Eric Demay

I am truly saddened by his passing.

He remains one of the most inspirational figure of my life. I have been following his work since the mid 90s. I, a young teenager at the time, was looking up to this man, whose passion was inextinguishable, whose vision and dreams were without constraint, whose determination was fearless. It stuck with me.

He verbalized this impression and what drives him in his commencement speech at Stanford in 2005, the same year I graduated. I could quote it all, but this part has helped me a great deal, figuring myself out, how and why I work, why I get up in the morning:

“I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Don’t settle. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Steve, you will be missed.