Great story about the founding of Microsoft from it's cofounder Paul Allen. I've read a few books about Microsofts history before (such as Gates), but it was fascinating to hear it from the horses mouth. 
 What stuck out for me was that Paul and Bill were on the cutting edge of software ever since they first saw a computer as teenagers. Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers mentioned the fact that having access to a computer at that time was a huge advantage, and Paul's story confirms that. The world only changes massively so many times, and the age of computing has certainly been one of them - and Paul and Bill were in the right place, at the right time, and with the right drive to succeed. 
 What was impressive was how Paul and Bill executed like crazy. They had the edge, and they worked really hard, long hours to keep it. It was sad that Paul burned out so early - but also understandable given that Bill had such a strong personality. 
 Paul prides himself on being a forward thinker. He gives multiple stories of always following the latest technology and trying to look forward and think about what is coming next. Indeed, it's that trait that led to Microsoft being formed as they were certainly at the forefront of the software revolution. In one part of the book Paul even predicts that Mobile is the next big platform and that the PC is dying. 
 I've always worked at startups, which tend to innovate more than they follow. So it was interesting to hear Allen talking about how Microsoft's strategy went from being on the cutting edge of technology in it's infancy to being a 400 pound gorilla that used a approach of copying innovative products and using it's cash reserves and muscle to out-execute on an idea. I suppose this is what a big company has to do - but it's a hard position to win from. An Microsoft really hasn't had a lot of wins lately. They haven't innovated enough on Hotmail. Bing is nice but not better than Google in any significant ways. And even the high and mighty Internet Explorer is really losing ground to Chrome/Firefox/Safari. Paul is right - you have to look to what is ahead. 
 Since Microsoft, Paul has certainly stayed busy: owning sports teams, investing in lots of different companies, building a space program, and touring around on his 400 foot yacht. Most of his investments have been in the vein of improving technology and trying to predict the next big things, especially in his particular interests. 
 I think his brain mapping project and the Digital Aristotle projects stand out - they sound really interesting and important. The appendix lists a few of the current challenges issues with getting a computer to understand human language, which was fascinating. Allen even alludes to the oft-mentioned Singularity, but says that he doesn't think it will occur in our lifetimes, as despite Moore's law advancing computing power fast enough, we are lightyears away with AI. 
 Some useful tidbits: 
 - p65 Even Bill Gates wasn't the best at Math in college at Harvard. There are all kinds of smarts! 
 - Lesson: decentralize or don't distract the ceo: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/... 
 - It was interesting that Allen said that his biggest mistakes were not finding the right people to help him execute his visions. It's all about people. 
 Update: my interview with Paul Allen is now live!