Bill Gates: Entrepreneur
"Bill Gates is a modern business phenomenon: the greatest of the cyber-tycoons. His is not simply a story of technical brilliance and enormous wealth; it is one of remarkable business vision and an obsessive desire to win. It is also about a leadership style that is radically different to anything the business world has seen before."
Dearlove, D. (1998)
William Gates III was born in Seattle, Washington, US, on October 28, 1955. His father, William Henry Gates (II) Jr., was a lawyer while his mother, Mary Gates, was a school teacher. At a very young age, Gates showed a lot of intelligence. At primary school, he was particularly fond of Maths and Science. Since his childhood, he was enjoyed reading business magazines. Noticing his eagerness to learn, his parents enrolled him in Lakeside Preparatory School at the age of 12. Here Gates saw a computer for the first time in his life.
Gates, along with his friend, Paul Allen , used to spend hours in front of the computer. Sometimes he spent the whole day in the computer room reading computer books and magazines and developing computer programs. Gates was so obsessed with the computer that he often missed his classes and never did his homework on time.
In late 1968, Gates and Allen, along with two other schoolmates, formed a group called the 'Lakeside Programmers Group'. Gates and Allen had visions of solving practical problems through the use of computers. They got an opportunity in 1971 when Information Sciences Inc. recruited them to develop a program to manage their payroll system.
Gates and Allen soon got many opportunities to prove their computer skills. In 1972, they started their own company called 'Traf-O-Data.' They developed a portable computer that allowed them to do analysis and prepare reports. This made them a sum of $20,000.
An entrepreneur has to have a persuasive style and possess good communication skills. This was a key factor in one of the turning points in Gates' career, when at 25 he
Dearlove, D. (1998)
William Gates III was born in Seattle, Washington, US, on October 28, 1955. His father, William Henry Gates (II) Jr., was a lawyer while his mother, Mary Gates, was a school teacher. At a very young age, Gates showed a lot of intelligence. At primary school, he was particularly fond of Maths and Science. Since his childhood, he was enjoyed reading business magazines. Noticing his eagerness to learn, his parents enrolled him in Lakeside Preparatory School at the age of 12. Here Gates saw a computer for the first time in his life.
Gates, along with his friend, Paul Allen , used to spend hours in front of the computer. Sometimes he spent the whole day in the computer room reading computer books and magazines and developing computer programs. Gates was so obsessed with the computer that he often missed his classes and never did his homework on time.
In late 1968, Gates and Allen, along with two other schoolmates, formed a group called the 'Lakeside Programmers Group'. Gates and Allen had visions of solving practical problems through the use of computers. They got an opportunity in 1971 when Information Sciences Inc. recruited them to develop a program to manage their payroll system.
Gates and Allen soon got many opportunities to prove their computer skills. In 1972, they started their own company called 'Traf-O-Data.' They developed a portable computer that allowed them to do analysis and prepare reports. This made them a sum of $20,000.
An entrepreneur has to have a persuasive style and possess good communication skills. This was a key factor in one of the turning points in Gates' career, when at 25 he
References: Dearlove, D. (1998) Business the Bill Gates Way: 10 Secrets of the Worlds Richest Business Leader. Capstone Publishing, Oxford. Moguilnaia, N. (2006) Entrepreneurship In Business Today. McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead.