What makes Microsoft great?

1In Forbes magazine in July, 995, Bill Gates, president of Microsoft Corporation of the United States, was rated as the richest man in the world, with personal assets reaching 129 billion US dollars. But you know, Gates started his business in partnership with his good friend paul allen. In more than 20 years, the partnership between Gates and Allen has developed rapidly from small to large, from weak to strong, and has become a world-famous big company. The development and growth process of Microsoft Corporation is the arduous pioneering process of partnership from weak to strong, and the pioneering process of like-minded partner Qi Xin's cooperation and unity. It reflects how a weak partnership enterprise becomes stronger, the whole process of preparation, start-up and development of a partnership enterprise, and the process of how a partnership enterprise moves from low level to high level and from non-standard to standard.

Gates and Allen are high school classmates. Although Allen is two years older than Gates, their common interest in computers has brought them together. On the middle school campus, they are often seen drinking coke and chewing pancakes, and chatting face to face. Some students want to join their circle, but they can't listen to their topic and get in a word. They sat for a long time and left, and finally they were inseparable. They often immerse themselves in the computer console and indulge in the ocean of program strings, like a duck to water. It is this same hobby and ambition that laid a good foundation for their future cooperation.

At that time, they often cooperated to find out the mistakes in the programs designed by some companies, and also designed computer course scheduling programs for schools. Generally speaking, if conditions permit, partners should try to cooperate with each other like Gates and Ellen before starting a business, and look at each other in cooperation. Because some people are arrogant and impatient, they often say better than they do, and say more than they do. Do some cooperation with this kind of person, and you will find many problems that are difficult to find at ordinary times, which is better than finding problems after you partner, because it is much easier to terminate this loose cooperation than to terminate a formal partnership.

197 1 year. After graduating from high school, Allen was admitted to Washington University to study computer science. Although she separated from Gates, they still kept close contact. University life is unremarkable, so Allen proposed to Gates to set up a traffic data company to design programs for the traffic management system. Gates agreed with this idea very much, and the two set out to organize a company and buy a computer to implement a business plan. This is the first time that Gates and Allen have started a company together and started a business in partnership.

At that time, the price of computers was too expensive for Gates and Allen, so they had to find another way. Ellen pays close attention to the development of computer technology and hopes to get equipment with novel performance and low price. Not long after, Ellen read a message in an electronic magazine: Intel introduced a microprocessor model 8088, which is equivalent to the central processing unit in an old-fashioned large computer, but much smaller. He was overjoyed and planned to design a program on 8088 microprocessor in BASIC language, but Gates estimated that the speed of 8088 was still too slow to meet the needs of software development, and he did not agree to do so. At this time, the differences between the two men arose.

In partnership, partners should respect each other and get along well with each other, which is the basis of partnership development. Ellen usually pays more attention to the research of computer hardware and thinks this method can be tried. However, he didn't give orders condescendingly and arrogantly because of some research on hardware, nor did he make a scene with Gates, but patiently and meticulously explained to Gates. Gates is easy to get along with people. Although he doesn't agree with Allen, he still respects her. Gates thought, since Allen, the old partner, is so persistent about this 8088 chip, it's not good to throw cold water on him again, so give it a try. There's no harm in it anyway. In this way, Gates obeyed Ellen's wishes and bought an 8088 microprocessor for $360.

Partners' complementary advantages or ability aggregation is the basis for the growth of partnership enterprises, and partners must carry out reasonable division of labor accordingly. In the traffic data company, according to their different interests, Gates and Ellen implement division of labor and cooperation. Ellen is responsible for using the small computer of Washington University to write a program in assembly language to simulate the function of 8088, and Gates develops an application as a simulator to analyze traffic data based on this program. Due to their inexperience, Gates and Allen spent a lot of time exploring some problems repeatedly and finally succeeded. As soon as the product came out, they sent letters everywhere to publicize their first labor achievement, and made several businesses, from which they earned 20 thousand dollars. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. The federal government of the United States decided to start providing similar traffic data analysis services for cities free of charge. In this case, who will patronize this two-person company? Had to close the door. Although the traffic data company only existed for a period of time, Gates and Ellen cooperated successfully for the first time and cooperated happily in operation, which laid the foundation for the later establishment of Microsoft.

After graduating from high school, influenced by his parents, Gates entered Harvard University to study law, but he was still addicted to computers. Later, Allen also came to Boston. On weekdays, after school and on weekends, he visits Gates at school. A topic they often talk about is when they can set up a computer company. Although they got together many times to discuss their own plans to start a company, after research and discussion, they still felt that the time was not ripe.

Time passed more than a year before you knew it. /kloc-in the winter of 0/974, Allen went to the university to visit Gates. When crossing the square, he saw a newsstand. He habitually walked over to see what the latest computer magazine was. He has been paying close attention to the development of microprocessors. Whenever a new product appears, he always collects relevant information and studies it. When he picked up a magazine "Popular Electronics", he suddenly found a cover article, which published the content of "the world's first small computer tool with commercial competitiveness". This paper introduces a new microcomputer 8088 "Aotai" introduced by a small computer company named "Mittis". This article simply fascinated Allen. He immediately bought a magazine, unable to restrain his ecstasy, and went to Gates in three steps and two steps. After meeting Gates, Allen's first sentence was: "Dear Bill, we can finally realize the computer dream in middle school, and we finally have a chance to do something with BASIC language!" The launch of Aotai Computer exceeded Gates' imagination, but today it has become a living reality. After reading the article, Gates was also excited. Do it before it's too late. That morning, Gates and Ellen decided to develop the basic language program of "Aotai" computer. In the following period of time, they worked day and night and finally finished the task.

At that time, many computer companies thought that microcomputer was only a kind of "toy" for computer enthusiasts at most, and never thought that it would have a huge impact on the future computer industry. With the success of developing microcomputer BASIC language program, Gates and Ellen fully realized the influence of microcomputer on the future computer market, and realized that microcomputer can become a useful tool in business, through which they can start a business and make money. 1975, Gates and Allen finally made a decision to form a partnership with Microsoft. Their purpose is to develop software for various microcomputers. Because of Gates' outstanding contribution to the development of BAsIC, he holds 64% of the shares in Microsoft and 36% in Allen.

At the beginning, Microsoft can be said to be a company without funds and property. There is no formal office in the company, and the boss of a company has set aside a separate office for them in the clean room of his office building. On the one hand, Gates wants to continue studying for a degree at the university, and on the other hand, he wants to run a company, constantly running back and forth between the two places. Allen still works for another company. Gates and Allen cooperated closely and harmoniously. As always, the friendship established in middle school has never been flawed. The company's decisions are made by both of them, but the scope of work is different. Gates is responsible for the daily affairs of the company, such as administration and sales activities, while Ellen is responsible for the development of new software. Recalling the company's initial work, Ellen said, "At first, our management style was loose. Bill and I participated in every decision, and now we can't remember who decided what. If there is any difference between our respective characteristics, it may be that I pay attention to developing new products, while Bill is more interested in business affairs such as negotiations and contracts, and he is also very expert. " They practice in the study, study in practice, hire employees, rent houses, sign contracts and so on, and often work late into the night.

1April, 976, the first full-time employee, Mike McDonald, came to Microsoft. He is a high school classmate of Gates, who is responsible for improving the BASIC language program of 8088 microprocessor. The second official employee is also a classmate of Gates Middle School. Later, two programmers were recruited. 1976165438+10 In October, Ellen quit her job in another company and devoted herself to Microsoft. At the same time, Gates decided to drop out of school despite his parents' opposition. The development of Microsoft has been smooth sailing. In a short time, large enterprises such as General Electric Company, An Xun Company, Texas Instruments Company, Ricoh Company and Bank of America all appeared on the company's customer list.

With the continuous expansion of Microsoft's scale and the rapid increase of its business, Gates and Allen decided that Microsoft should transition from loose management to standard management, so that Microsoft can develop from low-level to high-level and from loose to standard. 1980 is a memorable year for Microsoft. In June this year, Gates' classmate Palme joined Microsoft as the assistant to the president. Palmer has a natural talent for business, and his joining frees Gates and Allen from the trivia of distribution. High flyers, who studied for a master's degree in business administration, soon systematized Microsoft's affairs and embarked on the road of orderly operation. Because of Palmer's arrival, Microsoft has taken a new turn. In order to keep this rare talent, Gates gave Palme a 5% stake.

At the same time, IBM, a large-scale computer manufacturing company with a long history, expressed its intention to cooperate with Microsoft and jointly enter the microcomputer market. IBM should not only cooperate with Microsoft to develop IBMPC program software, but also cooperate with Microsoft to develop a brand-new operating system. In the cooperation with IBM, both Gates and Ellen advocate language programming, but the risk of developing operating system software for IBM is too great, because IBM has set a strict delivery deadline, and if it fails to deliver within the deadline, Microsoft will suffer huge losses in economy and reputation. At this time, Microsoft is on the rise, and there must be no major failure. At that time, Li Yan, the head of Microsoft Japan Branch, strongly advocated all-round cooperation with IBM. He was impassioned and stated his thoughts loudly. Under the pressure of his imposing manner, Gates and Ellen were unable to put forward a clear analysis, and finally reached an understanding with Xiheyan. 198 1 year, IBM introduced the first generation of personal computers, and accepted MS-DOS 1.0 developed by Microsoft as the operating system of IBMPC. Due to the increasing sales of IBMPC, MS-DOS has become the standard and foundation of development, which is a decisive step, thus making Microsoft the biggest winner. In 198 1 year, Microsoft's revenue has increased to more than1600 million dollars.

On this basis, Gates and Ellen turned their attention to the emerging PC market in Europe, hoping to make new contributions. However, something unexpected happened. Ellen was on a business trip in Paris, France, doing market research in Paris with several Microsoft employees. Suddenly she had a high fever and a small lump on her neck. She hurried back to the United States. The doctor's repeated diagnosis shows that Allen has some kind of cancer. The doctor suggested immediate chemotherapy and radiotherapy to save lives. During the treatment, Ellen seemed more interested in enjoying life, so she decided to leave Microsoft. Gates was very sad about Allen's departure, but it was hard to refuse. Because as long as in Microsoft, everyone has to work hard all day long except work. In this way, Allen left Microsoft, but he is still a director of Microsoft and owns 9.6% of Microsoft's shares.

From 1975 to 198 1, Microsoft's internal financial management is quite primitive, and the company's incoming and outgoing accounts are handled manually, which makes the person in charge of this work very busy. Gates is busy with product development and market expansion, completely ignoring the company's internal management, and has not made a reasonable calculation in tax. As a result, a considerable part of the money earned flowed into the tax department. The internal management of Microsoft needs to be improved. So Gates hired James Towne, the former general manager of Tektronix, as the president of Microsoft. As a result, Gates eliminated his worries and devoted himself to the development of application software.

Since then, under the auspices of Gates, Microsoft has continued to March into the computer software market and achieved brilliant results. 1992, the market value of Microsoft was as high as 21900 million dollars, surpassing the prestigious American giant-American General Motors for the first time. Since the listing of 1986, Microsoft shares have increased by 12 times. Almost all employees of Microsoft have become super-rich, and the assets of Gates, Allen and Palmer have exceeded $65,438 billion.

As a self-made partnership, Microsoft has rapidly developed into a world-famous enterprise in just 20 years, which has left us with very long-term enlightenment, from which we can get a lot of useful enlightenment.

-Quoted from Yanbian People's Publishing House "Feeling Wealth"