4 ms·

"Microsoft and its 29-year-old chairman, William H. Gates, clearly want to be No. 1 again." Really amazing what he had done by 29. As someone older than that,

"Microsoft and its 29-year-old chairman, William H. Gates, clearly want to be No. 1 again." Really amazing what he had done by 29. As someone older than that, I'm really starting to feel like I'm hitting the "older tier" of tech ages.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
adventured 9y ago
The majority of tech companies that have acquired significant size, were founded by people in the 30s (or older). Gates is an extreme outlier. I made a large compilation list of famous founders a while back. You might be surprised at how not particularly young most of them are. I won't repost it here, but here's a link to that thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15477686 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15477686
- em500 9y ago
  But four out of the current big five were founded by people in their early/mid-20s (only exception is Bezos who just turned 30 when he founded Amazon).
SteveBash 9y ago
Billy's mommy had ties with IBM CEO John Opel, this is often overlooked but it's the key to MS success. Don't overestimate the philantropist , he always had a rich family.
- telltruth 9y ago
  I've to say this is not very known... http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/11/obituaries/mary-gates-64-helped-her-son-start-microsoft.html http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/11/obituaries/mary-gates-64-h... She had been a regent at the University of Washington since 1975, the same year she became the first woman to serve as a director of First Interstate Bank and the first to serve as the president of the King County's United Way. She was later appointed to the board of the United Way of America; in 1983, she became the first woman to lead it. Right Time, Right Place Her tenure on the national board's executive committee is believed to have helped Microsoft, based in Seattle, at a crucial time. In 1980, she discussed with John R. Opel, a fellow committee member who was the chairman of the International Business Machines Corporation, the business that I.B.M. was doing with Microsoft. Mr. Opel, by some accounts, mentioned Mrs. Gates to other I.B.M. executives. A few weeks later, I.B.M. took a chance by hiring Microsoft, then a small software firm, to develop an operating system for its first personal computer. And this... http://prospectingprofessor.blogs.com/prospecting_professor/2005/12/bills_billions_.html http://prospectingprofessor.blogs.com/prospecting_professor/... Why did IBM even go to Redmond, WA in the first place? At the time, IBM president John Opel served on United Way's national board...as did Mrs. Gates. In 1980, when someone mentioned Microsoft to John Opel, he responded, "Oh, that's run by Bill Gates, Mary Gates' son." Behind the scenes, Mary Gates had spoken with John Opel about the new breed of small companies in the computer industry, which she felt were under-appreciated competitors of the larger firms with which IBM traditionally partnered.
  - scholia 9y ago
    > Why did IBM even go to Redmond, WA in the first place? That's not a mystery: it went to license Microsoft Basic, which was the most widely recognized Basic of its day. It dated back to the MITS Altair. So IBM would have gone to Redmond regardless of Mary Gates. However, it probably helped with the DOS deal, whereby Microsoft offered to save IBM's operating system bacon. Basic was a known quantity but MS-DOS didn't even exist.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

adventured 9y ago

The majority of tech companies that have acquired significant size, were founded by people in the 30s (or older). Gates is an extreme outlier. I made a large compilation list of famous founders a while back. You might be surprised at how not particularly young most of them are. I won't repost it here, but here's a link to that thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15477686 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15477686

em500 9y ago
But four out of the current big five were founded by people in their early/mid-20s (only exception is Bezos who just turned 30 when he founded Amazon).

SteveBash 9y ago

Billy's mommy had ties with IBM CEO John Opel, this is often overlooked but it's the key to MS success. Don't overestimate the philantropist , he always had a rich family.

telltruth 9y ago
I've to say this is not very known... http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/11/obituaries/mary-gates-64-helped-her-son-start-microsoft.html http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/11/obituaries/mary-gates-64-h... She had been a regent at the University of Washington since 1975, the same year she became the first woman to serve as a director of First Interstate Bank and the first to serve as the president of the King County's United Way. She was later appointed to the board of the United Way of America; in 1983, she became the first woman to lead it. Right Time, Right Place Her tenure on the national board's executive committee is believed to have helped Microsoft, based in Seattle, at a crucial time. In 1980, she discussed with John R. Opel, a fellow committee member who was the chairman of the International Business Machines Corporation, the business that I.B.M. was doing with Microsoft. Mr. Opel, by some accounts, mentioned Mrs. Gates to other I.B.M. executives. A few weeks later, I.B.M. took a chance by hiring Microsoft, then a small software firm, to develop an operating system for its first personal computer. And this... http://prospectingprofessor.blogs.com/prospecting_professor/2005/12/bills_billions_.html http://prospectingprofessor.blogs.com/prospecting_professor/... Why did IBM even go to Redmond, WA in the first place? At the time, IBM president John Opel served on United Way's national board...as did Mrs. Gates. In 1980, when someone mentioned Microsoft to John Opel, he responded, "Oh, that's run by Bill Gates, Mary Gates' son." Behind the scenes, Mary Gates had spoken with John Opel about the new breed of small companies in the computer industry, which she felt were under-appreciated competitors of the larger firms with which IBM traditionally partnered.
- scholia 9y ago
  > Why did IBM even go to Redmond, WA in the first place? That's not a mystery: it went to license Microsoft Basic, which was the most widely recognized Basic of its day. It dated back to the MITS Altair. So IBM would have gone to Redmond regardless of Mary Gates. However, it probably helped with the DOS deal, whereby Microsoft offered to save IBM's operating system bacon. Basic was a known quantity but MS-DOS didn't even exist.