On paper, there’s a lot that’s admirable about Scott Kaufman: he has a Ph.D. from Columbia University; he worked for years to reduce corporate carbon footprints; he built a successful big data startup, which he founded soon after receiving a life-changing diagnosis. But listen to him talk and you’ll realize it’s his thoughtful philosophy in the face of life’s range of challenges that makes him an admirable (and successful) entrepreneur and global citizen.