Victor Hwang closed the substantive portion of his speech with this characteristically blunt observation about the relationship between effort and fortune. Having spent his career in venture capital — an industry built on calculated bets — Hwang understood better than most that success often involves a healthy dose of luck. But rather than leaving graduates with a fatalistic message, he reframed the equation. You can't control luck, but you can influence its odds. By being uncomfortable, opening doors, empathizing with strangers, and taking chances on new relationships, you create more surface area for fortunate collisions to occur. It was a fitting message from a man who had built his career at the intersection of innovation and human connection, and who had just connected the dots between Austin's frontier culture, America's wagon-caravan spirit, and the graduates' personal futures.