I have read more about Bill Gates in the last couple of days than ever before. There have been several articles walking through his early days chugging off hrs in lakeside with Paul Allen, his days in Harvard staying away from classes, the early deals with IBM and the numerous battles to create the software industry as we know it today.
It does not matter whether people acknowledge his efforts or still maintain that he is a business monopolist or a strategic visionary or whatever – his baby ‘Microsoft’ is the world’s largest software company, revenues running in the big Bs (billions, I mean, not amitabh bachchan). That is a vision realized.
wow, it must have been a terrific 30+ years, the amount of passion required to perform at the highest level and fighting one battle after another, must have been energy sapping. And, starting off the second career , full time in the foundation, to fight diseases and building a world where every life is equal is truly truly remarkable and speaks loads of Bill Gates, the individual.
I truly wish 15 years from now, people forget Bill Gates – the technologist, the shrewd business, the founder and ex CSA of Microsoft. I truly hope that the only Bill Gates they know is the one who removed life threatening diseases such as malaria and made the world a much better place for a lot more under priveleged people, they only remember Bill Gates, the humanitarian.
I was priveleged to witness your final send off speech and could feel the emotions that SteveB expressed. You have shown that realizing a vision / dream is possible and fruitful as long as it is backed by a tremendous amount of passion, hiring the right people, with an unrelenting pursuit of the competitors, showcasing value for customers.
Good luck.
