陶闖博士受邀參加加拿大約克大學2017屆畢業(yè)典禮并發(fā)表畢業(yè)演說，被授予約克大學榮譽法學博士學位。

　　10月18日(多倫多當?shù)貢r間)下午4時，陶闖博士受邀參加加拿大約克大學(York University)2017屆畢業(yè)典禮并發(fā)表畢業(yè)演說，被授予約克大學榮譽法學博士學位(Honorary Doctor of Laws )。

　　約克大學(York University)是加拿大最負盛名的綜合研究性大學，位居世界前列。陶闖博士曾任教并創(chuàng)立約克大學地理信息工程專業(yè)，專設“陶氏”工程教育基金鼓勵創(chuàng)新事業(yè) 。此次兩千多人的畢業(yè)典禮上，約克大學授予其最高榮譽法學博士學位(Honorary Doctor of Laws )，加拿大安大略省總督親自接待慶賀。

　　 2017 約克大學畢業(yè)典禮現(xiàn)場

　　陶闖博士，連續(xù)創(chuàng)業(yè)者、知名企業(yè)家、投資人，如今的他多重身份，時間流轉回22年前，他就是一個身無分文的普通學生。求學加拿大，初來乍到，除了熱情似乎什么都沒有了，越洋千里堅定尋求更好的教育機會。

　　When innovator, entrepreneur and visionary Vincent Tao first arrived in Canada, he had nothing but a clean basement floor to sleep on, and his passion for education.

　　22年前的1995年，陶闖離開中國，來到卡爾加里大學繼續(xù)攻讀地理信息工程學的博士學位。他清楚記得當時的自己只能從路邊或者舊貨市場添置一些零散的舊家具，再后來又花了850美金，買了車。“這是我當時最大的一筆支出”，他告訴大家，“結果，鄰居告訴我，四個車輪大小都不一樣。”

　　That was 22 years ago, in 1995, when he came from China to pursue a PhD in the field of geomatics engineering at the University of Calgary, and he remembers with clarity furnishing his basement apartment with items left to the curb, or from garage sales. Eventually he purchased a car, for $850.

　　“That was the most expensive item I had ever had,” he told graduands of York’s Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health and Lassonde School of Engineering on Oct. 18 after receiving an honorary doctor of laws. “And then one day, my neighbour told me that my car had four different sizes of wheels.”

　　2017 約克大學畢業(yè)典禮陶闖博士發(fā)表演說

　　曾經住過地下室，到后來建立起10億美金價值的企業(yè)，這是一段漫長艱辛的經歷。對他來說，跨出萬里長征第一步，就是樹立目標。

　　That was the beginning of a journey that would take him from sleeping on a basement floor to becoming the founder of a billion-dollar international company. The first step in that journey, he said, was setting a goal.

　　第一目標——他希望成為一位教授，一位研究學者。照如今的成就看來，顯然，這一步邁得勤懇務實。他的研究成果在地理信息領域受到廣泛認可，一舉斬獲七項國際大獎，贏得大額獎金，也順利被評為大學教授。2001年，他加盟約克大學，被授予加拿大國家首席研究教授，幫助約克大學創(chuàng)立地理信息工程專業(yè)。

　　His first goal was modest, compared to what he’s achieved, and he set his sights on becoming a professor and researcher. Eventually, his research was recognized and he earned seven international awards and scholarships. From there he was offered a position as a professor, and in 2001 he moved to York University and was awarded a Canada Research Chair, and helped to build York U’s Geomatics Engineering program.

　　一旦你的目標建立起來了，什么對你是最重要，一切了然于心。然而，他說，這并非那么容易，尤其是當一個人一面承受著巨大的壓力，另一方面無數(shù)的選擇和機會圍著你轉，常常就會忘記初衷是什么。

　　“If your goal is set, you will know what matters most to you,” he said. “However, it’s easy to forget it all when you are confronted with many daily pressures and choices.”

　　其二，顛覆自己，尋求更高的突破。

　　Once your goal is set, you need to strive for a breakthrough, he told graduands.

　　如何商業(yè)化自己的研究所學，如何對測繪地理行業(yè)做出貢獻，他慢慢開始思考這些問題。他決定做出一些改變——成立了一家初創(chuàng)公司GeoTango，將研究成果商業(yè)化。轉眼一年過去了，一件產品都沒能賣出，公司唯一的銷售也離開了，無奈他只有變身“銷售員”，嘗試各種渠道接觸任何可能的客戶，“推銷售賣”自己的產品。

　　公司終于迎來了第一位客戶，提及此事，陶博士依然難掩當年的興奮和激動，之后越來越多的客戶開始陸續(xù)找上門來。

　　His breakthrough was driven by his desire to commercialize his work, and make an impact in the industry. He funded a startup company selling cutting-edge and innovative technology in global mapping – but after one year, he had not made one sale, which forced the only sales staff to leave. He became his own sales person, tracked down the CEO of a company that was his ideal customer, and found a way to deliver an elevator pitch.

　　“This company became my first customer,” said Tao, adding that this sale sparked interest from many other companies.

　　01年，GeoTango創(chuàng)立，05年公司被微軟收購，陶博士隨后開始了他的微軟五年。他竭盡所學，發(fā)揮所長，開創(chuàng)性成立并領導開發(fā)微軟公司下全球最大地圖系統(tǒng)--微軟虛擬地球。

　　Tao’s company was later acquired by Microsoft, where he then worked and devoted his skill and knowledge to geomatics. He would eventually make a contribution to the development of Microsoft’s world’s largest global mapping system, Virtual Earth.

　　Greg Sorbara(左) 陶闖(中) Rhonda Lenton(右)

　　陶闖(Vincent Tao)被授予約克大學榮譽法學博士

　　陶博士最后提出一條建議 “關鍵在于堅持”。

　　The final piece of advice Tao offered is that persistency counts.

　　當時正值中國經濟突飛猛進，還在微軟工作的他明察于心，他做了一個大膽決定，毅然回到國內，擁抱互聯(lián)網發(fā)展大浪。

　　When he was working at Microsoft, there were indications that the Chinese economy was growing rapidly, so he made the bold move to move back and “catch this wave.”

　　2009年，他以創(chuàng)始合伙人的身份加入PPTV，當時還是一家專于體育賽事和電視直播的網絡視頻公司。中國的互聯(lián)網市場和美國相比，存在巨大差異，競爭也更為激烈。他前后接觸了超過60家投資機構，沒有一家愿意投資。

　　“當時公司把錢都燒完了，我不得不拿出自己的錢，給超過200 名員工付薪水。”即使到了最艱難的時候，也沒有放棄的念頭。

　　In 2009, he did that, and co-founded a company called PPTV, an Internet video company that offers live streaming of sports and TV. While waiting for the “wave,” Tao realized China’s Internet market was vastly different from North America’s, and highly competitive. He approached more than 60 venture capital funders with no offer.

　　“Our company was running out of cash and I had to use my personal money to pay for the salary of over 200 employees,” he said. But, he didn’t give up.

　　轉折出現(xiàn)在2010年圣誕。經一位朋友推薦，陶闖有機會碰面軟銀集團孫正義先生。這位亞洲最著名的投資人答應留給他10分鐘時間。

　　“我明白這10分鐘是多么至關重要，”他回憶，當時整晚都在準備，熬了一整夜反反復復修改。

　　最終，PPTV成功引入軟銀戰(zhàn)略投資2.5億美金，打破了中國互聯(lián)網市場單筆融資成交額最大的記錄，同時也奠定PPTV 的發(fā)展規(guī)模，正式進軍成為一家獨角獸級的互聯(lián)網公司。

　　Right before Christmas of 2010, he was referred by a friend to the Chairman of Softbank, the largest Asian investor, and had locked in 10 minutes of his time.

　　“I knew how critical those 10 mins would be,” said Tao. “I worked overnight and got my business presentation revised multiple times.”

　　His company finally received US$250-million investment for PPTV from Softbank, which broke the record for the single largest investment in China’s Internet market. With this investment, PPTV grew to be a billion-dollar company.

　　一個人的智商并不是決定因素，堅持到底才是成功的關鍵。確實，他做到了，事實證明，堅持，成就了他的現(xiàn)在以至未來。

　　Persistence, he said, is a great substitute for talent and it is the key to success and so important to achievements in life.

　　“我也知道，如今的你們面臨很多選擇，有些甚至很艱難，工作也好，地點也好，未來也好，一切都是未知”，他告訴畢業(yè)生，“無論內心產生多大的波瀾，你需要的是不斷追問自己，了解什么對你才是最重要的。聽從內心的聲音，不懼風雨;忘記外面的蜚短流長，不畏人言。”

　　“I am sure that you are now facing choices, maybe tough choices, about your job, work place and future life,” he told the graduating class. “When confronted with many of those choices, you really need to think deeply about who you are and what really matters to you. You have got to hear your own heartbeat and quiet all the outside noises.”

　　“從現(xiàn)在起，你們將開啟全新的人生，未來注定不平凡，享受你們的旅程吧!”

　　“So from today on, you are about to experience something extraordinary. Enjoy your trip!”