1

Bill Gates – A story of Success

Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in a family having rich business, political and
community service background. His great-grandfather was a state legislator and a mayor, his
grandfather was vice president of national bank and his father was a lawyer.
Bill strongly believes in hard work. He believes that if you are intelligent and know how to
apply your intelligence, you can achieve anything. From childhood Bill was ambitious,
intelligent and competitive. These qualities helped him to attain top position in the profession
he chose. In school, he had an excellent record in mathematics and science. Still he was
getting very bored in school and his parents knew it, so they always tried to feed him with
more information to keep him busy. Bill’s parents came to know their son's intelligence and
decided to enroll him in a private school, known for its intense academic environment. It was
a very important decision in Bill Gate's life where he was first introduced to a computer. Bill
Gates and his friends were very much interested in computer and formed "Programmers
Group" in late 1968. Being in this group, they found a new way to apply their computer skill
in university of Washington. In the next year, they got their first opportunity in Information
Sciences Inc. in which they were selected as programmers. ISI (Information Sciences Inc.)
agreed to give them royalties whenever it made money from any of the group’s program. As a
result of the business deal signed with Information Sciences Inc., the group also became a
legal business.
Bill Gates and his close friend Allen started new company of their own, Traf-O-Data. They
developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From this project they earned around
$20,000. The era of Traf-O-Data came to an end when Gates left the college. In 1973, he left
home for Harvard University. He didn’t know what to do, so he enrolled his name for pre-law.
He took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard's
toughest mathematics courses. He did well over there, but he couldn’t find it interesting too.
He spent many long nights in front of the school's computer and the next day asleep in class.
After leaving school, he almost lost himself from the world of computers. Gates and his friend
Paul Allen remained in close contact even though they were away from school. They would
often discuss new ideas for future projects and the possibility of starting a business one fine
day. At the end of Bill's first year, Allen came close to him so that they could follow some of
their ideas. That summer they got job in Honeywell. Allen kept on pushing Bill for opening a
new software company.
Within a year, Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard. Then he formed Microsoft. Microsoft's
vision is "A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer". Bill is a
visionary person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in high intelligence and
hard work has put him where he is today. He does not believe in mere luck or God’s grace, but
just hard work and competitiveness. Bill’s Microsoft is good competition for other software
companies and he will continue to stomp out the competition until he dies. He likes to play
the game of Risk and the game of world domination. His beliefs are so powerful, which have
helped him increase his wealth and his monopoly in the industry.
Bill Gates is not a greedy person. In fact, he is quite giving person when it comes to
computers, internet and any kind of funding. Some years back, he visited Chicago's Einstein
Elementary School and announced grants benefiting Chicago's schools and museums where
he donated a total of $110,000, a bunch of computers, and provided internet connectivity to
number of schools. Secondly, Bill Gates donated 38 million dollars for the building of a
computer institute at Stanford University. Gates plans to give away 95% of all his earnings
when he is old and gray.
2

Michael Dell built an empire by thinking small.

Dell, a multibillionaire and the founder of the PC company of the same name, transformed a
dorm room operation at the University of Texas to one of the world's largest corporations in
part by focusing on concrete issues--such as improving delivery time, cutting operation costs
and maintaining customer service--rather than trying to establish new markets, according to
analysts and former employees.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company now regularly trades the top spot in the PC market
with Hewlett-Packard, but that situation wasn't always on the cards. Packard-Bell, Compaq
Computer, Osborne, Zenith, and AT&T were all bigger--or had access to greater funding
through corporate parents--than Dell had, at times over the past 20 years.

"They were the first to pretend that (the PC) wasn't a specialty thing. They've always taken a
pragmatic approach to things," said Roger Kay, an analyst at IDC. "He (Dell) doesn't see it as
a personal quest."

This pragmatic ethos also explains a lack of surprise at the news that Dell will step down as
CEO in July in favor of current chief operating officer, Kevin Rollins. Rollins, who is also the
company's president, has been largely running the corporation, and his promotion has been
expected.

Still, the industry is littered with examples of No. 2 executives who didn't get a CEO spot
when a founder decided not to give up the role. Sun Microsystems and Oracle both had to
face questions from analysts and investors, after the departures of their second-in-command
executives (Ed Zander and Ray Lane, respectively). Gateway, for its part, fired former deputy
Jeff Weitzen, after he became CEO.

The PC maker's patent portfolio bears out Dell's practical streak as well. Critics often point
out that the company doesn't do a lot of independent research. As of August 2003, the 20-
year-old company had only been awarded 867 patents in 19 years--less than the total many of
its closest competitors receive in a year. In response, the company says it doesn't need to take
that route: Because it relies on standardized components, it doesn't need to spend money on
research and development.

Dell was also one of the first early PC companies to seek and integrate outside help. Over the
years, it has recruited a number of established executives to fill positions and mentor Dell
himself. Lee Walker, an investment banker, served as the one of the company's early senior
advisors. In 1994, the company recruited Mort Topfer, a 23-year Motorola veteran. Topfer
eventually became vice chairman and was instrumental in recruiting Rollins, sources said.

Not all of those recruits stayed long. IBM veteran James Vanderslice joined Dell in 1999. Two
years later, he announced his retirement. In addition, different executives have run Dell's
European operations over the past few years. And internal restructurings and new departments
often are not announced until long after they are set up.
3

Emphasizing accomplishments

Former employees generally agreed that the company has placed a strong emphasis on
recruiting and promoting individuals based on their previous accomplishments. "It was very
fluid," one ex-Dell worker told CNET News.com.

At the same time, it remains an intensely competitive environment. "Dell is pretty ruthless,"
another former staff member said.

According to Dell's 1999 book, "Direct From Dell," the PC company wasn't the company
head's first venture. He started his first business, Dell's Stamps, at the age of 12. It netted him
$2,000. "I learned an early, powerful lesson about the reward of eliminating the middleman,"
he wrote in the book.

At 16, Dell sold newspaper subscriptions to the Houston Post by canvassing mortgage and
marriage license lists, thus showing an interest in phone solicitation that somehow escaped the
eye of guidance counselors. He made $18,000 in his first year--more than some of his high
school teachers earned. By graduation, he was driving a BMW.

On a leave of absence from the University of Texas during the second semester of his
freshman year, he moved into a condominium and sold $80,000 worth of computers.

Now, the company Dell founded in May 1984 takes in billions of dollars a year, a meteoric
rise for the 39-year-old entrepreneur.