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Back in 1980, IBM had a problem.
They decided to approach a company that was making a name for themselves selling applications using BASIC programming language – Microsoft. They asked one of the company’s founders, a young Bill Gates whether he could help.
Not having code that would run on IBM’s proposed hardware, and without any desire to write it all from scratch, Gates referred the IBMers to a company called Digital Research Inc. and its owner Gary Kildall. While not a perfect fit, Kildall’s company produced operating software that was much closer to what IBM needed.
And this is where the story gets interesting.
Gary Kildall was unable to attend the meeting. Some say he was out “joy-flying” in his plane. He claims he was delivering software at a client meeting. But whatever the case, he sent his wife Dorothy McEwen to meet with the IBM representatives instead. She was unsatisfied with non-disclosure agreement that IBM wanted signed.
They parted ways with no agreement.
And IBM went back to Microsoft with their predicament.
Sensing another shot at a potential opportunity, Gates along with his partners Paul Allen and Kay Nishi contacted a programmer they knew who had written a “quick and dirty operating system” (Q-DOS) that would run on IBM’s proposed architecture until Kildall and DRI’s code could be fully adapted.
They licensed the code, quickly made several modifications to it and dubbed it PC-DOS.
Then they turned around and showed it to IBM.
But, in what’s considered one of the greatest business moves in history, instead of selling the software to IBM, Gates decided to license it retaining the rights to offer their own version of “MS-DOS” to future computer vendors.
The rest, as they say… is history.
The Power Of Acting Fast
There’s a saying that “money loves speed”.
Had Gates and his team decided to mull over the opportunity – or worse, decided to start building from the ground up – instead of taking fast action, Microsoft might be a relic in the PC industry today. Instead, by acting on an initial opportunity, and then tweaking their plans as necessary, Microsoft has become the 800 pound gorilla in the software world today.
Was it a gamble? Sure. Was their success certain? Probably not.
But sitting on your hands and mulling things over, instead of deciding and taking action, will get you absolutely nowhere.
And taking a “do it all yourself” attitude will stall you just as fast.
So what about you?
I’ve been offering you the opportunity to join my upcoming Transformation Weekend this January.
You can get all the details here at:
http://www.strategicprofits.com/transformation-weekend/
What will you do? Will you mull it over and over and over? Or worse, figure that you can get the same results by working all on your own?
Or will you step up, take action and make 2015 one of the best years of your life?
Don’t miss this opportunity.