David Weild seeks to inspire students to change the world

Earlier this week, David Weild challenged Lafayette students to make a difference and change the world.

Weild is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Weild and Co., and is the former Vice Chairman of the Nasdaq. He gave the inaugural lecture of President’s Entrepreneurship Lecture Series on Monday, speaking to student about his own work experience.

“The world needs difference makers,” Weild said in the beginning of his lecture, saying everyone in the audience should think deeply about what they wish to pursue in the world.

He discussed the past challenges the US has had to face, and transitioned into the challenges the college generation will have to face and solve. Passion is Weild’s key to success, believing that each person has a passion that can be put to use.

So what’s Weild’s passion? To put capital into the hands of scientists,engineers and entrepreneurs in order to help solve these problems of our current time.

Weild spent his lecture explaining how exactly he wanted to get capital into the hands of innovators. Ultimately, Weild and his colleague Ed Kim were able have their studies put to use and later turned into a piece of legislation now called the JOBS Act. This act had bipartisan support in Congress, and had several different results in an attempt to jumpstart the number of IPOs created per year in the free market. Thus, he said, it created more employment opportunities.

“We were a nation of entrepreneurs. We need to be a nation of entrepreneurs again,”Weild said, adding information on how the JOBS Act fostered entrepreneurship. Weild said that policies moving toward promoting entrepreneurship will be beneficial to the US in a number of ways, such as diversifying the economy.

He also discussed this in the context of diversity in the economy in order to build certain bridges.

“I liked that he talked about how diversity is what makes America different and unique, and how that relates to getting capital into the hands of engineers, entrepreneurs, and scientists,”KatimWoldemariam‘17 said.

By focusing on the concepts of passion and diversity throughout his lecture, Weild said the audience should consider how they could contribute to society in the near future.

“I challenge you to understand you can make a difference,”Weild said.