The year is 1998, and the venue is the University of Washington Business School. Imagine it: The two gentlemen sitting casually on the stage table had a net worth that marched north to $100 billion. Their wealth is ostensibly the anvil on which their unlikely friendship is forged. Bill Gates is 26 years the junior (b. October 28th 1955), to Warren Buffet (August 30th 1930). One is all about high tech, while the other eschews anything high tech.
My notes
Smart people sometimes falter. It gets into habits, manner and character. It’s because you get in your own way.
Information Age, magnifying your brain power, not just your muscle power.
How do you [Buffet] define success? I can define happiness. Success is getting what you want, and happiness is wanting what you get. [Buffet is clearly both.] Get right into what you enjoy. I don’t regard what I do as the most important thing in the world, but it’s right for me.
How do you [Buffet] define success? I can define happiness. Success is getting what you want, and happiness is wanting what you get. [Buffet is clearly both.] Get right into what you enjoy. I don’t regard what I do as the most important thing in the world, but it’s right for me.
For me [Gates], it’s working with smart people. Biotechnology is a good field, because it’s changing the world of medicine.
What’s your definition of innovation? My job is to allocate capital. Technology has a lot of twists and turns. IBM missed a few key turns on the road. Speech recognition, AI.
Gates acknowledged, very discreetly, that Microsoft misjudged the importance of the internet at first.
Gates has done a lot to improve the world’s perception of the US. Buffet demures about how well suited he is for just a particular aspect of Western society. Outside of that aspect, he’d be someone else’s lunch. He takes a fundamental, practical view of business, e.g., Can he see what it will look like in 10 years (rf. Wrigley’s, Coca Cola)?
Best business decision? Just jumping in the pool.
What’s your definition of innovation? My job is to allocate capital. Technology has a lot of twists and turns. IBM missed a few key turns on the road. Speech recognition, AI.
Gates acknowledged, very discreetly, that Microsoft misjudged the importance of the internet at first.
Gates has done a lot to improve the world’s perception of the US. Buffet demures about how well suited he is for just a particular aspect of Western society. Outside of that aspect, he’d be someone else’s lunch. He takes a fundamental, practical view of business, e.g., Can he see what it will look like in 10 years (rf. Wrigley’s, Coca Cola)?
Best business decision? Just jumping in the pool.
Picking people (e.g., partnering with Paul Allen, hiring Steve Ballmer).
Buffet losing all of his money wouldn’t bother him at all, but if he ended up taking others down with him, that would kill him.
Buffet losing all of his money wouldn’t bother him at all, but if he ended up taking others down with him, that would kill him.
Getting a fresh start has a lot of attraction for Gates. I’d have a lot of blast starting a new company.
Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!
Ron Villejo, PhD
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