Meeting Bill Gates Next Week

[noob]

Alright, I was going to take a short break but this opportunity just came up so I figure I'd make this posting here. Meeting with Bill Gates early next week. I have the chance to ask him a few questions. I'm making my rounds and asking everyone I know what they would want to ask him. I'm going to compile a list of what I would consider the best questions out of all the questions people suggest and try to ask him that.

Anyone that have a good question, feel free to post it below. Please do not post questions you can Google up yourself.

[Kerr]

Why The Heck are there so many versions of windows 7, and why the heck do they cost so much?

Google doesn't provide this insight.

[noob]

They cost so much because people are willing to pay that. There are multiple versions that support different needs and it's a way for them to monetize for different versions and also license them out. I am sure there are other responses but the point of this thread was to provide entrepreneurs a way to ask questions that may benefit them in some way in regards to entrepreneurship. I hope there are others here who may have thoughtful questions they want to ask to bring them up rather than just ask questions that won't matter at the end of the day.

[JohnYE]

Hi Noob,

First, I'm glad you're sticking around for now. I'm going to post this on our FB page and see what your followers there think. I'm sure there are some questions that people would love to ask one of the richest and arguably most successful man in America - right?! My question might be something like, "If you lost everything and had to start over right now - with none of your current connections - what would you do?" That's probably been asked of him before, but the answer would be interesting to know.

Hope you'll get some good questions for this!
John


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[noob]

Thanks John, I made a note of it.

[BizBytheBook]

Alright, I was going to take a short break but this opportunity just came up so I figure I'd make this posting here. Meeting with Bill Gates early next week. I have the chance to ask him a few questions. I'm making my rounds and asking everyone I know what they would want to ask him. I'm going to compile a list of what I would consider the best questions out of all the questions people suggest and try to ask him that.

Anyone that have a good question, feel free to post it below. Please do not post questions you can Google up yourself.

Ask him what's the next big thing in the next 5 years that most (let's say 90%) of the people don't know about. The green movement, social media, software in contrast to hardware, low cost software & services giving small businesses the tools to level the playing field (read "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman), the open-source movement, search engines & free knowledge, oil (had to add that), the iPod (& maybe the iPad), the mobile phenomenon, even alternative power sources like sand & wind; these we have come familiar with as regular people & as entrepreneurs. Ask him what's the next big thing that may or may not be tied to the above mentioned, that most people just don't know about. I'll be looking forward to your answer if it ranks high in your search engine.

[finances5]

Alright, I was going to take a short break but this opportunity just came up so I figure I'd make this posting here. Meeting with Bill Gates early next week. I have the chance to ask him a few questions. I'm making my rounds and asking everyone I know what they would want to ask him. I'm going to compile a list of what I would consider the best questions out of all the questions people suggest and try to ask him that.

Anyone that have a good question, feel free to post it below. Please do not post questions you can Google up yourself.

A good question to ask you in particular is how did you get around to getting to meet him in the first place? Is it one of those "the audience gets to ask him questions" type of things or what?

Thanks!

[Ahern & Brucker]

I have a question for bill

ask him how come he isn't putting mass energy, resources and money into the virtual 3-d mall concept...and giving e-commerce it's due?

ask him if he thinks e-commerce is "all that it could be" and, follow up with a big "why not?)

this is america, we can make video games of every desription, how come e-commerce is still so primitive?

and, than, if you get a chance, ask him why he don't take the lead?

it's the last frontier in commerce, seems it should be much better than what it is... and a huge money maker...

thanks

[noob]

A good question to ask you in particular is how did you get around to getting to meet him in the first place? Is it one of those "the audience gets to ask him questions" type of things or what?

Thanks!

In this particular case, there's a private event he's giving a speech to at Stanford on Monday and all current students, faculty and staff, and alumni are allowed to attend with limited seating. Tickets were available to first come first serve people who wanted to participate that meet one of the above three criteria. There is a Q&A section open at the end of the speech to those who wish to ask what they need to.

Generally speaking, I would normally get an introduction from an existing friend who knows a particular person. I was very fortunate to have made a lot of very successful personal friends in the past few years.

[Carlos™]

My question is perfect because it relates to this community.

In the early days of Microsoft's start-up phase...Like "ground zero" kind of phase, where you had to find partners, the money, paying for this and that and whatnot - ya know buying the business license, incorporating the company, stuff like that... How did you find the money to actually start up Microsoft other than your "inheritance" cash? How did you get past the struggles of starting up Microsoft? How did you even impress investors when you started out?

Awe man, sometimes I wish I had friends like "noob" - no offense to your username. I donno what else to call ya.

[noob]

Thanks Carlos. I'll add it to the list but my understanding on the history of the company was he bootstrapped and self funded the company himself (or at least with the help of family). He never raised any capital and his family background was quite wealthy. I'm certain that he had a lot of help from his dad in funding what he needed until the company was able to make money included the expense of buying over DOS.

No offense taken on the name. I chose it on purpose.

[Michael Tasner]

Hi there!

Here are some of my questions:
What is your plan or goal for the next 5-10 years?
Is there a possibility to refine an OS to run smoothly in legacy systems with all its functions intact?

[noob]

I believe Bill Gates no longer actively deal with things going on at Microsoft even though he still sits on the board as chairman. He has removed himself completely from the day to day decisions Microsoft is making and is focusing 100% of his efforts on his foundation.

[doolally]

How would he like to see the internet evolve to improve the better good for all?

[Encrypted]

Why The Heck are there so many versions of windows 7, and why the heck do they cost so much?

Google doesn't provide this insight.

What an huge waste of a question.. Why would you waste questions asking about Windows?


Ask him about his experiences and what advice he has for young entrepreneurs.