It's interesting you say that (Adult in the Room), since my interactions with him were kind of the opposite. I don't mean that he was childish, but that saying

It's interesting you say that (Adult in the Room), since my interactions with him were kind of the opposite. I don't mean that he was childish, but that saying evokes a feeling of tempering one's impulses in a way that he didn't seem interested in doing. I met him at one company mixer and he was regaling us with many stories from Intuit's past. Someone asked him if he'd like another beer (he'd had a few already) and his response was, "I can't drink from an empty bottle." I also saw him do tequila shots with the head of our business unit on stage at a fireside chat they had. I don't mean to paint him as a lush, because that didn't seem like the case, but more to point out how genuine he was. With him, there was no concession to propriety. He did and said whatever he felt like doing or saying. I can see why the companies he lead and advised tended to have great culture because I think the first step is for the leaders to be as warm/friendly and genuine as possible and Bill had those qualities in spades.