Bill Gates Reveals the Key to Microsoft's Launch Success (and His Regrets)

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In 1975, Paul Allen and Bill Gates, both obsessed with computers, created Microsoft, a company that has since become a tech giant. When asked today about his vision of success back then, his answer is unsettling.

Passion drove Bill Gates

Quoted by CNBC, he answers: “Back then, it was simply a question of whether my code was really good: Is my code really good ? Does it work ? And can this company show the world that these microcomputers are large ?”

In reality, the billionaire was mostly driven by his passion, which was clearly turning into an obsession:

It was the magic of software. And I was ready to devote my life, in my twenties, only to software, only to this work. Our slogan was “a personal computer on every desk and in every home”, which sounds boring today, but at the time it was crazy.

Microsoft founder's regrets

In fact, it led Bill Gates to become a workaholic, so much so that the now 68-year-old entrepreneur has real regrets today. This year, he explained on Threads:

It took me far too long to realize that you don’t have to fill every second of your schedule to be successful. In hindsight, it’s a lesson I could have learned much sooner if I’d taken a look at Warren Buffett’s intentionally light schedule.

The boss explains that business leaders used to engage in a sordid competition: who would sleep the shortest nights. He said he admired people who managed to sleep very little: “I said to myself: “These guys are so good, I have to try harder because sleep is lazy and useless”.

Bill Gates has since revised his copy. Note also that many leaders today claim this state of mind. Some have, for example, set up the example of spending more time with their family or for their hobbies.

What to remember:

• Bill Gates recently returned to his state of mind at the time of the founding of Microsoft
• He indicates his passion which led him to focus on this computer revolution
• He also expresses some regrets of having focused too much on work and on a single center of interest

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