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One of the most interesting characters from the documentary "Triumph of the Nerds" was Kildall. His company created CP/M, and depending on who's telling the sto

by apo 8y ago

One of the most interesting characters from the documentary "Triumph of the Nerds" was Kildall. His company created CP/M, and depending on who's telling the story either lost the deal with IBM to create the operating system for the PC, or just didn't care about it. Here's the quote about him: Let's say for a minute that Eubanks was correct, and Gary Kildall didn't give a shit about the business. Who said that he had to? CP/M was his invention; Digital Research was his company. The fact that it succeeded beyond anyone's expectations did not make those earlier expectations invalid. Gary Kildall's ambition was limited, something that is not supposed to be a factor in American business. If you hope for a thousand and get a million, you are still expected to want more, but he didn't. If this is true, he was the polar opposite of almost everyone else in the story. It reminds me of that line in Breaking Bad when Jesse asks Walter how much is enough. Kildall knew the answer, and stuck with it. I didn't get that sense from any other character, except maybe Woz. Kildall spent the later part of his career hosting The Computer Chronicles, a PBS weekly news show that ended up documenting the entire early history of personal computers. The shows are on YouTube and are fascinating to watch: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJ6eQKpHZgsZBla4JgKj3A https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJ6eQKpHZgsZBla4JgKj3A

ryandrake 8y ago
I'm convinced that, with few exceptions, to succeed in business requires you to destroy that part of your brain that understands the word "enough". What salary next year is enough? How many assets is enough? Business leaders will never say. How much profit this year is enough? Shareholders will never give you a figure--more is always better than less. These people might have goals, but they are meaningless because when they reach those goals, they don't stop. Unending accumulation is the only way. Anyone who does have a concept of "enough" gets out-competed by the ones who don't.

by apo 8y ago

ryandrake 8y ago

I'm convinced that, with few exceptions, to succeed in business requires you to destroy that part of your brain that understands the word "enough". What salary next year is enough? How many assets is enough? Business leaders will never say. How much profit this year is enough? Shareholders will never give you a figure--more is always better than less. These people might have goals, but they are meaningless because when they reach those goals, they don't stop. Unending accumulation is the only way. Anyone who does have a concept of "enough" gets out-competed by the ones who don't.