'Silicon Valley' Actor Kumail Nanjiani on Failure, Purpose and Personal Growth

The actor-comedian in a commencement speech encouraged students to explore new ideas, be open to failure and meet different people.


BEAM Team

29 May, 2017

'Silicon Valley' Actor Kumail Nanjiani on Failure, Purpose and Personal Growth | BEAMSTART News

- From our Sponsors -

Twenty years ago, Kumail Nanjiani moved from his home country of Pakistan to attend college in the U.S. The comedian and star of HBO show Silicon Valley on Monday returned to his alma mater, Grinnell College, to deliver this year’s commencement address.

Impressed by the diversity of students at the school -- “white, black, queer, gender fluid, every religion, no religion” -- Nanjiani used his speech and his experience to encourage the graduates to meet people unlike them and to explore unfamiliar ideas.

From sharing his experience in a new country to falling in love to reaching success, Nanjiani had some powerful words for the graduating class -- and everyone else.

Here’s what you can learn from him:


1. Don’t be afraid to fail.

“Nobody is paying attention to your failure. The world is full of people failing. People are failing all around you. Failure is boring. Your failure will not be so spectacular that people will write articles about your failure or even remember your failure.


2. Live with purpose.

“You can go slow. Allow your dreams and goals to change, but live an intentional life.”


3. Meet different people.

“Populate your life with people different from you. Once you leave school you get to choose the kinds of people you’re going to be around rather than forced to be around them.”


4. Be able to grow.

“Being a fish out of water is tough, but that’s how you evolve.”

- From our Sponsors -

Latest Jobs

Backend/AI Engineer

GovEagle

New York,

Full Time

USD 120000 — USD 200000 yearly

Founding Engineer

Axiom

Texas,

Full Time

USD 150000 — USD 500000 yearly

Software Engineer - Backend/Fullstack

FurtherAI

California,

Full Time

USD 120000 — USD 210000 yearly

Senior Product Manager, Growth and Activation

NALA

England,

Full Time

USD 80000 — USD 110000 yearly

Founding Product Engineer

Type

New York,

Full Time

USD 175000 — USD 250000 yearly

Senior Software Engineer (Typescript | React)

Zeal

California,

Full Time

USD 160000 — USD 180000 yearly

Backend Engineer

GovernGPT

Quebec,

Full Time

USD 100000 — USD 150000 yearly

Full Stack Engineer

Entangl

California,

Full Time

USD 120000 — USD 170000 yearly

Strategic Outbound Development Representative

Hadrius

New York,

Full Time

USD 110000 — USD 150000 yearly

Senior Technical Product Manager

Seam

California,

Full Time

USD 170000 — USD 210000 yearly

BEAMSTART is a hub for everything Startups, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. Connect with a global community of people, and stay updated with the latest startup jobs, news, and discussions.

 
© 2016 - 2025 BEAMSTART. All Rights Reserved (Legal).