Microsoft: the idea man and the money kid

Sam Varghese
Monday, 23 May 2011 12:31

Opinion and Analysis

When one thinks of Microsoft, the name that automatically comes to mind is Bill Gates. Not too many people know that Gates was the lesser of two co-founders, Paul Allen being the other.

Allen has now written his life story and, after reading the book, one is left wondering about the main reason for his doing so. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, wrote his life story in 2006, solely to make the world aware of his contribution to Apple and remind everyone that without him there would have been no company at all. His book was published at the time when Steve Jobs had become synonymous with Apple and was earning all the credit for the company's success.

Allen appears to have had two reasons for writing the book: one, to remind people of the fact that he was more of a candidate for the title of Mr Microsoft than Gates, and two, because he fears his time is running out, especially after a second encounter with cancer in 2009. Though nearly half the book is devoted to Allen's life after he left Microsoft, it is unlikely that it would have been noticed as much if Allen had not had been involved in founding the software giant.

The title, Idea Man, is a bit of a slap in the face for Gates; indeed, there are several incidents related in the book which makes one wonder whether the two co-founders were really friends at a personal level or whether they stuck together because each needed the other's contribution to make the company work.

Allen comes across as a nice, rounded person, not just a computer nerd. He also paints himself as someone who was not primarily interested in the money. Of course, the money was there in buckets due to the tactics that Microsoft used to gain marketshare and, when Allen left, in 1982, he had plenty to invest in things that took his fancy.

It is the kind of investments that make Allen appear very human, an adjective that is rarely applied to Gates. But more of that later.