Heard Dave Neeleman, founder and CEO of Jet Blue Airways give a talk at Stanford’s School of Engineering last night.

I flew Jet Blue once, to NYC, and was impressed with the experience – all leather seats, spacious leg room, multi-channel TV in every seat, and all ticketless. So I was curious to see the force behind this company.

What I didn’t anticipate was how soft-spoken and understated he appeared. Here’s a man who didn’t take stock options when they were offered.

Why? Because he already had 20% of the company, and that was enough. He donates his salary to a fund for helping employees who are facing catastrophic events in their lives. He spends at least 3 hours a week on his own airline flights, interviewing every passenger and helping out the crew members serving snacks and cleaning up after the flight. Talk about walking your talk. On top of all that he has nine children.

His parting words of advice to the gathered couple hundred aspiring entrepreneurs was to ask yourself, “if your company went away tomorrow, would anybody miss it? Would the customers miss your products or services? Would your employees miss working for your company?”

Important questions. Good reminder that we all want our lives to have meaning. There’s no reason that this fundamental desire should fly out the window with regards to work.