Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
Twenty years ago, Steve Jobs encouraged the graduating students of Stanford University to “stay hungry, stay foolish.” The phrase originated in a counter culture magazine called the Whole Earth Catalog that was published in the late-1960s and early 70s. If you haven’t heard of WEG before, it was the precursor to print publications like Make Magazine and Tom’s Hardware Guide and pretty much birthed the entire genre of media combining DIY, product reviews and a dash of social commentary (Top Gear, anyone?).
Stanford University Commencement, June 2025
The phrase “stay hungry, stay foolish” was a directive from the magazine’s authors to actively seek out knowledge and remain curious and open. To question the status quo.
The back cover of the final edition of the Whole Earth Catalog
This simple phrase so effortlessly and completely captures the ethos of being a founder. It evokes determination and resolve. It commands continuous reflection, iteration and improvement. The word “foolish” can equally well refer to a hunger for knowledge as it can the naivety of believing that you can single-handedly change the world. And it quickly became a rallying cry in startup circles in Silicon Valley and around the world.
As an investor, this is one of the phrases that goes through my mind when I meet new founders. I try to get a sense of their level of “hunger” and “foolishness”. Here’s what I mean:
How Hungry Are You?
Depending on how you interpret this question, it can mean different things. Here are some of the variations that go through my head when meeting a founder:
How important is it to you to solve this problem? Why is this the thing that you want to dedicate the next 7 - 10 years of your life to? What are your motivations (beyond financial)?
How badly do you want to win? Assuming that this is a winner-takes all / winner-takes most market, how hard are you going to compete? What will keep you going when things get really, really tough?
How hard are you going right now? Velocity is the one metric that matters most. What is yours? How are you benchmarking your progress?
How driven are you to self-improve? The best founders are driven to continuously improve themselves. Some are avid readers. Some obsess over exercise and diet. Some have therapists, executive coaches or both. Some founders just really, really want to win their annual football/hockey/basketball pool. In my experience, the best founders are constantly trying to get better at multiple things, both inside and outside of their startup (though I don’t recommend playing League of Legends during an investor pitch meeting).
How Foolish Are You?
This question similarly evokes multiple characteristics of strong founders:
Do you have a beginners mind? Are you willing to be wrong? When faced with new information, do you incorporate it and adapt your thinking?
How much time do you spend learning? What are your sources of information? What do you do proactively to learn and improve (despite having less-than-no-time in your day)?
What do you do outside of your role as a founder? To me, this is a very important question. It’s not a question about work-life-balance but, rather, it’s about making sure that you’re not so insulated in your bubble that you are oblivious to lessons and revelations from other disciplines and aspects of life.
Do you find time for deep thinking? The best founders prioritize time for regular reflection. But it doesn’t have to come in the form of a half-day block in your calendar. Some founders think while doing exercise. Others carve out time in the mornings, at night or on weekends. When I was a founder, I did a lot of my thinking during regular 2-hour commutes between San Francisco and Palo Alto.
Are you open to new people and new opportunities? What are you doing to expand your personal and professional networks? Are you proactively getting to know people beyond your immediate circle of friends and colleagues? Are you keeping an eye on the broader market in order to know how the players are moving and the market is evolving?
One simple phrase. Four short words. To paraphrase the late Steve Jobs:
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
I've always wished that for myself. And I wish that for you.
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.