Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe on Saturday told graduating students at his alma mater to stay idealistic and curious and to “tune out the noise” ‒ and that life’s biggest challenges are when you learn the most.
Scaringe returned to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute [RPI] in upstate New York, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 2005. He spoke at Saturday’s commencement ceremony for the Class of 2025.
Scaringe told the new graduates that the most valuable lessons he’s learned in the past 20 years have come at his hardest moments. That includes a tough stretch for Rivian following its successful initial public offering in 2021. Soon after, the capital markets flipped, Rivian’s stock price dropped, the supply chain tightened, and the company had to let people go.
“I felt like I was suddenly punched in the face,” Scaringe said.
There were other difficult moments. Scaringe said he started the company that became Rivian the day after he finished his Ph.D. at MIT. He grew up a massive car enthusiast but came to understand that cars were also a source of serious global challenges: geopolitical conflict, poor air quality, and climate change.
He had an idea for a better way forward, but winning the support of others was not easy.
“When I started pitching Rivian to investors, it was almost comical how bad it would go,” he said. “It would be an understatement to say it was a lot of no’s and a lot of closed doors.”
He was eventually able to get enough money to build a prototype, only to realize it was the wrong product and he needed to pivot. That pivot is what ultimately brought Rivian to Normal, where the company now employs 8,000 people and makes electric trucks, SUVs and vans. The company has attracted billions from investors like Ford and Amazon and, more recently, forged a joint venture with Volkswagen.
“With the right mindset, hard challenges can teach you lessons you can’t learn any other way,” he said.
Scaringe shared with the Class of 2025 the three lessons he learned:
Stay idealistic. The best innovators and builders never lose this. Don’t let the bad or hard things become an excuse to build up armor or become close-minded, he said. “Even in the middle of a storm, we’re capable of more than we realize," he said.
Tune out the noise. Play your own game, and don’t let critics change how you see yourself and your ideas. “There’s a difference between advice and noise,” Scaringe said. “We all recognize that difference, and it’s in your control to choose to trust yourself.”
Stay curious. A lot of things you need to learn aren’t in a book, he said — like how to handle it when an investor stops you mid-pitch in a meeting to say your idea will almost certainly fail, or when an early prototype breaks down on the side of a mountain with the head of a key supplier inside. “Beyond staying cool, what can you learn? Asking why and seeking understanding is so critical for all of us as we continue to grow. Curiosity helps us learn from failures and see new opportunities.”
