like I couldn’t speak up why was it
so important that I spoke up and what I
found was that when I started to walk
back my chip on my shoulder I found that
I had this poor characteristic of
wanting to be heard I want to be heard I
need to be heard that’s that’s who I am
I’m a I’m a loudmouth obnoxious person
but you have your own don’t you you have
your own chip on your shoulder that if
you walk back I can guarantee you that
you will find your own core
characteristic within yourself it will
be ugly it will be negative but it will
sound very right to you now once you
have identified this core characteristic
once you’ve been brutally honest with
yourself I realized this that the best
and the worst versions of ourselves are
oftentimes the best and the worst
versions of that core characteristic so
this is what I mean
for me my core characteristic is wanting
to be heard and its worst form it turns
me into someone who doesn’t listen
it turns me into someone who’s
attention-seeking it turns me into
someone who needs to be the loudest
voice in the room or it can turn me into
someone who can speak up for others it
can turn me into someone who delivers a
good message it can turn me into someone
who tells losers that they have what it
takes to be winners and you’ll find that
every core characteristic has a duality
it actually went through this exercise
with one of my good friends from college
and his
core characteristic is having this
obsessive personality and this is really
fascinating because if you take
obsessive personality and you mix it
with impulse people call that addiction
but if you take the same obsessive
personality and you temper it with a
sense of purpose a sense of mission
people happen to call it passion
so what you’ll find is that for every
one of these so-called weaknesses
there’s just simply an unproductive
manifestation of your core
characteristic and the good news here
that for every one of those there’s a
corresponding productive manifestation
that you can harness as your strengths
now I know I know there are times when
you wonder to yourself why why is this
the way that I am I know but I want to
challenge you to not throw that away
this is who you are this is who you were
meant to be this is your raw fuel and
your raw material and you were meant to
harness this you see in first grade I
didn’t speak a word of English my very
first book that I ever read was green
eggs and ham and in third grade I
finished Harry Potter in sixth grade I
tried out for the school play with my
thick Korean accent and by the end of
high school I was the captain of my
speech team and today I’m here speaking
to all of you in English in case you
haven’t noticed so when life gives you a
chip to play never cash it just take
that chip place it on your shoulder and
instead of Lading it letting it weigh
you down let it ground you and who you
are and more importantly how you can
prove wrong every doubt and every
self-doubt in your mind
thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
love her name was Emily Baker and she
was the most beautiful girl in my class
of 25 kids you see our relationship
started when we went on a field trip to
an industrial bakery and I still
remember very clearly what all
transpired she she came up right up next
to me and she did the unthinkable she
held my hand a sensation of electricity
flew from my fingertips through my arm
to my brain where I realized oh my god
do I have a girlfriend
I looked at her bewildered demanding an
answer and this cool girl she doesn’t
even look back she just stands there not
saying a word and that’s when I knew I
had a girlfriend
fast forward to second grade and two
very tragic things happen number one on
the first day I realized that Emily
Baker and I are no longer in the same
class and number two during recess I
find out that she left me for another
boy I was heartbroken
you know only if I could only if I could
tell her how much I really really liked
her maybe she’ll take me back except I
couldn’t you see a tiny detail left out
I emigrated when I was in first grade
and I couldn’t speak a word of English
so I could not literally tell her how
much I liked her I was absolutely
heartbroken and in short I was
absolutely disgusted now stop right
there right there it’s one of the most
beautiful most meaningful moments in my
life that is when I got my first chip on
my shoulder not being able to speak
English was the very first chip I ever
had on my shoulder you see this
conversation today is for the losers the
losers who want to become the winners
this one is for the underdogs the
underdogs who always wanted to change
themselves but didn’t know how
this one is for all those who dreamed of
becoming extraordinary but today are
looking down at the road of mediocrity
and deluding themselves that that’s what
they wanted all along this one is for
you
so listen very carefully because I’m
going to tell it to you very bluntly you
have some deep insecurities you do and
if you don’t know what I’m talking about
it’s simply because your insecurities go
deeper than you can notice see I know
this because I am one of these people so
today we’re going to be talking a lot
about the theme of creative chaos well
right now I want to talk about how to
create something out of this chaotic
place we call our insecurities now some
people call it in few already complex
other people will call it having
something to prove I call it having a
chip on your shoulder whatever you want
to call it just know this that chip on
your shoulder will be your single
greatest asset to building your success
now here’s the reason why having a chip
on your shoulder is absolutely crucial
to your success you see I work in
venture capital and that basically means
I meet with entrepreneurs and they pitch
me their ideas and it’s really great and
if it is so great our funds will
basically invest in the startup now
here’s one little trick that I like to
use to separate the real entrepreneurs
from the fake entrepreneurs go to an
accelerator go to an incubator basically
anywhere where entrepreneurs gather to
work together but go between the hours
of 4:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on a Friday
evening and see what you find
Hustler’s man that’s when you’re going
to find the hustlers and I’ve talked to
these hustlers
and they really have one thing in common
even though they come from all walks of
life from all sorts of different
problems that one thing is hunger and
I’m not talking about any type of hunger
I’m talking about this unforgiving
relentless type of hunger that comes
from their insecurities their fear of
failure and this desperate need to be
part of something bigger than themselves
it comes from their chip on their
shoulder where it does not come
from is some market need it doesn’t come
from a brilliant idea it doesn’t even
come from a smart mind it comes from
deep within this insecurity place see it
comes from this crazy deranged person
who refuses to take a salary and a
normal job just because you’re obsessed
to prove something to the world
it comes from their chip on their
shoulder and if you look at every one of
the greatest entrepreneurs of our time
Elon Musk Steve Jobs Jack Ma they all
have this chip on their shoulder and
bigger the chip hungrier they are so
what I want to do today is I want to
walk you through how I’ve been thinking
about my chip on my shoulder and I won’t
invite you to do the same just walk
alongside with me as I identify mine I
want you to identify yours and as you’ll
see as I walk mine back to its
characteristics I want you to do the
same and what we’re going to do is we’re
going to try to flip your biggest
liability into your biggest asset so the
biggest the first step here is to
identify your chip on your shoulder and
this one’s pretty easy I like to think
mine actually is deeply rooted in Who I
am I’m an immigrant I came from an
immigrant family and it’s true that the
very first chip on my shoulder is not
being able to speak English but the true
story behind it is not some heartbreak I
had in first grade but the very first
meal I ever had in the United States of
America I still remember very clearly it
was very late our family went to this
fine sandwich sandwich establishment
called subway and this very exciting
state called Indiana and I still
remember my seven year old self my baby
sister my parents we all kind of stumble
into the subway with with four luggages
trailing behind this my father and I go
right up to the counter and there’s a
teenager right on the other side and it
becomes very clear to the three of us
that the two of us do not speak English
now if you know anything about trying to
order a subway sandwich
from a white teenager in Indiana not
speaking English is not the way to do it
no I was young at the time but I knew
exactly what was happening
the teenager grew very frustrated and
dismissive and my father became very
small I want to tell you a little
something about my father he’s a better
man and a father that not will ever be
you see when I was little he used to be
the best storyteller he would at bedtime
read these bedtime stories and he would
record himself on cassette tape so that
when he was away during the day I could
replay his voice and I can just follow
along the picture that’s the kind of man
this my father was I want you to imagine
having this hero who lost his own father
when he was in fourth grade who put
himself through college having this hero
figure in your life being reduced down
to stutters as he’s trying to order a
sandwich from a teenager I was young at
the time too young to articulate it but
I knew what I felt what I felt was
embarrassment what I felt was shame what
I felt was the weight of my first chip
on my shoulder and of course it didn’t
stop there and I came to actually resent
my Korean culture as I grew up I came to
resent the fact that my mom she couldn’t
speak English I resented the fact that
all my American friends and their
parents were invited to dinner parties
after their kids football practice but
my parents weren’t but you know what I’m
talking about because you have your own
chip on your shoulder
you have your own grudge your own
resentment your own perplex Minh of why
things are the way they are I want you
to just hold that in your mind because
we’re going to try to harness that today
the second step is to have the courage
to start asking why and delve deeper
into that chip on your shoulder for me
this is very important because this is
the hard
our part this is where it gets ugly this
is where it gets unglamorous and
negative for me this really happened in
high school when I started to ask why
why was it that I resented my Korean
culture so much well it was the reason
why I couldn’t speak English well why
did it frustrate me so much that I
couldn’t speak English well it made me
feel helpless why did I feel helpless I
felt like I couldn’t speak up why was it
so important that I spoke up and what I
found was that when I started to walk
back my chip on my shoulder I found that
I had this poor characteristic of
wanting to be heard I want to be heard I
need to be heard that’s that’s who I am
I’m a I’m a loudmouth obnoxious person
but you have your own don’t you you have
your own chip on your shoulder that if
you walk back I can guarantee you that
you will find your own core
characteristic within yourself it will
be ugly it will be negative but it will
sound very right to you now once you
have identified this core characteristic
once you’ve been brutally honest with
yourself I realized this that the best
and the worst versions of ourselves are
oftentimes the best and the worst
versions of that core characteristic so
this is what I mean
for me my core characteristic is wanting
to be heard and its worst form it turns
me into someone who doesn’t listen
it turns me into someone who’s
attention-seeking it turns me into
someone who needs to be the loudest
voice in the room or it can turn me into
someone who can speak up for others it
can turn me into someone who delivers a
good message it can turn me into someone
who tells losers that they have what it
takes to be winners and you’ll find that
every core characteristic has a duality
it actually went through this exercise
with one of my good friends from college
and his
core characteristic is having this
obsessive personality and this is really
fascinating because if you take
obsessive personality and you mix it
with impulse people call that addiction
but if you take the same obsessive
personality and you temper it with a
sense of purpose a sense of mission
people happen to call it passion
so what you’ll find is that for every
one of these so-called weaknesses
there’s just simply an unproductive
manifestation of your core
characteristic and the good news here
that for every one of those there’s a
corresponding productive manifestation
that you can harness as your strengths
now I know I know there are times when
you wonder to yourself why why is this
the way that I am I know but I want to
challenge you to not throw that away
this is who you are this is who you were
meant to be this is your raw fuel and
your raw material and you were meant to
harness this you see in first grade I
didn’t speak a word of English my very
first book that I ever read was green
eggs and ham and in third grade I
finished Harry Potter in sixth grade I
tried out for the school play with my
thick Korean accent and by the end of
high school I was the captain of my
speech team and today I’m here speaking
to all of you in English in case you
haven’t noticed so when life gives you a
chip to play never cash it just take
that chip place it on your shoulder and
instead of Lading it letting it weigh
you down let it ground you and who you
are and more importantly how you can
prove wrong every doubt and every
self-doubt in your mind
thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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