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Steve Jobs delivering his commencement speech at Stanford

Here is “my” top 10 commencement speeches made by business leaders in colleges across America.

1) Steve Jobs – Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks — including death itself — at the university’s 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005. Watch

2) Jeff Bezos – Amazon founder and CEO, Princeton Alum (Class of 1986) gave the Baccalaureate address to Princeton University’s Class of 2010.  Watch.

3) Oprah Winfrey – Global media leader and philanthropist, spoke to the Class of 2008 at Stanford’s 117th Commencement on June 15, 2008. Winfrey drew on experiences from a career that began in 1976 when she co-anchored a television newscast, and she shared three lessons about feelings, failure and finding happiness. Watch

4) Bill Gates – Harvard Alum Part 1, Part 2

5) Marissa Mayer – Google VP delivers the commencement address at the Illinois Institute of Technology on May 16, 2009.  Watch

6) Eric Schmidt – Google CEO delivers the commencement address at the University of Pennsylvania on May 18, 2009. Watch

Another commencement address by Eric Schmidt. This time at Carnegie Mellon University on May 17, 2009 Watch

7) Larry Page – Google Co-Founder delivers the commencement address at the University of Michigan on May 2, 2009. Watch

8) Charlie Munger – Great speech by Warren Buffett’s business partner at USC Law commencement, May 2007. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

9) Michael Dell – Chairman and CEO of Dell Computer Corp delivered his commencement address at his alma mater, University of Texas at Austin on May, 2003. Here is the full transcript. Unfortunately, I could not find the video on the web. If you know, please share.

Bonus: Professor Randy Pausch – I know Professor Pausch was not a business leader. But his legacy is inspiring. At Carnegie Mellon University he delivered  an inspirational speech to the Class of 2008 at the Commencement ceremony on May 18, 2008. Watch. In case if you have not, also watch Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. It will change  your life. I know it changed mine.

1. This Week in Startups – Entrepreneur Jason Calacanis and a rotating group of guest experts bring you this weekly take on the best, worst, most outrageous and interesting stories from the world of Web companies.  Calacanis, a podcasting pioneer, gives you an insider’s look at what’s happening in the tech industry with his trademark blunt style and good humor.  Looking to start your own company?  Need strategies for improving your business of motivating your team?  Just want to catch up on what’s happening in Silicon Valley and beyond?  Your journey begins here.

2. Mixergy – Hosted by Andrew Warner, inspiring place where the ambitious learn from a mix of experienced mentors. The Mixergy Mission is to introduce you to doers and thinkers whose ideas and stories are so powerful that just hearing them will change you.

3. TED – well, no intro is needed here, unless you have been sleeping under the rock (since 1984). TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. TED2011 is happening during Feb 28 – Mar 4, 2011, but already sold out Don’t worry, check out the website, they post new talks regularly. As far as attending live show goes, it is on my must-attend-someday list.

4. Mike on America with Mike Hegedus – Former CNBC Correspondent Mike Hegedus used to cover business stories for CNBC’s “On the Money”. He is now Executive Producer at McKinley Reserve and also works at CBS Chicago. I do not know if he is still producing business stories in video format, but here are the links from his past coverages. Link 1, Links 2, Links 3. Of course, follow him on Twitter @MikeHegedus. I have written about him before.

5. Startups Uncensored – Monthly town-hall style conversations with some of the most successful tech leaders hosted by Jason Nazar, Co-Founder and CEO, Docstoc.com (the premier online community to find and share professional documents). One of their earlier episodes is here.

LeadsCon - conference and expo dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of those operating in the online lead generation industry. Next event: LeadsCon East, July 26 – 27, 2010 Marriott Marquis, NYC.

The Power of eMarketing Conference and Expo - Industry event for advanced eMarketing techniques, processes and best practices. Next Event: October 20-21, 2010. Baltimore, MD.

The Mobile Marketing Forum – brings the entire mobile marketing ecosystem together under one roof.

OMMA Global – the world of online, media, marketing and advertising

OMMA Mobile

OMMA Metrics -

The Mobile Insider Summit – mobile marketing

The Social Media Insider Summit – social media marketing

The Search Insider Summit – This premier event for brand marketers and agency professionals is to share leading edge information and their experience on search marketing in a comfortable learning environment.

The Email Insider Summit – Brand Marketers and agency decision makers will come together in a tranquil setting to network, share ideas, discuss and debate technology, while working collaboratively to improve overall business of email marketing as well as their own email marketing efforts.

The Omniture Summit – Adobe’s signature event for its Online Marketing  Suite (Powered by Omniture) users.

PubCon - Social Media, Search, Affiliates

Search Marketing Expo – SMX – is the search engine marketing conference from Third Door Media, the company behind the Search Engine Land news site, Sphinn.com, and the Search Marketing Now webcast series.

Search Engine Strategies (SES) – the leading global conference & expo series that educates delegates on search engine marketing (SEM), including optimization (SEO) and advertising strategies, tactics and best practices.

eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit – Optimize the value of your online marketing. The Official Summit of the Web Analytics Association (WAA).

BlogWorld New Media Expo – One of the largest New Media Events.

The Online Marketing Summit (hosted by ClickZ)

Connected Marketing Week (ClickZ)

B2B Marketing Summit (Marketing Sherpa) – two days of immersive, hands-on instruction covering the latest marketing strategies and techniques. Topics include lead nurturing, list building, conversion optimization, social media marketing, search, marketing/sales alignment, lead scoring, analytics, email marketing, direct mail, telemarketing and more.

Email Marketing Summit (Marketing Sherpa) – Email Summit Awards & Expo brings cutting edge case studies, training and research that address variety of email marketing needs.

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