Jurvetson Delivers Lecture at Stanford

Anyone who knows Steve Jurvetson, a managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, knows that he has a passion for rocketry.

He also has a passion for disruptive technology, and he can deliver a polished, albeit speedy, lecture. (The video is available after the jump.)

Last week, Jurvetson gave his perspective on the market opportunities in innovation and technology during a lecture at Stanford University. Topics discussed include what VCs look for, the necessity for market disruption, interdisciplinary solutions (particularly across the bio-nano life sciences and engineering fields), and advice for those interested in working in the venture community.

Jurvetson packed a lot of interesting topics into the hour-long talk, and I admit the gene talk completely flew over my head. But I liked his thoughts near the end, as he was fielding questions, when he said that his venture firm likes to foster diversity and look broadly for potential new hires.

In the early part of the video, he chatted a bit about what makes venture firms want to go after technology, as opposed to retail or service businesses.

“Most of the game-changing advancements in science come from left field,” he says.

As an example, Jurvetson talks some about Hotmail, the email service provider that Microsoft bought in 1997 for $400 million. DFJ seeded the company and Jurvetson gives a brief history lesson about it, including asking the question: “Where was Hotmail based?”

The answer is at 10:20 in the video.