Re: Not "Satanism;" realism.

[Mitch Stone <mstone@vc.net>]

--- From a message sent by stan johnson on 1/1/99 6:48 PM ---

>Based on what I've seen related about the startup of M$, Bill Gates   
>did not start with 'zero' by any stretch of the imagination. He had   
>affluent, well-connected parents, who gave him an 'in' at IBM, which   
>was itself restrained from using its doubtless greater wealth as it might   
>have, by antitrust action.  

Maybe, only maybe. The Gates family connection to IBM was indirect at 
best, and would have counted little if anything had Kildall & Co. not 
blundered.
 
>As I understand it, it was the tremendous presence of IBM as mfr of   
>the PC that gave him his burst into the market. If it had not been for   
>his family wealth/connections, and IBM's massive market presence, he   
>would have likely been just another squeeky wannabe.  

More to the point, it was IBM's failure to protect their intellectual 
property (the PC architecture) that handed Microsoft the biggest lucky 
break of the century.

Mitch Stone
mstone@vc.net