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

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 and time.

At Harvard, the daily rhythm looked extreme even to his friends. Between studying and programming he could be away for 36 hours. When exhaustion took over, he crashed for 12 or more hours, fully clothed, shoes still on, and he kept that up for months. Hardware would have meant buying parts, hiring people to assemble the machines, and finding lots of space. He was cooling on building hardware. Software needed no wires and no factories. It matched the work he already wanted, alone in a room and focused for 36 hours. He and Paul believed that was where they had an advantage, and that they could even lead the way.

He wanted a field where he could be the absolute best. He got to Harvard thinking he might study math, then found a lot of people who were better at it, so he needed a different field.

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Transcript

#401 How Bill Gates Works ·

Founders

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  1. Why Did Larry Ellison Call Bill Gates More Dangerous Than Edison?David Senra reads Larry Ellison calling Bill Gates more dangerous as Rockefeller than he would have been as Thomas Edison.
  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. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  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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