So, I'd like to take you back
to when you were a child and you first learned to ride a bicycle.
It was really your first test of courage.
You'd get on the bike, it sways, it wobbles, you fall...
Your parents tell you to get back on,
you start to paddle again, you gain momentum and then suddenly,
you take flight!
Remember that amazing feeling of success that sets in?
That's because learning to ride a bicycle is not just to learn a skill.
It's a deeper, human, emotional connection.
That's why the bike is a great example of how simple technology,
if used correctly, can bring out deep human emotions
and spin off a cycle of creativity and innovation.
The challenge we have today, is here's what we've done to technology.
I call this the "iBike".
We've taken it to such an extreme, that we're starting to disconnect.
Disconnect from the very thing that created technology.
The cycle of innovation.
You might think creating technology is actually complicated,
but it's really quite simple.
See, you take very passionate people,
you connect them together,
you inspire them,
they get very creative,
they fail a couple times,
and they reinvent.
It's really quite that simple.
The challenge is, are we hitting the very thing
which is connecting the passionate people
and starting to disconnect?
What's going to happen to all the creativity?
So, I'd like to tell you a little bit about my childhood.
My family and I actually emigrated here from Iran during the war.
My memories overnight went from learning how to ride a bicycle
in the hillsides of a beautiful country,
to sitting in a dark basement as bombs went off around us.
My fear quickly shifted to worrying about falling off of a bicycle,
to looking into my mother's eyes, as she tried to figure out
what she was going to do with her family.
My grandfather actually pleading with her
not to leave in the middle of the war with a small child.
He thought we were nuts.
We did it anyway, and we emigrated here to the United States.
So, growing up here, my father was heavily into technology,
so I naturally fell into it.
I had a quite nerdy childhood.
See, he actually made me program for hours on an old commodore 64.
Some people in this room have probably never even seen this.
Before I was allowed to go out and play with the normal kids.
My math flashcards, they looked a little something like this.
The old computer punch cards.
He used to make me build computer systems, too.
I can't tell you how many mather boards I fried
until I figured out and was successful at it.
So naturally, with that background, technology kind of became my universe.
So I thought when I come here today,
I definitely needed to cover all the topics
of mobile, social, big data, who could leave out the cloud.
All the things that have completely changed our lives.
And the way that we communicate, and the way that we connect.
Or is it really the way that we disconnect?
It's funny how our world has shifted to "Eat Pray Technology".
The love and high touch part is now all high tech.
It's almost feeling like it's more important than food and shelter.
We all know that sinking feeling when you think you forgot your mobile device.
You've got to run back home, because there's no way
you're going to function without it.
I had a dinner party a few weeks ago, and I was running around,
and I had no idea if people actually enjoyed themselves,
or if the food was any good, until the next morning,
I had to check my Facebook,
and of course my foody friends had pictures
of all the plates and things, and that's how I figured out
that everybody had a good time and the food was great.
It's nuts! This is the way we communicate?!
These devices have completely taken over our lives.
So, a recent study of our new generation
showed that they actually have a love-hate relationship with technology.
They feel extremely connected,
but yet so disconnected.
They have hundreds and thousands of Facebook friends and followers,
but feel really isolated.
They want technology to give them a more human, personalized experience.
They want the "why".
So this got me to think,
is technology just an enabler?
Is it just a tool?
It's how we do what we do, it's not the "why" or the true meaning
of innovation and creativity.
The successful innovators already know this.
Tony Hsieh.
He reinvented the way that we purchase shoes,
because he had a passion for delivering happiness.
Shoes just happened to be in the mix.
His team created Zappos.
And they've changed the personalized experience
that we have now, when we purchase those shoes.
What did you dream of as a kid?
Fast cars and rocket ships?
And bikes?
I know I did.
But few actually grew up to create them, like Elon Musk,
the man behind Tesla and SpaceX.
There's actually a couple Tesla's outside, and I swear I didn't coordinate that,
it's just by design.
Why did he do all that? For money? For profits?
No, he had already made millions and lost it.
He did it for Mars.
He wanted to send humanity there.
With his electric cars, he wanted to save the environment
and create a planet that our children could live on.
Kevin Plank. He was the self-proclaimed, sweatiest guy on the football field.
Through his grassroots business approach, he created Under Armour.
Why? He wanted to improve athletes' performance.
The "how" was the innovative technology, the fabric that he brought to the market
that actually cooled athletes' bodies off sooner.
Today, Under Armour still has that same philosophy,
they want to improve athletes' performance, it's just changed.
There's now wearable technology and devices out on the market.
These devices are what we call "the Internet of things".
If you look at the health and fitness industry,
we're a nation that's obsessed with FitBits and Nike FuelBands
and Garmin GPS devices.
Obsessed cyclists actually use an app called Strava to connect to one another,
and ironically it actually means strive.
So why do we do all that?
Because we want to be motivated.
We want to be inspired, we want to connect with people all around the world,
that can bring that to life for us.
The bike.
This technology has been reinvented dating back to the 1700s.
It went from a wooden scooter to steel and aluminium,
to carbon fibre, featherlike technology that you see here.
With electronic shifting, I can even plug my mobile device
and update the firmwear.
Crazy!
Cyclists pay the price of a modern day vehicle to own this thing.
It's pretty nuts.
Why?
Because we want to have that feeling that we once did.
When we were a child.
That feeling of freedom.
In corporate America, we get so fixated on the profits
on the bureaucracy, on the red tape.
We have countless meetings - I know I sit in a ton of them -
trying to figure out what this technology shift means
to all of us, and to our business
and making sure the profits are not impacted.
We're forgetting the very essence,
of what creates a successful business.
It's people.
It's emotions.
It's connecting to them.
It's bringing those to life.
It's so simple.
Inspire your employees, to create amazing products and services
that in turn inspire consumers
to purchase them.
It's really quite that simple.
Imagine if we teach our children
that technology is just a tool.
It's just an enabler.
It's how we do what we do.
It's not the "why"
We don't want the very cycle
of what created technology, the creativity,
to kill it, to stifle our innovation.
See, the simple notion could actually change the world to become
80% innovators and 20% laggers, versus the other way around.
Because possibly, if we continue down this spiral that we're going down today,
we're at risk of losing all the creativity
and the very thing that created technology.
What if my family and I didn't face our fears
and take some risks, and come to the United States?
What if this bike wasn't reinvented over the years
by very passionate people?
What if Zappos didn't deliver amazing shoes to our footsteps?
Well, I definitely would not be here.
Standing in my heels with my super fancy bicycle,
telling you that technology is just a tool.
and we cannot disconnect from one another.
and disconnect from the true feelings of what brings things to life.
Because we're at risk of losing all of our creativity, and becoming robots.
And if we lose that, what do we really have?
(Applause)