Entrepreneurship. Bill Gates

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Submitted to:
Submitted by:
Student ID:
Course:

March 2012 CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION 3 2. BIOGRAPHY AND GENERAL INFORMATION 4 3. BUSINESS AND PERSONAL SURVIVAL 5 4. CHARACTERISTICS 7 ENTREPRENEURSHIP 8 INTELLIGENCE 8 VISIONARY 9 PASSION 9 INNOVATION 9 RISK TAKING 10 LEARNER 10 CRITICISM 10 HARD WORK 11 CONFIDENCE 11 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS 12 5. CONCLUSION 13 6. REFERENCE 14

ENTREPRENURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

"It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.
Bill Gates

INTRODUCTION: The entrepreneur I have chosen is legendary business figure Bill Gates. William Henry Gates III as known as Bill Gates is an American businessman, investor, author, philanthropist and last but not least an entrepreneur. Bill Gates is a CEO and a chairman of the software company "Microsoft". He is best known as an entrepreneur in personal computer area and he is one of the wealthiest people in the world. The main reason that Bill Gates has a big influence in the computer industry is because he was the inventor of Microsoft.

PROFILE AND GENERAL INFORMATION William Gates was born on 28th of October, 1955. By seventh grade he had big interests in personal computers and had a dream to become professor. When Bill Gates and his school mate Paul Allen were studying in high school, Mother's Club of Lakeside School collected money to buy computer for school's students. This event has changed a life of Bill Gates. He and Allen were fascinated with programming process and were spending all of the time on the computer writing programs for various purposes. Gates and Allen stepped into the world of entrepreneurship at the age of 15. They wrote a program to regulate traffic and formed a company to spread this software. On this project with the name "Traf-O-Data" they have earned 20.000 US dollars. Gates has named his partnership "Micro-soft". In 1990 "Microsoft" released its first version of Windows. This was a breakthrough in operating software as text interfaces were changed by graphical interfaces. It soon became a best seller and was able to capture the majority of the operating system market share. Bill Gates and his wife Melinda French have 3 children. With his wife Bill Gates formed "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". Gates has sought to focus on global issues ignored by the government; he also expressed an interest in improving the standards of public school education in the US. Gates and his wife are one of the most generous philanthropists in America.

BUSINESS AND PERSONAL SURVIVAL The first steps of "Microsoft" were full of danger and uncertainty. Bill Gates and Allen moved to Albuquerque and have cast their lot with MITS, startup company, that went bankrupt few years later. Bill Gates dropped out his studies and devoted his future to software industry. After MITS went out of business , they moved their barely-formed company to Seattle and established relationships with several other startup companies, producing programs for them on "BASIC". In the late 1970s there was a crash failures of these startup firms. "Microsoft" could not find any real bearing on the market until 1977, when they made a contract with "Apple" in the production of software for the "Apple-2".
Bill Gates and Allen were very initiative entrepreneurs. They have created licensed programs for many companies that broke into the market in the late seventies and early eighties and involved in releasing of new desktop computers. By July 1980, when "IBM" finally decided to enter the computer market, "Commodore", "Radio Shack" and "Apple" were already using operating system created by "Microsoft". The history of present leading computers starts from August of 1981.
Bill Gates persuaded "IMB" to allow him to write software for the PC, created on the bases of new 16-bit Intel 8088 microprocessor. In the process, he developed a system configuration which was used in the next generation of computers. "IBM" changed their projects and gave permission to use microprocessor. In September 1980 "IBM" signed detailed contract with "Microsoft" This contract was destined to change the history of the personal computer history. Both "IBM" and "Microsoft" were in benefits. But the controversial question is who has won more. Gates' main competitor -"Digital Research" - changed the direction of business and no longer participated in the competition. Bill Gates got the most favorable contract in the history of computers. The program developed by "IBM" did not have the slightest demand and, thus, "Microsoft" with its MS-DOS, was the only one.
Bill Gates retained the right to sell MS-DOS to other users, including competitors: "IBM". "IBM" has not seen the risk and actually contributed to it, because it was convinced that a serious threat to them has just "Apple". "IBM" was self assured and did not take into consideration small firms which that are able to buy an operating system from "Microsoft". This strategy has made Bill Gates and Allen billionaires. Bill Gates' father should be proud of this brilliant enterprise, which has brought an incredible success. This contract was the first for "IBM", as they had never trusted an establishment of an operating system for its core products to another firm. This step made a real shock in the industry. MS-DOS, the good luck and hard work, brought Bill Gates billion dollars.
"Microsoft", of course, dominated the industry - it owned 44 percent of the profits of the market of software products. This prevents the growth of their nearest competitors. Sizes of "Microsoft" are twice the size of "Lotus" and "Borland" together. "Microsoft" is even bigger than companies that produce big electronic computers. Mitch Kapor, the creator of the "Lotus", leaves the market. In 1991 Gates was ranked number three on the Forbes magazine list of the wealthiest Americans, with his share of Microsoft valued at approximately $4 billion and Forbes magazine listed his name in "The world's richest people" since 1997 to present time. This is a short story of his business startup and survival on the market.
CHARACTERISTICS
Bill Gates - a real workaholic. Bill Gates himself said that sometimes he actually sits up at work until 4am. Trying to prove that his work is the usual daily routine work, Gates described his typical day to David Rensin from the magazine Playboy: "I am basically working until midnight with a break for lunch with someone from the staff. Then I go home and for about an hour I read books or magazine "Economist". In the office II usually come back at 9 o'clock next day." That is the attitude to work of a person who has billions of dollars, which will not be able to spend, even if he really tries. He continued to work for thirteen hours a day, six days a week. Bill Gates' story of his work habits - is just the desire to live according to regime. Bill Gates acted as his life is absolutely natural, and sincerely believed that the media gives too much importance to his "obsession" and "relentless". For self-motivated innovator like Bill Gates his behaviour is normal, meanwhile for average employee or supervisor, endowed with less rapidity, it is extreme and even bizarre. The journal "Wall Street" named Bull Gates "Nerd". His youth, fashion, tall body, abnormal behaviour, early intellectual development and introspection gave the media a reason to call him a true "nerd" who has grown up in the field of technologies. But Bill Gates has a very high charisma. Even at a time when the turnover of "Microsoft" was approaching zero, employees were faithfully following him. According to "Bernstein research", "Microsoft" is perhaps the most progressive company among the other companies working in technology field(1993). Arrogant intellectual intolerance for employees adds mystery on his image. His attitude to work and continuing commitment to excellence were fundamental factors in his success, though not always added the popularity on his personality. According to the personality typology of Carl Jung, Bill Gates refers to ENTJ(extraverted, intuition, thinking, judging) type of person as known as the Chief. ENTJ is defined as "leader, ambitious, hard working, dominant, prepared, hates to be bored, confident, opinionated, analytical...". Bill Gates has Promethean temperament that is universal for entrepreneurs, innovators. Bill Gates "lives on the edge" and all his actions are determined by an extraordinary intellectual development and pursuit of risky life. His work is his idol. Has a high IQ and thinks mathematically, rational. His intellect is endowed with an exceptional ability to analyze and solve problems. Scott Oki, senior vice president for U.S. sales and marketing, an eight-year Microsoft veteran says: ''Bill has the cumulative intellect of an octogenarian and the hormones of a teenager. The proof of his unique abilities is obtained by him in the seventh grade with the highest score(800 points) on the mathematical test. Bill Gates, Ted Turner(CNN), Soichiro Honda(Honda), Steve Jobs(Apple) and some others did not try to create a fashionable wardrobe and often wore torn clothes. Clothes were only functional as well as money. Bill tries to look like an ordinary guy and style of clothing is at the bottom of his priorities' list. Bill Gates is similar to other geniuses who merge their work with inventions and self expression becomes their passion. Bill Gates has his dinner either in his workplace or in restaurants/fast food. He never actually eats at home. Bill Gates refuses to fly by first class. The desire to be the first, to do whatever it was better that the others is the quality inherent to Bill Gates from his childhood. * ENTREPRENEURSHIP Bill Gates is one of the most successful entrepreneurs. Since very young age Gates had ability to run successful and profitable entrepreneurship. From the beginning he had vision and dedication, which are the main skill of entrepreneur. The success of "Microsoft" is connected with his entrepreneurial skills, and he became a motivational figure for new entrepreneurs. His hard work, dedication and self-confidence helped him to reach this high point of fame, leadership and entrepreneurship. His name is known worldwide not only as computer magnate but also as successful entrepreneur. * INTELLIGENCE Bill Gates believes in hard work; and says if you are intelligent and know how to apply your intelligence, you can achieve anything you want. His qualities like ambitious, intelligent and competitive helped him to obtain the top level position in his profession. His parents could see his intelligence so they enrolled him to privates school because of its intense academic environment. Bill Gates IQ is 160 and scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT and enrolled at Harvard College. Ray Kroc, an American entrepreneur who founded McDonald's, has never finished his high school. But he made millions of dollars out of fast food chain. This story is same as Bill Gates, who dropped out from college. Ray Kroc was intelligent because he could see the opportunity to make successful business. * VISIONARY Bill Gates has managed to fulfill his great dream - a computer on every desk and in every home. It was his vision; he made his vision come true. Quoting from Bill Gates words: “When Paul Allen and I started Microsoft over 30 years ago, we had big dreams about software, we had dreams about the impact it could have. We talked about a computer on every desk and in every home. It’s been amazing to see so much of that dream become a reality and touch so many lives. I never imagined what an incredible and important company would spring from those original ideas.” It was Gates' vision, as well as his business brain, that helped to turn Microsoft from a small 30-man operation based in Albuquerque into the multinational behemoth it is today. * PASSION Every single student would have wanted to graduate his or her University successful, but Bill Gates' mind was totally different. He left his University and decided to pursue his dream of writing his programs that could be used in every computer. He was passionate about writing software, coding and technology. Passion is obvious driving force behind any success. People complain about not succeeding in business. But Bill Gates didn't start "Microsoft" for money. He started it because he was passionate about the field and wanted to make difference. Bill Gates is a perfect example of how a person built his multibillion dollar's empire through passion. * INNOVATION For Bill Gates innovation was not discovering something new but instead taking some existing ideas and putting them together in new ways. He took others' innovations and turned them into products and profits. Someone needs to bring the new great inventions into the market. For software, it was Bill Gates. And this becomes Bill Gates' type of innovation. In October 2011, Bill Gates wrote on his Twitter account: Innovation is one of the most powerful forces in the world. It can make the impossible possible. Meanwhile his old friend and biggest competitor Steve Jobs was defined as the most innovative entrepreneur. He is responsible for all the technological devices that came out of Apple. He introduced to the world an iPod, iPhone, iPad and etc, which all became big sensations around the world even before its releases. All these devices are made under Stve Jobs' innovation. * RISK TAKING Bill Gates - innovator who has extraordinary talents. In 1991, a competitor told Forbes, "Bill wants as much of the software industry as he can swallow. And he's got a very big appetite." The biggest evidence of his competitive nature is his fear to be lost, even he is the richest person in the world. In 1990, in an interview he said: "I am afraid to lose. This is completely accurate. Every day when I come to this office, I ask myself: Are we still working well? Did anyone beat us? Is a product made right? What can we do more to improve it? Strange words from the wealthiest man in the world. He still loves fast car and fast boats. In Harvard University he was addicted to poker games and bid 2000 dollars for the game. * LEARNER He always believed that you will always have time to learn more from others, books. He had a principle: Never stop learning. When he was facing problems he just didn't give up. Instead he learnt what could be done to solve these issues. Bill even was spending his free time learning and discovering something new: Reading magazines while watching news on TV, reviewing the information of their competitors during lunch time and so on. To constantly learning something stands behind his success in business, entrepreneurship and philanthropic efforts. * CRITICISM "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates. There will always be people who will pull you down and make fun of your efforts. There were a lot of unsatisfactory and criticisms about software made by "Microsoft". He did not just give up. He took all these complaints as lessons and tried to improve them every day. Even his competitors were fighting with his company through courts. He was just proving them how he is able to accept all the criticisms from the customers and competitors. * HARD WORK Since the beginning of his life he was a hard worker. During his studies he used to work all night on his computer. He was found on the floors of computer labs many times because he worked really hard to achieve a success he wanted and was exhausted. Bill Gates used to sleep only few hours a day. For Bill Gates, hard work is one of his main keys to success. On the website of Microsoft Bill Gates gave some answers to the frequently asked questions. Quoting from it: "Q. What do you think is more important to your success, raw intelligence or hard work? A. Hard work, without a doubt. But not just my hard work. What really matters is the hard work of people who come to work with me. Raw intelligence weighs most heavily in a little contest like a math puzzle. But over a period of years, when you're in business building complex projects and working with customers, success is much more a result of dedication and persistence than brilliance. I don't mean to discount intelligence. I value it highly, and it is essential to many kinds of success. But even when intelligence appears to be the reason for a success, hard work probably had a lot to do with it, too. Thomas Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." I believe that." * CONFIDENCE Bill Gates was always high confident person. He was always confident about getting high success. He stated the reason leaving the University: "There was nothing else I could learn more". Only after few years he became a millionaire and soon - billionaire. This could be the simple example how Bill Gates is self confident. As Bill Gates said: "Confidence never comes if we have all the answers, but it comes when we are ready for all the questions."

* LEADERSHIP AND MANAGERIAL SKILLS Bill Gates managed all the areas of the company which required his focus. For his company he was hiring the one with talents in software industry. For Bill the work needs to be done to achieve a goal for the company. As insisted to hire only the most capable young minds and create an environment for them to thrive in. Since the beginning of establishing "Microsoft" he had a vision, and he was able to successfully move Microsoft in the direction he saw the industry going. His type of leadership was described by an author and psychologist Daniel Goleman as authorative leader. This type of leadership is defined as being experts in their field of work, and individuals that are able to clearly articulate their vision and the path of success. This particular style describes Bill Gates.

CONCLUSION By 1990 "Microsoft" has released more than 50 million copies of MS-DOS. By 1993, it supplied its products for more than 90 percent of computer users. What is the thing that Bill Gates knew, but "IBM" did not? "IBM" was a leading computer company. Meanwhile Intel invented microprocessors, the heart of computers, and had all resources. Bill Gates was in a right place right time and had a necessary talent. He entered the rivalry with giants and won, meanwhile "IBM" faced to compete with the boys, who they helped to enter the world of software products. Bill Gates did not have some special gift that allowed him to monopolize the industry. He was clever, intelligent, industrious and in a right time. Bill pointed out that part of it came by "accident" but always added that nothing would happen without the hard work. He had instinct, spirit of innovator, and the ability to take risks. Even he was in right place, right time, he correctly understood the need of industry. He has used the opportunities in the best way. No one in the computer industry did not make that kind of money, as Bill Gates. Bill Gates is a passionate lover of the competition, who sacrificed their personal pleasures and possibilities to achieve higher goals. Bill Gates will be known as philanthropist who has bettered lives of many people, businessman who showed that without a degree you can succeed in many things and entrepreneur in the personal computer area who had vision, passion and all the entrepreneurial skills. The media gave him a nickname "Nerd". He answered them with the words: "Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."

REFERENCE * "Forbes" Magazine. April 1991. * Anonymous. [Online] Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates * Anonymous. [Online]. Available at http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/famous-people/ [Accessed 15 March 2012] * Anonymous. [Online]. Available at http://similarminds.com/jung/entj.html [Accessed 15 March 2012] * Beaumont C. 2008. [Online] Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3357701/Bill-Gatess-dream-A-computer-in-every-home.html [Accessed 12 March 2012] * Dickinson J. 1997. Bill Gates, billionaire computer genius. Enslow Publishers. * Gates Bill, 2011. https://twitter.com/#!/BillGates/statuses/126826339377479681 * Gates Bill. [Online] Available at www.microsoft.com/billgates/bio.asp * Rensin, D., 1994. "The Bill Gates Interview". Playboy. * Schendler B. [Online] Available at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1990/06/18/73684/index.htm * Schendler B. 1990. " How Bill Gates keeps the magic going" The Fortune Magazine.