I Wanna Fail Like Bill Gates Did
Before launching Microsoft, Bill Gates was a Harvard University dropout and co-owner of a failed business called Traf-O-Data. As Paul Allen relates in a Newsweek piece, “Traf-O-Data was a good idea with a flawed business model. It hadn’t occurred to us to do any market research, and we had no idea how hard it would be to get capital commitments from municipalities. Between 1974 and 1980, Traf-O-Data totaled net losses of $3,494. We closed shop shortly thereafter.”
Imagine devoting 6 years of your life, your time and energy to a flawed idea that only end up losing money and dying a slow death. That would be enough to make me think twice before going out on a limb again.
But fortunately, Bill Gates is not me. Driven by his passion for computer programming, Gates eventually built what would become the world’s largest software company. Microsoft went public in 1986, and by the next year its rising share price made 31-year-old Gates the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. All in one year! An investor in the initial public offering would have seen a return of 30,207 percent, which is just crazy to think about!
Microsoft continued to grow and was one of the biggest companies on the planet when Google was founded in 1998, but the open-software startup beat the Gates’s tech giant when it came to creating a clean search engine. Even Gates admitted this at the World Economic Forum in 2004, saying Google “kicked our butts.” He acknowledged that Microsoft had misjudged just how successful open source software like Google’s Android platform would be. And it’s still kicking butt today.
But as Microsoft was in its heyday, Gates helped another company that would soon become the richest company in the world: Apple.
In August 1997 Microsoft threw Apple a $150 million lifeline and saved them from bankruptcy. That now-infamous investment gave Apple enough money and breathing room to consolidate control of its Mac business and parlay that momentum and cash flow into the iPod and iTunes. Then later, the iPhone and iPad that would go on to decimate the entire personal computer industry, wounding Microsoft’s waning empire.
Apple was worth less than $3 billion when it took Bill Gates’ money, but it soared to the $1 trillion mark in August of 2018, the first and only company to do that on the planet. It has since descended to a more worldly $785 billion…just under Microsoft’s current valuation of $788 billion.
But nowadays, Gates doesn’t measure success in dollars or bank statements. And as 2018 came to a close he reflected on what matters most to him.
Did I devote enough time to my family? Did I learn enough new things? Did I develop new friendships and deepen old ones? These would have been laughable to me when I was 25, but as I get older, they are much more meaningful.
Whether I’m still making it or barely keeping up, Bill Gates inspires me along the way, motivating me to keep trudging ahead my chosen field of theater and the performing arts. I have to remember that setbacks can close a chapter, but they don’t have to end the whole book.
From Bill Gates I’ve learned three important factors in turning failure into just another step toward success:
- Perseverance. I will encounter failures, setbacks and other obstacles. But that’s okay. If success was easy, everyone would be winning but by looking at failures and roadblocks as learning experiences and stepping stones, then I can persevere despite the struggle. And that is helped when I…
- Focus. After a recent string of setbacks, I took the time to step outside of myself and my efforts to see where I started to lose focus. I discovered one glaring lesson: keep it simple. Focus on what I do best rather than on a host of other things that are sort of okay. Prioritize my efforts into growing and bettering that which I already know and have skills in until it becomes routine and ingrained within me. Then and only then, can I branch out into other areas to…
- Continue learning and growing. No matter how successful I am or how much experience I gain, there’s always an opportunity to learn more and work on myself. Failure is a stark reminder of this as well. So what can I do? Read more. Listen to podcasts. (I’ve certainly got a great one to recommend!) Watch YouTube videos on subjects that I need help with. Fix those past failures and make new ones, which leads me back to the first step again.
What failures have you experienced? What lessons have you learned from your failures? I would love to hear how you turned your failure into a success story. Send me a message or tweet me on Twitter.
WHY I’LL NEVER MAKE IT is a lighthearted podcast that features artists sharing their own ups and downs in this business and revealing what “making it” actually means to them. The podcast is hosted by Equity actor Patrick Oliver Jones (The Addams Family and Evita national tours, Blue Bloods and Law & Order, CI).
In addition to conversations with creatives in the entertainment industry, WINMI also includes bonus episodes, spotlighting non-profits making a difference in the arts and beyond. Organizations such as Only Make Believe, New York Youth Symphony, and Drama Club have shared their stories and the impact they are having in the lives of children in and around New York City.
