Steve Ballmer

Yep. There's the misaligned incentive.

Yeah. Well, Bill Gates was just constantly underestimated, which kind of worked to his advantage in those early days. Yes, totally. This is the thing about Microsoft. People kind of forget how insanely young Bill was. He was just 20. And to put that in context, he's only seven years older than Jensen Huang.

Yeah. Well, Bill Gates was just constantly underestimated, which kind of worked to his advantage in those early days. Yes, totally. This is the thing about Microsoft. People kind of forget how insanely young Bill was. He was just 20. And to put that in context, he's only seven years older than Jensen Huang.

but they feel an entire generation apart since Microsoft was started almost 20 years before NVIDIA. When you start bending your mind around like, oh, Bill Gates is still pretty young considering what an institution Microsoft has become in the world.

but they feel an entire generation apart since Microsoft was started almost 20 years before NVIDIA. When you start bending your mind around like, oh, Bill Gates is still pretty young considering what an institution Microsoft has become in the world.

Right. They don't control their destiny.

Right. They don't control their destiny.

And that's the first deal that happens between the companies. I mean, there's so many deals done both directions, commercial deals, equity deals, legal disputes in both directions. And this is the very first time that they do something together.

And that's the first deal that happens between the companies. I mean, there's so many deals done both directions, commercial deals, equity deals, legal disputes in both directions. And this is the very first time that they do something together.

Fascinating. I actually didn't know that started this early. And one correction there, you don't know for a fact it's only going to run on Microsoft's basic interpreter, but you do know for a fact that it will run on Microsoft's basic interpreter. And so if it's cheap enough, why would you take the chance on a clone that might have one or two things wrong with it?

Fascinating. I actually didn't know that started this early. And one correction there, you don't know for a fact it's only going to run on Microsoft's basic interpreter, but you do know for a fact that it will run on Microsoft's basic interpreter. And so if it's cheap enough, why would you take the chance on a clone that might have one or two things wrong with it?

And it's interesting. In the earliest days, what was stopping someone else from writing a basic interpreter and licensing it to Apple or RadioShack? Nothing. There were other smart people out there. And so it was just a very good business decision to say, we got to close that door.

And it's interesting. In the earliest days, what was stopping someone else from writing a basic interpreter and licensing it to Apple or RadioShack? Nothing. There were other smart people out there. And so it was just a very good business decision to say, we got to close that door.

We just got to make this a no-brainer for people to buy from us because if we're value maximizing and it's starting to feel expensive, they're going to turn elsewhere until we get a lead. Right.

We just got to make this a no-brainer for people to buy from us because if we're value maximizing and it's starting to feel expensive, they're going to turn elsewhere until we get a lead. Right.

just because it's important to establish there's trade-offs for everything. If you're running a startup right now, you might think to yourself, oh, great, I'll just run that exact strategy. The important thing here is, A, most of the work was already done for the original basic. B, Bill was doing it himself, Bill and Paul.

just because it's important to establish there's trade-offs for everything. If you're running a startup right now, you might think to yourself, oh, great, I'll just run that exact strategy. The important thing here is, A, most of the work was already done for the original basic. B, Bill was doing it himself, Bill and Paul.

So the importance of technical co-founders and their overhead was crazy low. And so they could do these deals where they don't make very much money because they were, I think at the end of 77, they were five employees, right? So their overhead was just so unbelievably low that they could take a really long lens.

So the importance of technical co-founders and their overhead was crazy low. And so they could do these deals where they don't make very much money because they were, I think at the end of 77, they were five employees, right? So their overhead was just so unbelievably low that they could take a really long lens.

This is when he got his mugshot, right?