To the Class (and Future Entrepreneurs) of 2025

When I graduated from college, most of my classmates were headed to graduate school or diving into corporate America, taking roles at big established companies like Citibank, General Electric, or IBM. That was the path we were expected to take.

Though I had spent most of college starting new businesses, when it came time to choose what was next, I followed the crowd and joined corporate America, moving to Ohio to work for P&G. I knew it was a great marketing company, and I’d learn a lot — and that might serve me well when I was able to do what I really wanted to do, which was be an entrepreneur.

You see, during my senior year, I’d come across a book called The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler. In it, he described a global transformation, one where people were part of a digital global village where they could access copious information and services and build communities across borders and time zones.

The idea lit a fire in me. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wanted to be part of it, but didn’t see a path forward.

Hence, my stint at P&G, which was followed by a year in Kansas working as the Director of New Pizza Development for Pizza Hut, headquartered in Kansas.

I experimented with new pizzas by day, but spent nights and weekends on my personal computer, connecting to bulletin boards and the rudimentary online services that existed at the time.

Then I saw an opening and moved to D.C. to join a fledgling telecommunications startup. A few months later, it was on the brink of bankruptcy. Thankfully, two of the people I met there joined me to start AOL.

Looking back, it was a circuitous roller coaster—one that my parents didn’t really understand. But it was all about finding my path to entrepreneurship.

The landscape is different now. Colleges don’t just have entrepreneurship classes — they have full-on degree programs. Students can launch startups with the support of faculty and other university resources. And yet, even with these changes, many of you may still feel the pressure to travel the road most traveled and get a “real job.”

So, as you step into this next chapter, I want to do what I can to nurture the spark many of you likely have had burning in you for some time and encourage you to take the entrepreneurial leap. Because the truth is, we desperately need more entrepreneurs in this country.

In 2016, after I wrote my book The Third Wave (a title that paid homage to Toffler, and talked about the way in which the Internet was revolutionizing major sectors of our society), the number one question I got was: “What’s the Fourth Wave, Steve?” At the time, I could not yet imagine the rise of AI as we now know it. Sure, the technology has existed since the 1960s, but the pace at which it has entered the mainstream is staggering. It took AOL nine years to reach one million subscribers. ChatGPT reached 100 million users in three months.

This isn’t just a new technology; it’s a technological revolution. And keeping up won’t be enough—we need people to shape it. To harness it in ways that improve lives, expand opportunity, and solve real problems for real people. But to do that, we need innovators who are willing to step up to the plate. We need builders from every background, every zip code, and every life experience.

You likely can’t reimagine how we grow crops if you’ve never stepped foot on a farm. We need entrepreneurs who are embedded in the problems they’re solving. Who bring lived experience, not just technical expertise.

So whatever desire you feel right now, whatever nudge has whispered to you about starting something, fixing something, inventing something: listen to it.

Because at its core, that’s what entrepreneurship is: not starting a business, but answering a calling. It’s about seeing something missing in the world and deciding, “I’m going to build that.” It’s about refusing to wait for permission. It’s about leaning into uncertainty.

It’s about acting, not because the path is clear, but because your conviction is. And to take that action even though your family and friends are likely skeptical.

Here are a few lessons to keep in mind as you embark on your entrepreneurial journey:

• Timing is everything: We launched AOL before most people had even heard of the Internet. For a decade, we were early. Then, almost overnight, we were everywhere. Don’t just ask: “Can this be built?” Ask: “Is the world ready?” And: “What can I do to accelerate that readiness?”
• Partnerships are your superpower: AOL didn’t win because we built everything ourselves. We partnered (with telecoms, media, and tech firms) to expand our reach. In every wave of technological progress, collaboration will be more powerful than competition. OpenAI’s success, for example, was largely propelled by a partnership with Microsoft.
• Policy matters: The companies that shaped the Internet succeeded, in part, because we engaged with policymakers early. If you want to build something that lasts, you need to understand — and help shape — the rules of the road.
• Your first job isn’t CEO — it’s Chief Recruiting Officer: Find people smarter than you. Bring together people with a range of skills and perspectives. And then knit them into a team.
• Focus is a force multiplier: Every “maybe” you say yes to steals time from what really matters. Better to do a few things well than boil the ocean.
• But dealing with ambiguity is a core skill for entrepreneurs: For large companies, the challenges and priorities are usually clear, and everybody in the organization can be assigned specific tasks. Things aren’t that clear with startups. There are often more questions than answers. Agility is therefore key. You need to embrace this and build a team that does the same.
• Bet on people and places others overlook: Innovation doesn’t just happen on the coasts. It’s happening in cities across America. Some of the most promising founders are building quietly, far from the spotlight. Don’t underestimate them — and don’t be afraid to be one of them. Don’t believe those who tell you that if you aren’t living in Silicon Valley, you don’t have a chance. You do. Start now — from where you are.
• Build with purpose: Success isn’t just financial. At its best, entrepreneurship changes lives, revitalizes communities, and moves society forward. Align your team around a vision that gives them a purpose and reason to fight on when there are dark days, which there will be.

It was my great fortune to help get America online. Now it’s your turn.

As I wrote in The Third Wave:

“This moment should speak to the innovator inside you. The one who refuses to accept the world as it is….There will be headaches and heartaches. The naysayers will be out in full force, but these are the people who saw the first automobiles and jeered, ‘Get a horse.’”

Ignore them. Take action. Be fearless.

Build something that makes you proud — but not so proud that you stop dreaming about what comes next.

Good luck!