Bill Gates: Entrepreneur Essay

Words: 1528
Pages: 7

"Bill Gates is a modern business phenomenon: the greatest of the cyber-tycoons. His is not simply a story of technical brilliance and enormous wealth; it is one of remarkable business vision and an obsessive desire to win. It is also about a leadership style that is radically different to anything the business world has seen before."
Dearlove, D. (1998)

William Gates III was born in Seattle, Washington, US, on October 28, 1955. His father, William Henry Gates (II) Jr., was a lawyer while his mother, Mary Gates, was a school teacher. At a very young age, Gates showed a lot of intelligence. At primary school, he was particularly fond of Maths and Science. Since his childhood, he was enjoyed reading business magazines. Noticing his

The true test of an entrepreneur has to be in developing something from almost nothing.

Bill Gates fits into the definition of an entrepreneur, they are said to be achievement-oriented, someone who would work until the task is completed, and who are restless and do not fit into structured organisations.

There is a wide variety of people that consider Gates to be more of a ruthless monopolist rather than an entrepreneurial figure, however he has only achieved this position through constant entrepreneurial activity.

There are many companies that fail to provide longevity, however Microsoft has been a market leader for much of its lifetime. It's no easy task to keep an organisation at the forefront of technology and meeting the needs of consumers. What makes the market that Microsoft is in so unique is that they have the ability to create the consumer need over and over rather than having to adapt the business in order to satisfy consumers.

Being an entrepreneur is about pushing the boundaries in order to maximise potential. Gates has been surrounded in controversy throughout his career regarding dubious business practices which are still being debated. For me, this highlights the lengths that Gates was prepared to go in order to make a success of his business, again showing what has proven to be so far, very good risk management skills.

Entrepreneurs benefit society by creating jobs, businesses and products. The