Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has recently shared that he focussed on one job that helped him grow the company to the heights it is now. He said that his definition of success revolved solely around the quality of his code and the company's impact on the personal computer revolution.
“Back then, it was just: Is my code really good? Does it work? And can this company show the world that these microcomputers are big?” Gates recently told CNBC Make It.
“It was the magic of software. And I was willing to focus my life, in my 20s, just on software, just on the one job,” says Gates, who was 20 at that time.
Why Gates believed making software was ‘crazy’
According to Gates, his intense focus on building the best software possible, which eventually propelled Microsoft to the forefront of the industry. The job was to create high-quality software that could make the general public actually embrace the personal computer, the report noted.
“Our phrase was ‘a personal computer on every desk and in every home,’ which sounds boring today, but back then [it] was completely crazy,” says Gates, adding that he and co-founder Paul Allen often repeated it to Microsoft’s early employees.
On his singular mindset, Gates said, “It was all Microsoft, all the time in my 20s ... my view of success was very much Microsoft-centric.” Gates, who is 68 today, says that the definition of success has evolved, and reportedly regrets his single-minded focus, advocating for work-life balance.
What is Bill Gates’ definition of success today
Gates said that his approach kept him — and his employees — from enjoying a sense of work-life balance. Everyone should “take a break when you need to,” he told students at Northern Arizona University’s commencement ceremony last year.
“I don’t work as hard [now]. In my 20s, I didn’t believe in weekends and vacations. So, that was kind of out of control, how I pushed myself,” he added.
“Back then, it was just: Is my code really good? Does it work? And can this company show the world that these microcomputers are big?” Gates recently told CNBC Make It.
“It was the magic of software. And I was willing to focus my life, in my 20s, just on software, just on the one job,” says Gates, who was 20 at that time.
Why Gates believed making software was ‘crazy’
According to Gates, his intense focus on building the best software possible, which eventually propelled Microsoft to the forefront of the industry. The job was to create high-quality software that could make the general public actually embrace the personal computer, the report noted.
“Our phrase was ‘a personal computer on every desk and in every home,’ which sounds boring today, but back then [it] was completely crazy,” says Gates, adding that he and co-founder Paul Allen often repeated it to Microsoft’s early employees.
On his singular mindset, Gates said, “It was all Microsoft, all the time in my 20s ... my view of success was very much Microsoft-centric.” Gates, who is 68 today, says that the definition of success has evolved, and reportedly regrets his single-minded focus, advocating for work-life balance.
What is Bill Gates’ definition of success today
Gates said that his approach kept him — and his employees — from enjoying a sense of work-life balance. Everyone should “take a break when you need to,” he told students at Northern Arizona University’s commencement ceremony last year.
“I don’t work as hard [now]. In my 20s, I didn’t believe in weekends and vacations. So, that was kind of out of control, how I pushed myself,” he added.
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