They had very different circ*mstances: Bill Gates was the son of wealthy parents... (2024)

huxley on Dec 3, 2012 | parent | context | favorite | on: Don't read TechCrunch

They had very different circ*mstances:

Bill Gates was the son of wealthy parents, his father was a partner in the law firm Preston Gates & Ellis, his mother was on board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way.

Bill got a sweetheart deal from IBM, in part due to his mother serving on the United Way board with Jon Opel, chair of IBM.

Steve Jobs was adopted by Paul Jobs, a mechanic and a carpenter, and Clara Jobs, who was a payroll clerk for Varian Associates. Neither of his adoptive parents had the opportunity to attend college.

Jobs sold his minivan and Wozniak sold his HP scientific calculator to initially fund development of the Apple I.

If you have the option of being born to parents with extreme wealth and connections, I highly recommend it over fundraising.

They had very different circ*mstances: Bill Gates was the son of wealthy parents... (1)

brudgers on Dec 3, 2012 [–]

One may dismiss Gate's success as due to the resources of his parents. However, Microsoft was not his first foray into entrepreneurship. I suspect that bootstrapping was always the plan. Just as Apple always anticipated taking venture capital.

Jobs had the good fortune to be raised in Silicon Valley. Had he been in Topeka, there would not have been a viable market of hobbyists for Apple I kits. Then again, he wouldn't have known Wozniak who actually built the damn thing, either.

Luck played a factor in the fortunes of both men.

The funding of Gates and Jobs is a parable. The extended version includes the prodigal son's return.

They had very different circ*mstances: Bill Gates was the son of wealthy parents... (2)

huxley on Dec 3, 2012 | parent | next [–]

I don't completely disagree with you, a good start in life and tons of money doesn't guarantee you future success, but luck alone doesn't pay the bills either, that takes money.

You can have a great viable market and if you don't have the money to build the widgets, you are stuck pounding sand.

BTW if Wozniak hadn't met Steve Jobs, he might have spent the rest of his days working at HP, being one of hundreds of brilliant engineers nobody has ever heard about.

Woz is many things, but he is not --and was never-- an ambitious corporate leader. Wozniak built the Apple I and Apple II but it was Steve Jobs that built Apple Inc.

They had very different circ*mstances: Bill Gates was the son of wealthy parents... (3)

huxley on Dec 3, 2012 | root | parent | next [–]

As for Gates, I would never dismiss him.

He took advantage of his connections and built one of the biggest, most influential software companies ever.

He then stepped back at the height of his career, listened to his wife, and the two of them built a very innovative philanthropic organization.

There are plenty of rich kids that don't accomplish anything, Gates wasn't one of them.

They had very different circ*mstances: Bill Gates was the son of wealthy parents... (4)

binarycheese on Dec 3, 2012 | root | parent | next [–]

"There are plenty of rich kids that don't accomplish anything, Gates wasn't one of them."

Very true!

They had very different circ*mstances: Bill Gates was the son of wealthy parents... (5)

cmccabe on Dec 4, 2012 | parent | prev [–]

Nobody is "dismissing Gates' success as due to the resources of his parents." People are pointing out that taking VC funding was unnecessary for Gates due to his family's wealth. Surely you can see this.

Also, Gates was building a software company and Jobs was building a hardware company. Jobs had a lot more need for funding in the first place since his capital expenditures were higher.

Finally, Mr. Jobs made almost half a billion off of Apple in the 1980s (yes... 1980s dollars.) I hardly think that Apple is some kind of parable about how VC funding is a bad idea. Quite the contrary.