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Thinking Long Term is Incredibly Valuable
Wisdom from Bill Gates
As owner of one of the world’s largest companies by day, and incredible philanthropist by night, Bill Gates is one of the most incredible stories of our generation.
Being in a very public spotlight for decades is a wild experience. It is next to impossible to avoid scrutiny for every mistake or questionable decision you will make. People start to view you as less of a human and more of a TV character.
Talking about what someone did yesterday or last year is easy to do because we haven’t forgotten about it yet. And as people go through life, they will change and grow. But sometimes, you have to look back further to find the most valuable lessons.
As we know it, Microsoft is unquestionably one of the largest and most influential companies in existence. But it wasn’t always this way, or even close. One business deal launched Microsoft from the ground into the stratosphere.
People forget about the one with IBM because it happened all the way back in 1980 when Gates was only 25 years old. Even the man himself says that without a doubt it was the most important deal of his life.
I dug into this story in a little more detail in a book I read recently, and there’s a few lessons in there we can all learn from.
