Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Case Study

Nick Blakeslee

Gates/Jobs Case Study

1.      The time period during which Bill Gates and Steve Jobs grew up played a crucial role in the future success of both entrepreneurs. Both men were born in 1955 during the birth rate explosion that following the Second World War. A key theme of this generation was a booming interest in the fields of science and technology, more specifically computers. Gates and Jobs were no exception to these interests. They both became obsessive about computers which led to their eventual departure from college. I have no doubts that both of these great men would have been successful in any time period, but I think this particular time period was the reason behind them choosing computers. The technology boom was a rapidly expanding and innovating field, and I believe that was one of the main reasons pushing them to the industry. The constant change of the industry led Gates and Jobs to develop a phenomenal ability to adapt and keep thriving. This ability is still one of the defining characteristics of both men and their leadership.
2.      Like many young people, Bill Gates was influenced greatly by his family. His father was a military man who served in the army during World War II. Bill’s mother was from a wealthy Washington family. This contributed greatly to his life because it allowed him a comfortable upbringing. Coming from a comfortable home gave Bill a chance to branch out and find hobbies that he enjoyed. One example of this was him joining a business club in the sixth grade. In the club, he created his own mock company and made a business plan for it. I believe that this involvement fueled Bill Gates’ drive as a young businessman and gave him crucial experience for the rest of his life. From an early age, it was instilled in Bill to be a driven person and this let him develop into the great leader that he is today.

Steve jobs also had an interesting childhood. For his part, he differed from Bill by being much more rebellious at a young age. He was an incredibly bright and curious child but tended to be disruptive in school. This led to him eventually being expelled from elementary school. Steve seemed to always view his assignments as a waste of time because they were incredibly boring and tedious to such a bright student. Outside of the classroom was where Steve was at his best. He, much like Bill Gates, had a great desire for knowledge related to things that interested him. He was very interested in technology so he began to learn as much as possible about all forms of electronics. For example, Steve’s neighbor invited him to help take apart and look at a microphone. He was incredibly fascinated by this and helped to drive his passion for learning more about electronics.

1. Friendship was another factor that contributed to the success of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. For Gates, that friendship came in the form of his future business partner Paul Allen. The two students met while both were attending the Lakeside Prep School. They got along so well because they shared common interests and hobbies. Even though they both loved computers, their passions differed slightly. I think this is what led to them having such a huge amount of success. Gates was obsessed with the programming side of computers, while Allen was obsessed with the hardware. When those two passions were brought together, a very successful partnership was formed. They continued this winning formula for years which allowed them to take Microsoft to the very top of the industry.

Steve Jobs also drew success from his friendship with his business partner Steve Wozniak. Jobs and Wozniak began their friendship through a common interest for electronics, much like Gates and Allen. In college, a major foundation for their friendship was built through the creation and sale of “Blue Boxes”. This characterized how much of their business relationship would work. Wozniak did the vast majority of work on the creation of the device and then Jobs would handle the business aspect of the endeavor. This type of partnership proved to be very fruitful to both men in coming years.