Paul Allen was Bill Gates' oldest friend and first business partner. They met in 7th grade and bonded over their shared passion for computers. Allen foresaw that computers would change the world and predicted the rise of personal computers. This insight inspired Gates and led to the founding of Microsoft. Without Allen's encouragement and partnership, Microsoft likely would not have happened. Gates remembers Allen as a passionate man devoted to his family and friends as well as a brilliant and philanthropic visionary.

1. “a disciple of experience.” Paul Allen foresaw that computers would change the world.
When I read the book Idea Man, I used to tell to my friend, I wish one day Bill Gates would write the
story from his narrative and would love to read it. Thought very short, he captured the most important
moments in life, and more important is the mutualism of feeling. Lots of time, “two person don't cherish
the same moment the same way. I see the moments are cherished and valued equally.”
10, 16, 2018, Bill Gates Wrote his heartfelt condolences letter to Paul Allen family, he writes;
Paul Allen, one of my oldest friends and the first business partner I ever had, died yesterday. I want to
extend my condolences to his sister, Jody, his extended family, and his many friends and colleagues
around the world.
I met Paul when I was in 7th grade, and it changed my life.
I looked up to him right away. He was two years ahead of me in school, really tall, and proved to be a
genius with computers. (Later, he also had a very cool beard, which I could never pull off.) We started
hanging out together, especially once the first computer arrived at our school. We spent just about all
our free time messing around with any computer we could get our hands on.
Paul foresaw that computers would change the world. Even in high school, before any of us knew what
a personal computer was, he was predicting that computer chips would get super-powerful and would
eventually give rise to a whole new industry. That insight of his was the cornerstone of everything we
did together.
In fact, Microsoft would never have happened without Paul. In December 1974, he and I were both
living in the Boston area—he was working, and I was going to college. One day he came and got me,
insisting that I rush over to a nearby newsstand with him. When we arrived, he showed me the cover of
the January issue of Popular Electronics. It featured a new computer called the Altair 8800, which ran on
a powerful new chip. Paul looked at me and said: “This is happening without us!” That moment
marked the end of my college career and the beginning of our new company, Microsoft. It happened
because of Paul.
As the first person I ever partnered with, Paul set a standard that few other people could meet. He had a
wide-ranging mind and a special talent for explaining complicated subjects in a simple way. Since I was
lucky enough to know him from such a young age, I saw that before the rest of the world did. As a
teenager, I was curious about (of all things) gasoline. What did “refining” even mean? I turned to the
most expirence knowledgeable person I knew. Paul explained it in a super-clear and interesting way. It
was just one of many enlightening conversations we would have over the coming decades.
Bill Gates concludes; When I think about Paul, I remember a passionate man who held his family and
friends dear. I also remember a brilliant technologist, businessman, entrepreneur and a philanthropist
who wanted to accomplish great things, and did.