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Back to #401 How Bill Gates Works, with David Senra.

How Much Did 5 Percent of Microsoft Sell for?

David Senra says Bill Gates sold 5 percent of Microsoft for $1 million to Technology Venture Investors, TVI. The sale had been under discussion for some time, and Microsoft did not need venture capital.

Gates knew the company had to go public, and he did not want to. Senra reads him saying that a year before the offering, all he was thinking and dreaming about was selling software, not stock. In a 1997 interview, the money raised in the public offering was never touched. It was still in the bank with the other $5 billion Microsoft had. Senra calls the company financially efficient, one that printed cash.

He then turns to Overdrive, the sequel to Hard Drive, and he is not sure the book is worth reading even once.

Grokipedia·Microsoft·David Senra

Transcript

#401 How Bill Gates Works ·

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  2. Why Did Bill Gates Treat Constraints as a Friend?David Senra says young Bill Gates treated constraints as a friend.
  3. How Did Bill Gates Learn to Code From a Dumpster?David Senra reads that Bill Gates learned by pulling other people's code out of a dumpster.
  4. Why Did Bill Gates Choose Software Over Hardware?David Senra reads Bill Gates choosing software over hardware because manufacturing computers seemed too risky, while writing software took only brain power…
  5. What Did Bill Gates Start When Software Was Free?David Senra reads Bill Gates on starting a pure software company when software was supposed to be free.
  6. How Did a Best-efforts Clause Save Microsoft?David Senra reads Bill Gates on the best-efforts clause that later got Microsoft out of an exclusive license.
  7. How Many People Worked at Microsoft After Four Years?David Senra says four years in, Microsoft had just 11 employees. He thinks the count might be 12.
  8. Why Did Bill Gates Remove His Car Radio?David Senra says Bill Gates took the radio out of his car so the drives between home, the office, and the airport could be spent thinking about Microsoft.
  9. Why Did Bill Gates Stare at Philippe Kahn's Photo?David Senra reads that Bill Gates was staring at a photograph of Philippe Kahn, the rival he had spent years trying to get rid of.
  10. What Did Bill Gates Want From Seattle Computer?David Senra reads Paul Allen's account of what Bill Gates wanted from Seattle Computer Products: a sale, not a license, so Microsoft owned DOS.

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