Bill Gates Speaks: Insight from the World's Greatest Entrepreneur (Hardcover)

~ Janet Lowe (Author) "A fresh-scrubbed, blue-eyed, towheaded little boy with a cowlick that grew very much like his mother's, smiles out from Bill Gates's childhood pictures..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bill Gates, United States, Paul Allen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Love him or hate him, no matter how you feel about Bill Gates, you've got to respect him. As the richest man in the world and leader of the most successful company of our day, Gates has achieved a level of success that even the Almighty might be jealous of. In Bill Gates Speaks, Janet Lowe captures much of the Gates legend by weaving together stories and quotes attributed to Gates in speeches, newspapers, and interviews in a short and easy-to-read volume. The book covers everything from Gates's time at Harvard to the construction of his "home" on the shores of Lake Washington near Seattle. The result is a well-rounded look at the man who has helped to shape our present more than any other individual alive today. --Harry C. Edwards

Product Description

"Our slogan from the very beginning was 'a computer on every desk and in every home.'"

"For me to become gun-shy might require surgery."

An icon more powerful than anything on a Windows screen, Bill Gates today stands atop his fabled Microsoft fortress staring down competitors' threats and injunctions from an annoyed U.S. Justice Department. The kind of success Gates has created rarely escapes criticism. And Bill is getting more than his share.

The story of how this Harvard dropout created the operating system that would become the worldwide standard for millions of computers is legendary. And equally legendary has been the take-no-prisoners tactics of his corporate colossus, Microsoft. We've witnessed Gates's transformation from a geeky wunderkind into a business titan.

Whether admired or detested, glorified or vilified, Gates is a household name and a worldwide curiosity. Bill Gates Speaks discloses what Bill Gates has to say on everything from financing a start-up to running a conglomerate, developing technology to raising a family, and growing his business to expanding his personal wealth. Drawing on quotes culled from speeches, articles, essays, newscasts, and interviews, this unique book weaves all of this information into a compelling and easy-to-read biography.

Here is just a sample of what you'll find inside:

• "My parents weren't all that excited about their son announcing he was dropping out of a fine university to start a business in something almost nobody had heard of called 'microcomputers.'"
• "I think business is very simple. Profit. Loss. Take the sales, subtract the costs, you get this big positive number. The math is quite straightforward."
• "I envy people who thrive on three or four hours of sleep a night. They have so much more time to work, learn, and play."
• "We never waste a lot of time talking about what we're doing well. It just isn't our culture. Every meeting is about 'Sure, we won in seven of the categories, but what about that eighth category?'"
• "The PC industry is the model industry in the entire economy. The rate of innovation, the openness—all of these things are just fantastic. And Microsoft's role in creating this has been absolutely fundamental."

The world listens when Bill gates speaks

"I'm not competent to judge his technical ability, but I regard his business savvy as extraordinary.

If Bill had started a hot dog stand, he would have become the hot dog king of the world." —Warren Buffett

"It is still possible to be a Vanderbilt, an Astor, a Rockefeller. You can still do that, you can be Bill Gates." —David Geffen

"Everybody is waiting for this guy to slip. He hasn't slipped, and there's very little chance that he will. Everything that he keeps his hands in will work, and he will win." —Alan Kerr, Ogilvy & Mather

"Love him or hate him, but you can't ignore him." —Fortune

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (October 14, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471293539
• ISBN-13: 978-0471293538
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,113,710 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars He's an amazing man., July 2, 1999

By A Customer

This is the most informative book I have ever read on the Man, Bill Gates. Mr. Bill gets to talk about his childhood, his choices, his successes... It adds a little bit of humanity to him by including quotes from his friends, collegues, and ex-employees. I bought this book just to know a little more about the guy, only to discover he's pretty cool.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nothing "Original" But Still A Good Book for Young Teens, June 8, 2003

By	darkguardian2 "darkguardian2" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This is one of a series of books that covers highly successful, highly visible individuals and how they got that way. These books are targeted at school age teens to inspire them to follow their paths for success. The author seems to cover the life stories of Bill Gates and adds quotes where appropriate to boost the storyline. There are occasional segments on subjects related to Gates as shown in the Amazon's "Look in" review. It's an easy read with only 230 pages. If you read any of the other books such as "Gates" or "Hard Drive" you'll get the feeling of reading this book before. Since the work isn't original and seems to heavily reference other books I give it 3 stars. The only question I have is whether the author actual sat down with Bill Gates and talked to him or did she really just go to the library, the Internet, etc. to get info on the book. As a first book on Bill Gates life, it's still a good read for young adults looking to be inspired.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's just a sumary of other books, April 27, 2001

By A Customer

It's an easy to read story of Gates, but there's nothing new here. In fact, the whole book is made up of quotes from other books and articles. You can't really tell if they are taken out of context or not. There's just not much original stuff here.