Tweet

Before Microsoft: The Upbringing of Bill Gates

Article Overview: “It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure,” says Bill Gates. Failure is something Gates would see little of during his lifetime.

Before Microsoft: The Upbringing of Bill Gates

“It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure,” says Bill Gates. Failure is something Gates would see little of during his lifetime.

Born on October 28, 1955, William Henry Gates III demonstrated his intelligence and ambition at an early age. His family was a prominent one, with a history in business and politics that Gates would later take to new heights. With his father a lawyer, his grandfather the vice president of a national bank and his great grandfather a state legislator, success ran in the family. His mother was also the first woman Regent at the University of Washington. Gates spent his early years in Seattle, Washington with his two sisters and his parents.

The family’s affluence allowed Gates to be sent to the best private schools in his hometown. In elementary school, Gates displayed a superior knack for math and science. He continued to impress his parents and teachers at Lakeside School, one of the finest private schools in Seattle known for its academic rigor.

It was at Lakeside where Gates got his first exposure to computers. In 1968, the school held a fundraiser in order to be able to purchase computer time on a DEC PDP-10, which was owned by General Electric. Immediately, Gates became inseparable from the computer, often skipping classes and failing to hand in schoolwork in order to be in the computer room and explore the new machine. At the age of 13, Gates wrote his first computer program, a tic-tac-toe game. It was in this computer lab where Gates would meet his Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and many other of the first programmers that Microsoft would go on to hire.

After Gates and his friends had used up all the allowed computer time for the entire school in just a few weeks, Lakeside entered into an agreement with Computer Center Corporation (CCC) to continue providing computer time to its students. Though they were once banned from the system for their hacking activities, Gates and his comrades could not be stopped.

In 1968, Gates, Allen and two other Lakeside students formed the Lakeside Programmers Group to try and put their computer skills to good use. In return for unlimited computer time, CCC hired the group to find bugs within their own system. “It was when we got free time at C-cubed that we really got into computers,” recalls Gates. “I mean, then I became hardcore. It was day and night.”

By 1970, CCC had gone bankrupt. In order to continue honing their skills, Gates and his friends began using the computers at the University of Washington, where Allen’s dad worked. After successfully designing a payroll program for Information Sciences Inc., Gates and Allen decided to branch off on their own. Soon after, they created Traf-O-Data, an innovative program that measured traffic flow in Seattle, and were compensated with $20,000.
In 1973, Gates enrolled in the pre-law program at Harvard University, but as in high school, found himself skipping classes in order to spend time in the computer lab. He kept in close touch with Allen, who remained eager towards the idea of creating a software business with Gates. The following year, Allen showed Gates a picture in a magazine that would forever change both their lives.

Related Articles
  About Bill Gates
  Bill Melinda Gates
  Lesson #1: Stick To Your Vision
  Bill Gates Age
  Bill Melinda Gates Foundation

Article Tags: academic rigor, acti, best private schools, bill gates, computer center corporation, computer time, dec pdp, entire school, first computer, first exposure, math and science, parents and teachers, paul allen, school gates, seattle washington, state legislator, tic tac toe, tic tac toe game, william henry gates, william henry gates iii



Related Forum Posts
Re: Who inspired you to start? - Hi Evan, I was inspired by Mr. Bill Gates ever since I was a student learning Computers. But I was motivated for Internet as my Business, when I read his book "The Road Ahead" in 1995. It was in this book that Gates laid out his vision of an interconnected world built around the Internet. Based on the premise that life will be transformed by the convergence of inexpensive computing and inexpensive communications, Gates drew from his experience at the center of the personal computer revolution to give insights on the growth, evolution and impact of technology. I had always looked up to Bill Gates as my idol. When I read this book, it made me more focussed on Microsoft and Internet, The Internet was one of the upcoming things in this time. So I took over to the Internet as my primary business. Regards,
Re: Citizen Journalism: There's no such thing - I agree with ideasuniversity and OmnivoreInk, Steve should appoint a successor now. He should follow the example of Bill Gates who had left Microsoft in the hand of his able men
Re: Is it better to become an entrepreneur at an early age? - Most of the greatest entrepreneurs we know today started very early. Bill Gates started Microsoft at a tender age. Micheal Dell started also at a tender age. And a lot of others.
Re: Question of the Week: Who is your favorite entrepreneur of a - Great feedback Peter. I did a Facebook poll and Bill Gates was the #1 pick!
Re: Quote of the Day - "Just because something works doesn't mea - Good qoutes. Case study Microsoft Dos Microsoft Windows 1 very good Microsoft Window 3.0 Very good Microsoft Windows 95 Better Microsoft Windows 98 Better Microsoft Windows XP Better Microsoft Windows Vista Better Windows 7 Best More is still coming I used them all


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

E Mail Marketing Campaigns

Resistance to Change and How to Deal With It

What Is The Foundation for Your Vision?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.