Microsoft First Generation

Find the answers here. With Microsoft First Generation, Cheryl Tsang skillfully
renders recent history in bold, colorful strokes, highlighting each of the specific
business qualities and entrepreneurial traits that turned Microsoft's dreams into
reality. Meet the early builders of Microsoft, and step inside the famous culture of
loyalty, the storied "maniacal work ethic," and the hardcore world of reckless
risk-taking that remains so integral to the computer giant's matchless and ongoing
success.

Here, up close and personal, Tsang introduces readers to twelve members of
Microsoft's mythic first generation, each of whom has walked away from Microsoft
as a multimillionaire. The collection spans a diverse collection of creative geniuses
and business wizards, from Bob O'Rear, employee number seven, who joined the
team in 1977 and wrote the original MS-DOS program on the first IBM PC; to
bestselling author Russell Borland who, after innocently answering a help wanted ad
for a technical copywriter in 1980, suddenly became the mouthpiece of an entire
company, singlehandedly familiarizing the world with Microsoft products; to Trish
Millines, who began as a software tester in 1988 and then blazed a trail and effected
lasting change as a powerful advocate for ethnic diversity in the technological
arena.

Featuring candid appraisals of the idiosyncrasies of software culture, fascinating
portraits of the enigmatic Bill Gates, and rare photographs of the company's early
days, Microsoft First Generation uncovers a range of surprising success
secrets-and reveals, once and for all, exactly what makes Microsoft tick.