4 ms·

MS is worth a lot and yes they have helped productivity. Did Gates do that or did he do it with the help of many people before him inventing all sorts and many

MS is worth a lot and yes they have helped productivity. Did Gates do that or did he do it with the help of many people before him inventing all sorts and many workers adding software. Were the workers compensated sufficiently for the value they added? Did MS use a pseudo monopoly using the legal system to capture more value than they actually added? Gates did a lot but he stood on the shoulders of giants, seemed to have some "sharp" business practices enabled by our monopoly loving nation states and a lot of employees did the heavy lifting. I'm not criticising Gates, I don't mean to pick on him. If we had cheaper land I think the balance would shift to workers being less over a barrel and more able to negotiate higher wages to capture a greater share of their added value.

tome 11y ago
Then I think what you're saying is lots of people create millions or billions of dollars worth of value, but few of them capture it. That's fair. I think one of the lessons of this book (at least subtextually) would be to aim to caputure the value you create.
mywittyname 11y ago
Managing people is a critical component to a successful business. While he did get his hands dirty a lot during the early years, you can't take away from him credit just because he commanded others to do the labor. I understand and appreciate you sentiment. You're right, it wasn't entirely due to him, it was a collaboration between hundreds of people. But, if he left during the very early years, it's an almost certainty that MS would not have achieved its success and influence.
- branchless 11y ago
  I still think he's very far from doing it alone, he's using tech that govt helped build, he's using infra also that is common. They should tax these guys more. Someone would have done "computers", Gates or someone else. Taxing them more wouldn't put them off.

tome 11y ago

Then I think what you're saying is lots of people create millions or billions of dollars worth of value, but few of them capture it. That's fair. I think one of the lessons of this book (at least subtextually) would be to aim to caputure the value you create.

mywittyname 11y ago

Managing people is a critical component to a successful business. While he did get his hands dirty a lot during the early years, you can't take away from him credit just because he commanded others to do the labor. I understand and appreciate you sentiment. You're right, it wasn't entirely due to him, it was a collaboration between hundreds of people. But, if he left during the very early years, it's an almost certainty that MS would not have achieved its success and influence.

branchless 11y ago
I still think he's very far from doing it alone, he's using tech that govt helped build, he's using infra also that is common. They should tax these guys more. Someone would have done "computers", Gates or someone else. Taxing them more wouldn't put them off.