Diary entry one- 4th April 1975
The start of Micro-Soft
We are there. finally. Me and Paul have finally done it. We have made Micro-Soft, who would have thought that we would have gotten to here. I remember six years ago I was sitting alone struggling to find a way to computerize my schools’ payrolls. Now look where I am, head of a company that will go on to do great things for the world, well I hope so. And if you were to ask me now, who helped me the most and who supported me the more than anyone else one word would come to my mind. Paul Allen. he helped me through the code and the mental strain that creating a company has. I owe a lot to that man, and I will never be able to thank him enough.
but I am undoubtedly pleased at where we are now, and I believe we have much more ahead of us. And even now I am thinking of ways to make this company of mine better, just small things like changing the name or altering the code of the computers we make. But I am pleased with these little steps forward because that way my goals and hopes will never be out of reach no matter how large they are. Because they are large my hopes would seem crazy to anyone who wouldn’t approach them the right way. Between me and Paul we are aiming to get a piece of personal technology in every home. And so, what if we are aiming too high because if we look to succeed there the worst that could happen is that we succeed somewhere else instead.
I’ve had many people ask me the purpose of Microsoft and though it was obviously made to create cheaper and less bulky computer software. I also wanted it to help spread computers to many countries that may not be as wealthy as others. And I wanted Micro-Soft to be the computing software to make that happen. We wanted to make software for the Altaire 8800, but you must understand the greater meaning of our actions and that we wanted to help the world. This was my thought process and my determination to create this company and that is why I am so pleased with the result.
Diary Entry two- August 24, 1995
Releasing Windows 95
Finally, we are there, we have released one of the most influential computers of it's time. The Windows 95. This computer is destined for great thing, and I have revolutionized technology of this time. There has been a lot of anticipation for this microcomputer, and I hope it does not disappoint. I do personally know many people have been waiting for this so have I to be honest and I am excited to see what people think. Me and my staff have put a lot into it, but all we can do now is look on no matter which outcome we have.
How far I have come is unimaginable even for me. Starting off as just kid with his only skill being coding, and now look where I am Microsoft is huge and business is booming. I hope that one day I will be able to do some serious good in the world and not just be the entrepreneur business owner of Microsoft. I want to use my power and influence on this world to make lives better or maybe even save them. But that is far away, and I say that we should spend some time now growing this business of ours.
But business in these kind of things is not always prosperous. One of the larger competitors of Microsoft is now struggling, the one who I am talking about is Apple. It is looking down for them and they may not recover. I guess I should feel happy that the opposition isn’t going too well bet I just feel a little sorry for them. Business and finance and really any job is a rough sea, and you could be thrown off your boat at any time. I am quite lucky that the most I’ve ever had to deal with is large waves, but luck never holds up. And waves can get a lot larger. Not all my achievement is luck though, for I do have the skills that got me here and that is truly to thank. Well anyway, I’ll be signing off again once more, so see you next time, farewell.
Diary entry three- February 4, 2014
Leaving Microsoft
I’m stepping down. I am too old for this job and too tired of it too care. However, I am not at all unhappy of my time here. And though I have made many mistakes in my career I don’t know where I would be without them. I may have violated the anti-trust act causing Netscape to collapse, but I believe that it was for the good. Where would we be if we still had to pay for web browsers like Google and Safari. I made them free! But I also made some business errors that I am less happy about. I miscalculated how big the internet would get and missed that opportunity to expand. But we are here now and look at us we are the largest software company in the world!
I’m having many thoughts about my future. How would Microsoft change and what it has in wake in its years to come. I also want to congratulate Apple in 2010 it was able to surpass us in the last four years. But I believe that we can still stay up there if the new CEO keeps bringing in new material to work with. We are a large company now, one of the largest and it will be hard to bring us down. I am also interested in what my new occupation will bring me. I have transferred my shares in Microsoft to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Me and Melinda are focusing our efforts on some of the world’s worst problems. I want to be able to improve lives in third and second world countries.
But whatever my future holds I am still excited for it, I may change some things just small touches, just to reinvent myself. I may even stop writing in this diary, just to give some change a try. Well, whatever I do I am looking forward to my bright future. Goodbye for now.