????前幾天，在美國科羅拉多大學博爾德分校（CU Boulder），我給一班即將畢業的MBA學生做了一次講話。在他們畢業前的最后一堂課上，很多非常風趣的風險投資家和企業家作為客座講師受邀參加。我們進行了長達數小時的問答互動交流，話題涵蓋范圍非常之廣，大家都樂在其中（至少我自己很享受）。最后，任課教授讓我給在座即將畢業的MBA學生們提點建議。我思考了片刻，然后簡短地說了這樣幾點：

????試想一下，假如你現在已經45歲，回首自己過去15至20年的生活經歷，你是否認為你的工作和生活充滿意義？

????在現在這個階段，請不要憂慮金錢。因為，你總會找到薪酬頗豐的工作。不要為自己的簡歷大為傷神。不要擔心諸如“我是否正確地規劃了自己未來五年的發展”之類的問題。我見過太多人，他們到了45歲的時候，掙足了錢，職業生涯頗為成功，但是卻對自己的生活現狀、居住地甚至現在的工作并不滿意。你們可不要成為這樣一群人。

????首先，請選出你希望開始打拼的地方。如果你想留在博爾德，就請弄清楚這里的生存法則；如果你想去紐約，可以很方便的搭乘美國聯合航空（United Airlines）的航班，四小時就能抵達目的地——一畢業就立馬動身。想去舊金山？飛機兩小時就到了。果斷前往，到了那兒再想該怎么辦。千萬不要光嘴上說“總有一天我會在那里生活”。無論你想去哪里打拼，想到就去做吧。對了，順便插一句，蒙大拿州也是一個很酷的地方，還有奧斯汀、西雅圖、邁阿密、華盛頓，還有全美至少95個其他城市，都很不錯。

????接下來，選擇一個愿意投身的行業。如果你從10歲起就夢想成為一名投資銀行家或《財富》雜志美國1000強企業的顧問，那么你正是高盛（Goldman Sachs）或麥肯錫（McKinsey）在尋找的人才。如果你想成為一個企業家，那么在投資銀行或咨詢公司的工作經歷對你來說毫無意義。現在就去創業吧。選擇一個最能讓你充滿激情的行業——一個讓你從一開始便站在高起點的行業（如軟件、互聯網、清潔技術等），然后對你真正關心的事務以及你希望解決的一系列問題做出選擇。如果你沒有技術背景，那么趕緊去找一位懂技術的合伙人來創業——在這所大學的校園里，技術人才成百上千。別老窩在這里，馬上行動起來！

????最后，確定正視自己的生活。你們年輕有為、前途無量，生命還有大把時間可以利用。但是切忌“虛度光陰”，因為你永遠都無法預知生命何時就會走到盡頭。

????的確，這比我當時講的更有說服力，但這就是我想表達的想法。而且我認為，這對于任何即將獲得MBA學位的畢業生來說都適用。當年我從麻省理工學院斯隆商學院（MIT Sloan）獲得理學碩士學位（1988年還沒有設立MBA學位）畢業時，我就一直嚴格遵循這三條原則。但直到1995年我和艾米搬到博爾德后，我才認真考慮要在哪里生活。現在回想起來，我當時并沒有一味想著掙錢（反而后來掙了很多），而是將全部精力用在創建一家軟件公司（后來逐漸發展成為幫助打造軟件/互聯網公司）。生活中的每分每秒經歷，起起落落、悲歡離合，我都認真度過。

????現在就去做重要的事情，只要你認為重要就行。這個世界需要你去這么做。你也會發現你的生活正發生著不可思議的變化，變得更有意義、更加幸福、更為充實。

????作為一名前期投資人和企業家，本文作者布拉德?菲爾德在相關領域已有二十多年資歷。他在與人合伙創辦Foundry Group之前，是Mobius風險投資公司的合伙創始人之一。而在早前，他創立了Intensity風險投資公司，為很多軟件公司起步與運營提供支持。布拉德還是科技之星（TechStars）的合伙創始人之一。

????翻譯：C.Z.

????I gave a talk yesterday to a class of soon-to-graduate MBA students at CU Boulder yesterday. It was their last class in the course that had been filled with a bunch of interesting VC and entrepreneurial guest lecturers. We did Q&A for several hours, covered a lot of ground, and had plenty of fun (or at least I did.) At the end, the professor asked if I had any final words of advice to the room full of MBAs who were about to graduate. I thought for a moment and then said an abbreviated version of the following.

????Imagine that you are 45 and are looking back on your last 15-20 years. Is your work, and life, full of meaning?

????Don't worry about money right now. You can always get a job that pays you plenty of money. Don't worry about your resume. Don't worry about "am I positioning myself the right way for something five years from now." I know way too many 45-year olds who have plenty of money, have done all the right career things, yet are unhappy with where they are in life, where they live, and what they do. Don't be that guy or gal.

????Start by choosing the place you want to make a life. If it's Boulder, figure out how to stay here. If it's New York, there's an easy United flight that gets you there in under four hours – take it the day after you graduate. San Francisco? That flight is only two hours long. Just go and figure it out when you get there. Don't talk about "I'm going to live there some day" – go get in the middle of wherever it is that you want to build a life. Oh, and Montana's a pretty cool place also, as is Austin, Seattle, Miami, DC, and at least 95 other cities in the United States.

????Next, choose a domain that you want to dedicate your life to. If you've dreamed of being an investment banker or consultant to Fortune 1000 companies since you were 10, then Goldman Sachs (GS) or McKinsey is looking for you. If you want to be an entrepreneur, working at an investment bank or consulting firm for a while is pointless. Be an entrepreneur starting now. Pick that domain that turns you on the most – start at a high level (e.g. software, Internet, clean tech) but then pick a thing that you really care about and a set of problems you want to solve. If you aren't technical, go find a technical co-founder right now – there are hundreds of them on this campus. Get your ass out of your chair and just get started.

????Finally, make sure you are living your life. You are young and hopefully have plenty of time on this planet. But don't wait because you never know when the lights are going to go out.

????Ok – that's more cogent than what I probably said in real time, but it's what I meant. And I think it applies to anyone about to graduate with an MBA. When I graduated from MIT Sloan with an SM (they didn't have MBAs back in 1988) I was already following three of these – I hadn't focused on where I wanted to live until 1995 when Amy and I moved to Boulder. But when I look back, I didn't care about money (and subsequently made plenty of it), I focused all of my energy on building a software company (which evolved into helping create software / Internet companies), and I lived my life every single moment – the ups, the downs, the dark depressed days, and the euphoric moments.

????Go do something important right now, whatever that is for you. The world needs it and your chances of living a meaningful, happy, and fulfilling life will increase dramatically.

????Brad Feld has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over twenty years. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars.