Course

Vertical: Optimism in Overcoming Challenges

Stanford University
Course Lectures
  • Rodrigo Jordan, Founder of Vertical, suggests that technology and paradigms are changing at an accelerating pace. Because of this, what made one successful in the past may not lead to success in the future. Therefore, Jordan argues that entrepreneurship is a way of life in which on engages and tries to stay ahead of change over the course of your life.

  • Rodrigo Jordan, Founder of Vertical, describes a challenge in making the first crossing of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica, highlighting the role in optimism in allowing the team to shift their paradigm and successfully cross an ice valley. Jordan then argues that the entrepreneurs he admires have a similar, paradigm shifting optimism: despite the challenges and disappointments that his colleagues inevitably face, these entrepreneurs overcome their challenges with optimism.