How to build a career you actually love | Bill Gurley
6/9/202620 min
Passion doesn't drive work — fascination does, says venture capitalist and author Bill Gurley. Drawing on years of research into the lives of high achievers, he shows why obsessive, lifelong learning is the real engine of career excellence.
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First 90 secondsElise Hu· Host0:01
[upbeat music] You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Most of us have been told to follow our passions. Author Bill Gurley spent six years researching the people who built extraordinary careers and has come to believe we may be fixating on the wrong thing.
Bill Gurley· Guest0:23
You see, passion doesn't invoke work. You could be passionate about the Cincinnati Reds and sit in a chair for three and a half hours drinking beer.
Elise Hu· Host0:31
In this talk, Bill shares what that research uncovered, making his case through the stories of people who found what they were meant to do, often because someone in their life asked the right question at the right moment. He shares the story of Uncle Richard, a man who sat down to dinner with his nephew Danny and said exactly the thing that needed to be said. That one conversation changed the course of everything that followed, and it's the kind of moment Bill believes most of us are capable of creating for others.
Bill Gurley· Guest1:01
Maybe all the world really needs is many, many more Uncle Richards, and I hope there's a bunch of you out there in the audience today.
Elise Hu· Host1:08
And stick around. After the talk, we caught up with TED's Head of Media and Curation, Helen Walters, who shared a few more thoughts about Bill's idea and what it was like to work with him behind the scenes. That's all coming up right after a short break. This episode is