Power Profile #1 - Bill Gates
August 8, 2007 – 11:41 pm | by Carl Zetterlund
This is the first Power Profile. These are designed to showcase successful people who you should know about and learn from. If there is any golden rule to follow, take advice from those who are where you want to be. This one is about Bill Gates, the most ambitious and enterprising man of our times. Enjoy.
This man does not need much introduction as he is pretty much known all over the world. I’m sure I could pick out a random poor kid in Africa, and he or she would know of him. Then again, he does send a lot of money there. To put things in perspective, most Asian people regard Bill Gates just as highly as their beloved religious leaders like Buddha. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harvard and Bill Gates are the two most popular words over there.
He is simply extraordinary. He started as a Harvard drop out and made it all the way to the top of the world in terms of wealth. I believe he got to $70 billion at one point. Keep in mind this is pocket change to the era of Carnegie and gang (excess of $150 billion in today’s value). Even though this is an enormous amount of wealth, he ushered the era of mass computing and became its figure head.
Mass computing has been the most radical change in human history by far. You can argue with me, but you’re wrong. Ok… let’s get some insight into his life.
This guy was SMART. He was raised in a well to do middle to high class family, so he had access to great resources. However, he had ambition, a whole bunch of it. By 17, he sold his first computer program, a time-tabling system for his high school for $4,200. That’s a lot of money back then. He scored 1590 on the SAT (not that it means everything) and told his university professors that he’d become a millionaire by the age of 30.
Well… he became a billionaire at age 31, which is a little more than a million. So what do we know? He had clear understanding over his environment. He knew that computers and software were going to change the world even though no one at the time understood it. He stuck to his vision as evidenced by taking massive action.
He may have seemed like a typical nerd, but he had a veracious appetite for business. He could deal with the best of them. He didn’t put up with any bullshit from his employees either. It is well supported that he would employ harsh tactics such as telling employees that their ideas were stupid to see if the employee could back it up. Many employees admit that he is no nice guy. If you work at Microsoft, you’ll see this reflected in the company culture.
To top it off, he gives his money away to the higher cause. What a great guy huh? Sure, but that’s only half the picture. It’s by far the greatest move he can make to cement himself in people’s minds for centuries to come. I know most people would spend their money on emotional thrills, but for the greatest of people, the greatest ego boost is to help as many people as you can.
We all have something to learn from Bill Gates.
Carl
P.S. I highly recommend his book, Business @ The Speed of Thought. This is a man who obviously knows what he is doing. To read his own words will help you understand what it takes to be the next leader of the world and offer you an understanding of the significant trends of our times. Success has nothing to do with luck, and Bill Gates knows this. Buy it right now on Amazon or B&N.
