# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Subscribe for more Jack Ma Knowledge http://bit.ly/jackmacnl Jack Ma Speech - How to Run Business http://youtu.be/E_ygOyWKEGI Jack Ma on Alibaba's IPO success http://youtu.be/KvGhtgXONC0 Founder of Alibaba Jack Ma Interview | Charlie Rose http://youtu.be/pr5LDfg3naA Jack Ma Speech - Small is Beautiful http://youtu.be/9qY0Tn98X40 Jack Ma Interview - Success Story Behind Alibaba http://youtu.be/zLZNvCDgfUA Jack Ma Philosophy: Small Is Beautiful, Small Is Powerful http://youtu.be/Lx0HTv7LYHs

# data[].attributes.headline
Ma Yun, known professionally as Jack Ma, is a Chinese business magnate who is the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a family of successful Internet-based businesses

# data[].attributes.subject
Ma Yun, known professionally as Jack Ma, is a Chinese business magnate who is the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a family of successful Internet-based businesses

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jack Ma Interview - Success Story Behind Alibaba

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Subscribe for more Jack Ma Knowledge http://bit.ly/jackmacnl Jack Ma Speech - How to Run Business http://youtu.be/E_ygOyWKEGI Jack Ma on Alibaba's IPO success http://youtu.be/KvGhtgXONC0 Founder of Alibaba Jack Ma Interview | Charlie Rose http://youtu.be/pr5LDfg3naA Jack Ma Speech - Small is Beautiful http://youtu.be/9qY0Tn98X40 Jack Ma Interview - Success Story Behind Alibaba http://youtu.be/zLZNvCDgfUA Jack Ma Philosophy: Small Is Beautiful, Small Is Powerful http://youtu.be/Lx0HTv7LYHs

# data[].attributes.headline
The 15 Characteristics of Effective Entrepreneurs

# data[].attributes.subject
The 15 Characteristics of Effective Entrepreneurs

# data[].attributes.headline
Datuk Seri Dr Vida, pengasas Pamoga dan Qu Puteh pernah menjadi guru sebelum memulakan perniagaannya

# data[].attributes.subject
Datuk Seri Dr Vida, pengasas Pamoga dan Qu Puteh pernah menjadi guru sebelum memulakan perniagaannya

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
UMUM mungkin telah mengenali siapa Datuk Seri Dr Vida, pengasas produk kecantikan Vida Beauty Sdn Bhd dan produk kesihatan berjenama Pamoga.

Apa tidaknya, penampilan yang ditonjolkan lain daripada yang lain, pakaian sedondon sentiasa dilengkapi dengan barang kemas bergemerlapan termasuk mahkota di kepala.

'Trademark' 'Qu Puteh Qu Puteh, Barulah Putih' dengan dua jari berbentuk 'V' di pipi sambil memuncungkan bibir memastikan Dr Vida atau nama sebenarnya Hasmiza Othman dikenali ramai dan diingati.

Tambahan pula, kebelakangan ini, anak kelahiran Machang, Kelantan itu sering menaja pelbagai program berbentuk hiburan di kaca televisyen yang pada setiap kali iklan, beliau sendiri akan muncul mempromosi produknya dengan cara tersendiri.

Penulis baru-baru ini berkesempatan bertemu dengannya untuk mengenali wanita berusia 44 tahun itu dari lebih dekat dan pertemuan itu sedikit sebanyak menonjolkan lagi watak sebenarnya.

Siapa Datuk Seri Vida

Mungkin ramai yang ingin tahu dari mana datangnya nama Vida sedangkan namanya sebenarnya adalah Hasmiza.

Ketika soalan itu diajukan, sambil ketawa beliau menjelaskan dulu rakannya sering memanggil Miza dan ada yang memangil Ida, namun beliau mengkomersialkan nama itu kepada Vida kerana menganggap huruf 'V' mempunyai nilai yang tinggi.

Diminta menceritakan latar belakangnya dan bagaimana beliau berjaya bergelar 'multi-milionaire' hari ini, dalam dialek pekat Kelantan, Hazmiza berkata; "Saya sudah merasa jerih perih, kegagalan demi kegagalan dalam perniagaan, perit disabotaj dan dianiaya malahan turut difitnah."

Beliau juga pernah menghadapi cabaran paling getir apabila kehilangan dua daripada empat anak tersayang dalam kebakaran rumah tiga tahun lepas. Namun, enggan dirinya tewas di tengah jalan. Hasmiza tanpa putus asa, bangkit menempuh cabaran sehingga berjaya seperti hari ini.

Sejauhmana kejayaan Hasmiza, mungkin ramai yang sudah melihat sendiri kediaman mewahnya yang bernilai RM22 juta di Ipoh, Perak, memiliki 22 rumah mewah yang ada diantaranya dihuni pekerjanya. Malah beliau turut memiliki belasan kereta mewah, tidak terkecuali barangan kemas yang sentiasa menghiasi dirinya.

"Saya pernah merasakan semuanya, kegagalan, kehilangan, apa yang berlaku menguatkan semangat saya untuk berjaya di dunia dan akhirat. Jika saya tidak kuatkan semangat, saya tidak akan mengecapi kejayaan seperti hari ini.

Bermula dari bawah

Menceritakan dari awal kisah dirinya, kehidupan Hasmiza senang semasa kecil tetapi berubah tiba-tiba apabila ayah yang memiliki kilang papan meninggal dunia. Ibunya terpaksa menoreh getah untuk menyara beliau tiga beradik.

Untuk menampung belanja persekolahan, beliau mula meniaga secara kecil-kecilan dengan menjual kacang putih dan nasi bungkus kepada rakan di sekolah.

Ketika menyambung pengajian dalam jurusan Sarjana Muda Pendidikan (Kesusasteran Melayu dan Sejarah) di Universiti Sains Malaysia Pulau Pinang, Hasmiza turut berniaga produk dari Kelantan seperti kain batik, telekung, sambal daging dan keropok yang dijualnya kepada rakan-rakan dan pensyarah.

"Apa yang saya tak buat, semasa belajar saya berniaga dan bekerja kilang, kerja restoran makanan segera (KFC)," katanya yang tidak menghirau penat dan lelah.

Selepas habis belajar, saya ditugaskan mengajar di sekolah SJK (C) Poi Lam di Ipoh.

Walaupun sudah ada pendapatan bulanan tetap sebagai guru, minat untuk berniaga tidak pernah terpadam. Justeru, beliau mengambil keputusan mendalami bidang kecantikan iaitu dandanan rambut dan solekan.

Kelahiran Vida Beauty

Setelah ilmu dandanan dan solekan terisi dalam dada, beliau memberanikan diri membuat pinjaman bank sebanyak RM100,000 untuk membuka salun kecantikan.

"Dengan gaji cikgu RM3,000 pada masa tu, saya terpaksa membayar balik pinjaman bank sebanyak RM2,000, duit yang tinggal RM1,000 itu yang saya gunakan untuk bayar rumah dan kereta dan untuk makan. Itu antara masa-masa sukar yang terpaksa saya tempuhi," katanya.

Mungkin masih cetek pengalaman, Hasmiza terpaksa berdepan halangan pertama apabila semua wang pinjaman sebanyak RM100,000 itu digunakan untuk kerja-kerja ubahsuai kedai.

"Semua RM100,000 habis digunakan untuk mengubahsuai kedai untuk dijadikan salun kecantikan. Tiada langsung wang untuk modal pusingan, untuk beli barangan berniaga, lucukan, kedai sudah cantik, tapi tiada barang untuk dijual.

Jadi, saya terpaksa cari duit lagi dengan meniaga di pasar malam, meniaga makanan, telekung semua saya jual untuk dapat modal bagi membuka salun kecantikan."

Hasmiza nekad berhenti kerja setelah 12 tahun bergelar guru dan segera mendaftar sebagai tenaga pengajar di Majlis Latihan Vokasional Kebangsaan (MLVK) dengan mengajar kursus dandanan rambut dan solekan di pusat berkenaan.

Untuk meningkatkan kemahiran pelajar-pelajarnya, Hasmiza berpendapat mereka perlu diberi cabaran.

"Dalam kelas saya mereka ini potong rambut sesama sendiri, cuci muka sesama sendiri, pada saya ia tidak mencabar maka saya beri mereka cabaran. Saya beli kerusi RM15 sebiji dan bawa pelajar-pelajar ini ke pasar raya untuk beri khidmat cuci muka secara percuma kepada orang ramai.

"Alhamdulillah ia mendapat sambutan, kemudian saya belikan kerusi panjang, untuk beri peluang lebih ramai pelajar saya mempraktikkan ilmu yang dipelajari.

"Selepas itu mereka mahukan produk untuk mencuci muka...maka dari situlah saya lahirkan kosmetik saya, Vida Beauty," katanya.

Kehabisan modal

Jelas Hasmiza, beliau memperolehi geran kerajaan sebanyak RM1 juta sebagai modal untuk memulakan perniagaan kosmetiknya. Separuh daripada wang berkenaan digunakan untuk melakukan kajian dan penyelidikan (R&D) produk.

Beliau juga ke beberapa negara untuk mencari bahan terbaik bagi menghasilkan kosmetiknya.

Manakala separuh lagi digunakan untuk mengiklankan produknya dalam sebuah majalah tempatan dengan kos RM100,000 dan mengiklan produk Vida Beauty menerusi radio swasta dan televisyen dengan kos RM400,000 namun wang itu seolah-olah hilang sekelip mata tanpa menampakkan hasil.

"Kegagalan pengiklanan yang menyebabkan saya rugi besar dan saya sangat-sangat tertekan dan disahkan mengalami tekanan darah tinggi. Namun apa yang berlaku sebenarnya ada hikmahnya. Sebagai seorang yang suka bereksperimen, saya cuba mengubati darah tinggi saya itu dengan mencipta formula sendiri.

"Saya cuba gunakan gamat yang sifatnya menyejukkan dan menggunakan khasiat buah delima sebagai bahan anti-oksidan dan daripada situ lahirlah pula produk kesihatan, Pamoga. Alhamdulillah, ia berjaya mengurangkan tekanan darah tinggi saya. Bagaimanapun kegagalan daripada aspek pengiklanan menyebabkan jualan tidak berganjak dan dalam tempoh setahun hanya kira-kira 500 botol Pamoga sahaja yang terjual.

Nyaris tutup kedai

Serik untuk mengiklan lagi, Hasmiza akhirnya memutuskan untuk menutup perniagaan. Namun, sebagai cubaan kali terakhir beliau mencabar diri untuk melakukan sendiri iklan produk jualannya di radio RTM Kelantan FM.

Selama dua hari berturut-turut beliau bercakap sendiri di radio mempromosi produk terutamanya Pamoga dengan durasi 15 minit untuk satu sesi.

Pada hari ketiga ketika beliau benar-benar nekad untuk menutup kedai di sebuah pasar raya di Kota Baharu, dilihatnya ramai yang berkerumun di hadapan kedainya itu.

"Saya ingat ada yang pengsan, tapi alangkah terkejutnya saya apabila rupa-rupanya mereka yang berkumpul ramai-ramai di depan kedai saya tu nak beli Pamoga. Itulah yang berlaku enam tahun lepas. Dari situ jualan semakin meningkat, dengan iklan gaya testimoni pengguna yang berkesan, produk ini semakin mendapat sambutan hingga melonjak jualan mencapai 100,000 botol sebulan.

Itu baru Pamoga, saya ada lebih 100 produk," katanya.

Hasil jualan kesemua produknya mula mencapai lapan angka sebulan selepas hampir 10 tahun beliau berniaga.

"Sebab itu saya sangat berhati-hati dalam bab iklan. Dalam masa yang sama saya mula melabur dalam drama dan filem tempatan dan beberapa bisnes sampingan yang lain. Mula menaja beberapa program di televisyen dan terbaru, menaja pasukan bola sepak Kelantan sebanyak RM16 juta, dengan syarat, stadium Kelantan dicat warna pink (merah jambu)," katanya sambil tertawa.

Gagal dalam iklan buat Dr Vida kreatif

Menurutnya, beliau sangat cerewet soal iklan memandangkan telah beberapa kali mengalami kegagalan.

"Jika diikutkan, saya telah rugi jutaan Ringgit daripada pengiklanan yang tidak berkesan. Sebab itu saya buat sendiri iklan... Saya sendiri bertindak menjadi model untuk produk saya, saya sendiri yang akan cakap mengenai produk saya. Daripada situ saya perlu kreatif mencipta tagline sendiri, penampilan 'bling-bling', kalau tak bing-bling, tak sah. Itu semua untuk 'jual' produk saya.

"Itu semua agar orang akan ingat siapa Vida dan produk syarikat saya, Vida Beauty Sdn Bhd. Sangat kontra dengan siapa saya sebenarnya di rumah. Saya sebenarnya seorang yang berpenampilan sederhana. Kalau tiada urusan perniagaan, saya tak mekap, kalau di rumah saya hanya memilih baju kaftan.

"Daripada segi pemasaran pula, saya banyak belajar daripada kegagalan. Itulah 'resepi rahsia' perniagaan saya," katanya.

Cabaran

Semakin rancak bercerita, beliau berkata dalam tempoh itu juga bukan sedikit cabaran yang terpaksa dihadapinya termasuk masalah saingan produk tiruan, unsur sabotaj dan berhadapan fitnah.

Terbaru, salah satu daripada produknya iaitu Qu Puteh Whitening Pro 9 diarah ditarik balik daripada pasaran kerana dikatakan mengandungi paras tinggi merkuri (raksa).

Hasmiza berkata beliau akur dengan arahan Kementerian Kesihatan itu dan berkata pengguna yang telah membelinya boleh memulangkannya.

Selain itu beliau sedar akan komen-komen negatif yang diterima namun ia tidak mematahkan semangat untuk meneruskan dengan perniagaanya.

"Saya tahu ramai yang mencemuh terutama dengan penampilan saya, tapi biarlah, saya dah kebal. Mereka tak faham saya...saya ada hala tuju sendiri.. kalau saya ikut kata-kata mereka, tak ke manalah saya," katanya.

Jelasnya, beliau menjadikan anak-anak sumber inspirasi dan sebagai seorang yang terpaksa bekerja keras sejak dari kecil beliau tidak mahu anak-anak turut merasai kesusahan yang pernah ditempuhinya.

"Saya berasal dari keluarga susah, saya pernah rasa susah... jadi saya tak mahu anak-anak rasa seperti apa yang saya rasa. Merekalah inspirasi saya, sumber kekuatan saya. Saya juga mengajar mereka berniaga dari kecil... nampaknya kedua-duanya memang ada minat berniaga," katanya.

Untuk tahun ini, kalendar perniagaannya semakin padat dengan memfokuskan beberapa perniagaan baharu, termasuk air mineral dan minuman isotonik selain memperkukuhkan jenama DSV (Datuk Seri Vida). Beliau juga merancang untuk meluaskan pemasaran produknya ke beberapa negara luar.

================================================================================

Tips perniagaan

Sebelum mengakhiri temubual lebih sejam itu dengan penulis, beliau turut diminta memberikan tips kepada mereka yang ingin menceburi bidang perniagaan terutama bagi yang tidak mempunyai modal.

"Ya, selalunya mereka ni terfikir-fikir soal modal, cukup ke modal nak buat itu, nak buat ini...nak tunggu modal besar jatuh dari langit? Jangan, nak berniaga, buat saja dulu tak payah tunggu ada modal besar.

"Kalau ada RM10 buat meniaga cara RM10. Kalau ada RM100 buat bisnes yang sesuai dengan modal RM100. Contohnya jika ada RM10, apa perniagaan yang boleh dibuat. Jualah air ke, keropok lekor ke, kalau ada RM100, berniagalah barangan yang sesuai dengan modal RM100," katanya.

Satu lagi, tambahnya, kebanyakan peniaga yang sudah mengecapi keuntungan akan mudah tergoda untuk berbelanja.

"Bila yang dah dapat duit itu ramai yang lupa, nak beli itu, nak beli ini, buat rumah beli kereta. Pada saya itu salah, saya sendiri hanya menikmati hasil usaha saya hanya enam tahun kebelakangan ini selepas saya bertungkus-lumus 16 tahun.

"Sebelum ini saya beli beg tangan pun setahun satu, saya dah ada duit tapi saya menahan diri daripada berbelanja. Dulu ada yang kata saya 'cap ayam' atau imej saya kekampungan sebab tak pakai barangan berjenama... tapi saya bersabar.

Memang ia sangat memerlukan ketahanan daripada segi psikologi untuk tidak berbelanja sedangkan kita tahu kita ada wang, tapi saya tahu saya ada kekuatan wang tunai dan saya tak ada hutang," katanya.

Satu lagi petua daripada Hasmiza, sebagai orang Islam, perbanyakkan bersedekah kerana bila bersedekah rezeki yang diperolehi berkat selain selalu berdoa yang merupakan 'senjata' kejayaan bagi ummah. - Bernama

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Dr Vida pernah jadi cikgu sebelum mula berniaga

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
UMUM mungkin telah mengenali siapa Datuk Seri Dr Vida, pengasas produk kecantikan Vida Beauty Sdn Bhd dan produk kesihatan berjenama Pamoga. Apa tidaknya, penampilan yang ditonjolkan lain daripada yang lain, pakaian sedondon sentiasa dilengkapi dengan barang kemas bergemerlapan termasuk mahkota di kepala.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coolblog tawar peluang keusahawanan tempatan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Francais pencuci mulut dan minuman tempatan, Coolblog Dessert Sdn Bhd merancang mengukuhkan jenamanya di pasaran tempatan dengan membuka kiosk berkonsep baru dikenalicrepe menjelang akhir tahun ini.

# data[].attributes.body
- 📌 it aims to marry natural taste of tea and fruit taste
📌take away kiosk concept
📌first nwe ground in Malaysia and Singapore
📌has over 24 different flavors
📌 range prive rm 2.40- rm 3.50
📌 customer mostly ask for drive thru
And demand that the taste are to sweet

Chatime - 📍 use high tech tea and coffee make
📍 have high quality fresh tea and coffee
📍 has avariety of tea and coffee, fruit pump and toppin
📍range pricw rm 4.90-rm6.90
📍has franchise most over the world,
📍customer says that they dont have plastic, some drinks dont have but have in menu

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Entrepreneurs are frequently thought of as national assets to be cultivated, motivated and remunerated to the greatest possible extent. Entrepreneurs can change the way we live and work. If successful, their innovations may improve our standard of living, and in addition to creating wealth with their entrepreneurial ventures, they also create jobs and the conditions for a prosperous society.

Entrepreneurs Create New Businesses

Trailblazing offerings by entrepreneurs, in the form of new goods and services, can produce a cascading effect by stimulating related businesses or sectors supporting the new venture, furthering economic development.

For example, a few IT companies founded the Indian IT industry in the 1990s as a backend programmers' hub. Soon the industry gathered pace in its own programmers' domain. But more importantly, millions from other sectors benefited from it. (For more, see: Top Indian Billionaires And How They Made Their Money.)

Businesses in associated industries, like call center operations, network maintenance companies and hardware providers, flourished. Education and training institutes nurtured a new class of IT workers who were offered better, high-paying jobs. Infrastructure development organizations and even real estate companies capitalized on this growth as workers migrated to employment hubs seeking better lives.

Similarly, future development efforts in underdeveloped countries will require robust logistics support, capital investment from buildings to paper clips, and a qualified workforce. From the highly qualified programmer to the construction worker, the entrepreneur benefits a large part of the economy.

Entrepreneurs Add to National Income

Entrepreneurial ventures generate new wealth. Existing businesses may remain confined to the scope of existing markets and may hit the glass ceiling in terms of income. New and improved products, services or technology from entrepreneurs enable new markets to be developed and new wealth to be created.

Additionally, increased employment and higher earnings contribute to better national income in the form of higher tax revenue and higher government spending. This revenue can be used by the government to invest in other, struggling sectors and human capital.

Although it may make a few existing players redundant, the government can soften the blow by redirecting surplus wealth to retrain workers. (For more, see: Starting A Small Business In Tough Economic Times.)

Entrepreneurs Create Social Change

Through their unique offerings of new goods and services, entrepreneurs break away from tradition and indirectly support freedom by reducing dependence on obsolete systems and technologies. This results in an improved quality of life, improved morale and greater economic freedom.

For example, the water supply in a water-scarce region will, at times, force people to stop working to collect water. This will impact their business, productivity and income. Imagine an innovative, automatic, low-cost, flow-based pump that can fill people's water containers automatically. This type of innovation ensures people are able to focus on their jobs without worrying about a basic necessity like water. More time to devote to work translates to economic growth.

For a more contemporary example, smartphones and apps have revolutionized work and play across the globe. Smartphones are not exclusive to wealthy countries or people either. As the growth of China's smartphone market and its smartphone industry shows, technological entrepreneurship will have profound, long-lasting impacts on the entire human race.

Moreover, the globalization of technology means entrepreneurs in lesser-developed countries have access to the same tools as their counterparts in richer countries. They also have the advantage of a lower cost of living, so a young entrepreneur from an underdeveloped country can take on the might of a multi-million-dollar existing product from a developed country.

Community Development

Entrepreneurs regularly nurture ventures by other like-minded individuals. They also invest in community projects and provide financial support to local charities. This enables further development beyond their own ventures. Some famous entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, have used their money to finance good causes, from education to public health. The qualities that make one an entrepreneur are the same qualities that motivate entrepreneurs to pay it forward. (For more, see: M illionaires Who Gave it All Away.)

The Other Side of Entrepreneurs

Are there any drawbacks to cultivating entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship? Is there a limit to the number of entrepreneurs a society can hold?

Italy may provide an example of a place where high levels of self-employment have proved to be inefficient for economic development. Research reveals that Italy has in the past experienced large negative impacts on the growth of its economy because of self-employment. There may be truth in the old saying, "too many chefs and not enough cooks spoil the soup."

The Role of Government

Regulation plays a crucial role in nurturing entrepreneurship and requires a fine balancing act on the part of the regulating authority. Unregulated entrepreneurship may lead to unwanted social outcomes including unfair market practices, pervasive corruption, financial crisis and even criminal activity.

Findings from United Nations University also indicate the possible implications of "over-nurturing" entrepreneurship. European economist Wim Naudé argues that "while entrepreneurship may raise economic growth and material welfare, it may not always result in improvements in non-material welfare (or happiness). Promotion of happiness is increasingly seen as an essential goal. "

Paradoxically, a significantly high number of entrepreneurs may lead to fierce competition and loss of career choices for individuals. With too many entrepreneurs, levels of aspirations usually rise. Owning to the variability of success in entrepreneurial ventures, the scenario of having too many entrepreneurs may also lead to income inequality, making citizens more, not less, unhappy.

The Bottom Line

The interesting interaction of entrepreneurship and economic development holds important inferences for policy makers, development institutes, business owners, change agents and charitable donors. If we understand the benefits and drawbacks, a balanced approach to nurturing entrepreneurship can result in a positive impact on economy and society.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Entrepreneurs Are Important for the Economy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Entrepreneurs are frequently thought of as national assets to be cultivated, motivated and remunerated to the greatest possible extent. Entrepreneurs can change the way we live and work. If successful, their innovations may improve our standard of living, and in addition to creating wealth with their entrepreneurial ventures, they also create jobs and the conditions for a prosperous society.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bill Gates 7 Rules of Success | Microsoft Founder | Entrepreneur | Motivational Speech

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
William Henry Bill Gates 3 is a Computer programmer, philanthropist, American investor and Co- Founder of Microsoft.He is the richest person on earth according to many magazines. He always inspires us by his work, ideas, seminar, interviews, public speaking, quotes and business strategies.This video 7 rules of success dedicated to wealthiest person in the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington[3] as the only son of William H. Gates Sr.[b] (1925-2020) and his first wife, Mary Maxwell Gates (1929-1994).[23] His ancestry includes English, German, and Irish/ Scots-Irish.[24] His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors of First Interstate BancSystem and United Way of America. Gates's maternal grandfather was J. W. Maxwell, a national bank president. Gates has an older sister Kristi (Kristianne) and a younger sister Libby. He is the fourth of his name in his family but is known as William Gates III or "Trey" (i.e., three) because his father had the "II" suffix.[26] The family lived in the Sand Point area of Seattle in a home that was damaged by a rare tornado when Gates was seven years old.[27]

According to Gates, when he was young, his parents wanted him to pursue a career in law. During his childhood, his family regularly attended a church of the Congregational Christian Churches, a Protestant Reformed denomination.[29][30][31] Gates was small for his age and was bullied as a child.[26] The family encouraged competition; one visitor reported that "it didn't matter whether it was hearts or pickleball or swimming to the dock; there was always a reward for winning and there was always a penalty for losing".[32]

Gates (right) with Paul Allen seated at Teletype Model 33 ASR terminals in Lakeside School, 1970

At age 13, he enrolled in the private Lakeside prep school,[34] where he wrote his first software program.[35] When he was in eighth grade, the Mothers' Club at the school used proceeds from Lakeside School's rummage sale to buy a Teletype Model 33 ASR terminal and a block of computer time on a General Electric (GE) computer for the students. Gates took an interest in programming the GE system in BASIC, and he was excused from math classes to pursue his interest. He wrote his first computer program on this machine, an implementation of tic-tac-toe that allowed users to play games against the computer. Gates was fascinated by the machine and how it would always execute software code perfectly. After the Mothers Club donation was exhausted, Gates and other students sought time on systems including DEC PDP minicomputers. One of these systems was a PDP-10 belonging to Computer Center Corporation (CCC) which banned Gates, Paul Allen, Ric Weiland, and Gates's best friend and first business partner Kent Evans for the summer after it caught them exploiting bugs in the operating system to obtain free computer time.[26]

The four students formed the Lakeside Programmers Club to make money.[26] At the end of the ban, they offered to find bugs in CCC's software in exchange for extra computer time. Rather than using the system remotely via Teletype, Gates went to CCC's offices and studied source code for various programs that ran on the system, including Fortran, Lisp, and machine language. The arrangement with CCC continued until 1970 when the company went out of business.

The following year, a Lakeside teacher enlisted Gates and Evans to automate the school's class-scheduling system, providing them computer time and royalties in return. The duo worked diligently in order to have the program ready for their senior year. Towards the end of their junior year, Evans was killed in a mountain climbing accident, which Gates has described as one of the saddest days of his life. Gates then turned to Allen who helped him finish the system for Lakeside.[26]

At 17, Gates formed a venture with Allen called Traf-O-Data to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor. In 1972, he served as a congressional page in the House of Representatives.[40][41] He was a National Merit Scholar when he graduated from Lakeside School in 1973.[42] He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) and enrolled at Harvard College in the autumn of 1973.[43] He chose a pre-law major but took mathematics (including Math 55) and graduate level computer science courses.[45] While at Harvard, he met fellow student and future Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Gates left Harvard after two years while Ballmer stayed and graduated magna cum laude. Years later, Ballmer later succeeded Gates as Microsoft's CEO and maintained that position from 2000 until his resignation in 2014.[46][47]

Gates devised an algorithm for pancake sorting as a solution to one of a series of unsolved problems[48] presented in a combinatorics class by professor Harry Lewis. His solution held the record as the fastest version for over 30 years, and its successor is faster by only 2%.[48][49] His solution was formalized and published in collaboration with Harvard computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou.[50]

Gates remained in contact with Paul Allen and joined him at Honeywell during the summer of 1974. In 1975, the MITS Altair 8800 was released based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates and Allen saw the opportunity to start their own computer software company. Gates dropped out of Harvard that same year. His parents were supportive of him after seeing how much he wanted to start his own company. He explained his decision to leave Harvard: "if things hadn't worked out, I could always go back to school. I was officially on leave."[54]

BASIC

MITS Altair 8800 Computer with 8-inch (200 mm) floppy disk system whose first programming language was Microsoft's founding product, Altair BASIC

Gates read the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics which demonstrated the Altair 8800, and contacted Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) to inform them that he and others were working on a BASIC interpreter for the platform.[55] In reality, Gates and Allen did not have an Altair and had not written code for it; they merely wanted to gauge MITS's interest. MITS president Ed Roberts agreed to meet them for a demonstration, and over the course of a few weeks they developed an Altair emulator that ran on a minicomputer, and then the BASIC interpreter. The demonstration was held at MITS's offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico; it was a success and resulted in a deal with MITS to distribute the interpreter as Altair BASIC. MITS hired Allen,[56] and Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with him at MITS in November 1975. Allen named their partnership "Micro-Soft", a combination of "microcomputer" and "software", and their first office was in Albuquerque. The first employee Gates and Allen hired was their high school collaborator Ric Weiland.[56] They dropped the hyphen within a year and officially registered the trade name "Microsoft" with the Secretary of the State of New Mexico on November 26, 1976.[56] Gates never returned to Harvard to complete his studies.

Microsoft's Altair BASIC was popular with computer hobbyists, but Gates discovered that a pre-market copy had leaked out and was being widely copied and distributed. In February 1976, he wrote an Open Letter to Hobbyists in the MITS newsletter in which he asserted that more than 90% of the users of Microsoft Altair BASIC had not paid Microsoft for it and the Altair "hobby market" was in danger of eliminating the incentive for any professional developers to produce, distribute, and maintain high-quality software. This letter was unpopular with many computer hobbyists, but Gates persisted in his belief that software developers should be able to demand payment. Microsoft became independent of MITS in late 1976, and it continued to develop programming language software for various systems.[56] The company moved from Albuquerque to Bellevue, Washington on January 1, 1979.[55]

Gates said he personally reviewed and often rewrote every line of code that the company produced in its first five years. As the company grew, he transitioned into a manager role, then an executive.[58]

DONKEY.BAS, is a computer game written in 1981 and included with early versions of the PC DOS operating system distributed with the original IBM PC. It is a driving game in which the player must avoid hitting donkeys. The game was written by Gates and Neil Konzen.[59][60]

IBM partnership

IBM, the leading supplier of computer equipment to commercial enterprises at the time, approached Microsoft in July 1980 concerning software for its upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC,[61] after Gates's mother, Mary Maxwell Gates, mentioned Microsoft to John Opel, IBM's then CEO.[62] IBM first proposed that Microsoft write the BASIC interpreter. IBM's representatives also mentioned that they needed an operating system, and Gates referred them to Digital Research (DRI), makers of the widely used CP/M operating system.[63] IBM's discussions with Digital Research went poorly, however, and they did not reach a licensing agreement. IBM representative Jack Sams mentioned the licensing difficulties during a subsequent meeting with Gates and asked if Microsoft could provide an operating system. A few weeks later, Gates and Allen proposed using 86-DOS, an operating system similar to CP/M, that Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products (SCP) had made for hardware similar to the PC.[64] Microsoft made a deal with SCP to be the exclusive licensing agent of 86-DOS, and later the full owner. Microsoft employed Paterson to adapt the operating system for the PC[65] and delivered it to IBM as PC DOS for a one-time fee of $50,000.

The contract itself only earned Microsoft a relatively small fee. It was the prestige brought to Microsoft by IBM's adoption of their operating system that would be the origin of Microsoft's transformation from a small business to the leading software company in the world. Gates had not offered to transfer the copyright on the operating system to IBM because he believed that other personal computer makers would clone IBM's PC hardware. They did, making the IBM-compatible PC, running DOS, a de facto standard. The sales of MS-DOS (the version of DOS sold to customers other than IBM) made Microsoft a major player in the industry. The press quickly identified Microsoft as being very influential on the IBM PC. PC Magazine asked if Gates was "the man behind the machine?".[61]

Gates oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring on June 25, 1981, which re-incorporated the company in Washington state and made Gates the president and chairman of the board, with Paul Allen as vice president and vice chairman. In early 1983, Allen left the company after receiving a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, effectively ending the formal business partnership between Gates and Allen, which had been strained months prior due to a contentious dispute over Microsoft equity.[55][68] Later in the decade, Gates repaired his relationship with Allen and together the two donated millions to their childhood school Lakeside.[26] They remained friends until Allen's death in October 2018.[69]

Windows

Microsoft and Gates launched their first retail version of Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985, in an attempt to fend off competition from Apple's Macintosh GUI, which had captivated consumers with its simplicity and ease of use.[70] In August 1986, the company struck a deal with IBM to develop a separate operating system called OS/2. Although the two companies successfully developed the first version of the new system, the partnership deteriorated due to mounting creative differences.[71] The operating system grew out of DOS in an organic fashion over a decade until Windows 95, which hid the DOS prompt by default. Windows XP was released one year after Gates stepped down as Microsoft CEO.[72] Windows 8.1 was the last version of the OS released before Gates left the chair of the firm to John W. Thompson on February 5, 2014.[73]

Management style

Gates delivers a speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, January 2008

During Microsoft's early years, Gates was an active software developer, particularly in the company's programming language products, but his primary role in most of the company's history was as a manager and executive. He has not officially been on a development team since working on the TRS-80 Model 100,[74] but he wrote code that shipped with the company's products as late as 1989.[75] Jerry Pournelle wrote in 1985 when Gates announced Microsoft Excel: "Bill Gates likes the program, not because it's going to make him a lot of money (although I'm sure it will do that), but because it's a neat hack."[76]

On June 15, 2006, Gates announced that he would transition out of his role at Microsoft to dedicate more time to philanthropy. He gradually divided his responsibilities between two successors when he placed Ray Ozzie in charge of management and Craig Mundie in charge of long-term product strategy.[77] The process took two years to fully transfer his duties to Ozzie and Mundie, and was completed on June 27, 2008.[78]

Post-Microsoft

Since leaving day-to-day operations at Microsoft, Gates has continued his philanthropy and works on other projects.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gates was the world's highest-earning billionaire in 2013, as his net worth increased by US$15.8 billion to US$78.5 billion. As of January 2014, most of Gates's assets are held in Cascade Investment LLC, an entity through which he owns stakes in numerous businesses, including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Corbis Corp.[79] On February 4, 2014, Gates stepped down as chairman of Microsoft to become "technology advisor" at the firm to support newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella.[11][80]

Gates provided his perspective on a range of issues in a substantial interview that was published in the March 27, 2014, issue of Rolling Stone magazine. In the interview, Gates provided his perspective on climate change, his charitable activities, various tech companies and people involved in them, and the state of America. In response to a question about his greatest fear when he looks 50 years into the future, Gates stated: "there'll be some really bad things that'll happen in the next 50 or 100 years, but hopefully none of them on the scale of, say, a million people that you didn't expect to die from a pandemic, or nuclear or bioterrorism." Gates also identified innovation as the "real driver of progress" and pronounced that "America's way better today than it's ever been."[81]

Gates has often expressed concern about the potential harms of superintelligence; in a Reddit "ask me anything", he stated that:

First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well. A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern. I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don't understand why some people are not concerned.[82][83][84][85]

In an interview that was held at the TED conference in March 2015, with Baidu co-founder and CEO, Robin Li, Gates said he would "highly recommend" Nick Bostrom's recent work, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies.[86] During the conference, Gates warned that the world was not prepared for the next pandemic, a situation that would come to pass in late 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic began.[87] In March 2018, Gates met at his home in Seattle with Mohammed bin Salman, the reformist crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia to discuss investment opportunities for Saudi Vision 2030.[88][89] In June 2019, Gates admitted that losing the mobile operating system race to Android was his biggest mistake. He stated that it was within their skill set of being the dominant player, but partially blames the antitrust litigation during the time.[90] That same year, Gates became an advisory board member of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.[91]

On March 13, 2020, Microsoft announced Gates would be leaving his board positions at Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft to dedicate himself to philanthropic endeavors such as climate change, global health and development, and education.[12]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gates has widely been looked at by media outlets as an expert on the issue, despite him not being a public official or having any prior medical training.[92] His foundation did, however, establish the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator in 2020 to hasten the development and evaluation of new and repurposed drugs and biologics to treat patients for COVID-19,[93] and, as of February 2021, Gates expressed that he and Anthony Fauci frequently talk and collaborate on matters including vaccines and other medical innovations to fight the pandemic.[94]

Gates and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021

Gates considers climate change and global access to energy to be critical, interrelated issues. He has urged governments and the private sector to invest in research and development to make clean, reliable energy cheaper. Gates envisions that a breakthrough innovation in sustainable energy technology could drive down both greenhouse gas emissions and poverty, and bring economic benefits by stabilizing energy prices.[123] In 2011, he said: "If you gave me the choice between picking the next 10 presidents or ensuring that energy is environmentally friendly and a quarter as costly, I'd pick the energy thing."[124]

In 2015, he wrote about the challenge of transitioning the world's energy system from one based primarily on fossil fuels to one based on sustainable energy sources. Global energy transitions have historically taken decades. He wrote, "I believe we can make this transition faster, both because the pace of innovation is accelerating, and because we have never had such an urgent reason to move from one source of energy to another."[125] This rapid transition, according to Gates, would depend on increased government funding for basic research and financially risky private-sector investment, to enable innovation in diverse areas such as nuclear energy, grid energy storage to facilitate greater use of solar and wind energy, and solar fuels.[126]

The European Commission, European Investment Bank and Gates' Breakthrough Energy Catalyst agreed at the 2021 UN Climate Change conference to work together to bring green technologies to market.

Gates spearheaded two initiatives that he announced at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. One was Mission Innovation, in which 20 national governments pledged to double their spending on research and development for carbon-free energy in over five years' time.[123] Another initiative was Breakthrough Energy, a group of investors who agreed to fund high-risk startups in clean energy technologies. Gates, who had already invested $1 billion of his own money in innovative energy startups, committed a further $1 billion to Breakthrough Energy.[126] In December 2020, he called for the U.S. federal government to create institutes for clean energy research, analogous to the National Institutes of Health.[127] Gates has also urged rich nations to shift to 100% synthetic beef industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food production.[128]

Gates has been criticised for holding a large stake in Signature Aviation, a company that services emissions-intensive private jets.[129] In 2019, he began to divest from fossil fuels. He does not expect divestment itself to have much practical impact, but says that if his efforts to provide alternatives were to fail, he would not want to personally benefit from an increase in fossil fuel stock prices.[130] After he published his book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, parts of the climate activist community criticized Gate's approach as technological solutionism.[131] In 2022, educational streamer Wondrium produced the series "Solving for Zero: The Search for Climate Innovation" inspired by the book.[132]

In June 2021, Gates's company TerraPower and Warren Buffett's PacifiCorp announced the first sodium nuclear reactor in Wyoming. Wyoming Governor Mike Gordon hailed the project as a step toward carbon-negative nuclear power. Wyoming Senator John Barrasso also said that it could boost the state's once-active uranium mining industry.[133]

Gates spent many efforts to make pass the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 because of his importance to climate. He tried to convince Joe Manchin to support a climate bill from the year 2019 and especially in the months before the adoption of the bill. The bill should cut the global greenhouse gas emissions in a level similar to "eliminating the annual planet-warming pollution of France and Germany combined" and may help to limit the warming of the planet to 1.5 degrees - the target of the Paris Agreement.[134] He thanked both Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer for their efforts in a guest essay in The New York Times, where he said "Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 may be the single most important piece of climate legislation in American history" given its potential to spur development of new technologies.[135] Gates gave further insights on climate change in his commencement address at Northern Arizona University on May 6, 2023, where he was bestowed an honorary doctorate.[136]

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Gates with Bono, Queen Rania of Jordan, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Umaru Yar'Adua of Nigeria and others during the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum

Gates studied the work of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, and donated some of his Microsoft stock in 1994 to create the "William H. Gates Foundation". In 2000, Gates and his wife combined three family foundations and donated stock valued at $5 billion to create the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was identified by the Funds for NGOs company in 2013, as the world's largest charitable foundation, with assets reportedly valued at more than $34.6 billion.[145][146] The foundation allows benefactors to access information that shows how its money is being spent, unlike other major charitable organizations such as the Wellcome Trust.[147][148] Gates, through his foundation, also donated $20 million to the Carnegie Mellon University for a new building to be named Gates Center for Computer Science which opened in 2009.[149][150]

Gates has credited the generosity and extensive philanthropy of David Rockefeller as a major influence. He and his father met with Rockefeller several times, and their charity work is partly modeled on the Rockefeller family's philanthropic focus, whereby they are interested in tackling the global problems that are ignored by governments and other organizations.[151]

The foundation is organized into five program areas: Global Development Division, Global Health Division, United States Division, and Global Policy & Advocacy Division. Among others, it supports a wide range of public health projects, granting aid to fight transmissible diseases such AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as widespread vaccine programs to eradicate polio. It grants funds to learning institutes and libraries and supports scholarships at universities. The foundation established a water, sanitation and hygiene program to provide sustainable sanitation services in poor countries.[152] Its agriculture division supports the International Rice Research Institute in developing Golden Rice, a genetically modified rice variant used to combat vitamin A deficiency.[153] The foundation aims to provide women and girls in the developing world with information and support regarding contraception and, ultimately, universal access to consensual family planning.[154] In 2007, the Los Angeles Times criticized the foundation for investing its assets in companies that have been accused of worsening poverty, pollution and pharmaceutical firms that do not sell to developing countries.[155] Although the foundation announced a review of its investments to assess social responsibility,[156] it was subsequently canceled and upheld its policy of investing for maximum return, while using voting rights to influence company practices.[157]

Gates in a fireside chat moderated by Shereen Bhan virtually at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2020

Gates delivered his thoughts in a fireside chat moderated by journalist and news anchor Shereen Bhan virtually at the Singapore FinTech Festival on December 8, 2020, on the topic, "Building Infrastructure for Resilience: What the COVID-19 Response Can Teach Us About How to Scale Financial Inclusion".[158]

Governments are there to think ahead to bad things that might happen. In the case of (the COVID-19) pandemic, not enough was done. We can't forget that another pandemic will come and we'll need to invest in being ready in that, ... while not forgetting that we were not prepared and we're going to have to invest - just like having a fire department - some money in an intelligent way and actually simulate what might happen and make sure that we're ready for it.[158]

Gates favors the normalization of COVID-19 masks. In a November 2020 interview, he said: "What are these, like, nudists? I mean, you know, we ask you to wear pants, and no American says, or very few Americans say, that that's, like, some terrible thing."[159]

Personal donations

Melinda Gates suggested that people should emulate the philanthropic efforts of the Salwen family, who sold their home and gave away half of its value, as detailed in their book, The Power of Half.[160] Gates and his wife invited Joan Salwen to Seattle to speak about what the family had done, and on December 9, 2010, Bill and Melinda Gates and investor Warren Buffett each signed a commitment they called the " Giving Pledge", which is a commitment by all three to donate at least half of their wealth, over the course of time, to charity.[161][162][163]

Gates has also provided personal donations to educational institutions. In 1999, Gates donated $20 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the construction of a computer laboratory named the "William H. Gates Building" that was designed by architect Frank Gehry. While Microsoft had previously given financial support to the institution, this was the first personal donation received from Gates.[164]

The Maxwell Dworkin Laboratory of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is named after the mothers of both Gates and Microsoft President Steven A. Ballmer, both of whom were students (Ballmer was a member of the school's graduating class of 1977, while Gates left his studies for Microsoft), and donated funds for the laboratory's construction.[165] Gates also donated $6 million to the construction of the Gates Computer Science Building, completed in January 1996, on the campus of Stanford University. The building contains the Computer Science Department and the Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL) of Stanford's Engineering department.[166]

Since 2005, Gates and his foundation have taken an interest in solving global sanitation problems. For example, they announced the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge", which has received considerable media interest.[167] To raise awareness for the topic of sanitation and possible solutions, Gates drank water that was "produced from human feces" in 2014 - it was produced from a sewage sludge treatment process called the Omni Processor.[168][169] In early 2015, he also appeared with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show and challenged him to see if he could taste the difference between this reclaimed water or bottled water.[170]

In November 2017, Gates said he would give $50 million to the Dementia Discovery Fund, a venture capital fund that seeks treatment for Alzheimer's disease. He also pledged an additional $50 million to start-up ventures working in Alzheimer's research.[171] Bill and Melinda Gates have said that they intend to leave their three children $10 million each as their inheritance. With only $30 million kept in the family, they are expected to give away about 99.96% of their wealth.[172] On August 25, 2018, Gates distributed $600,000 through his foundation via UNICEF which is helping flood affected victims in Kerala, India.[173]

In June 2018, Gates offered free ebooks, to all new graduates of U.S. colleges and universities,[174] and in 2021, offered free ebooks, to all college and university students around the world.[175][176] The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation partially funds OpenStax, which creates and provides free digital textbooks.[177]

In July 2022 he reiterated the commitment he had made by starting The Giving Pledge campaign by announcing on his Twitter channel he planned to give 'virtually all' his wealth to charity and eventually 'move off of the list of the world's richest people.'[178]

Charity sports events

On April 29, 2017, Gates partnered with Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer in playing in the Match for Africa 4, a noncompetitive tennis match at a sold-out Key Arena in Seattle. The event was in support of the Roger Federer Foundation's charity efforts in Africa.[179] Federer and Gates played against John Isner, the top-ranked American player for much of this decade, and Mike McCready, the lead guitarist for Pearl Jam. The pair won the match 6 games to 4. Overall, they raised $2 million for children in Africa.[180] The following year, Gates and Federer returned to play in the Match for Africa 5 on March 5, 2018, at San Jose's SAP Center. Their opponents were Jack Sock, one of the top American players and a grand slam winner in doubles, and Savannah Guthrie, a co-anchor for NBC's Today show. Gates and Federer recorded their second match victory together by a score of 6-3 and the event raised over $2.5 million.[181]

Gates is an avid reader,[185] and the ceiling of his large home library is engraved with a quotation from The Great Gatsby.[186] He also enjoys bridge, tennis and golf.[187][188] His days are planned for him on a minute-by-minute basis, similarly to the U.S. president's schedule.[189] Despite his wealth and extensive business travel, Gates flew coach (economy class) in commercial aircraft until 1997, when he bought a private jet.[190]

Gates purchased the Codex Leicester, a collection of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci, for US$30.8 million at an auction in 1994.[191] In 1998, he reportedly paid $30 million for the original 1885 maritime painting Lost on the Grand Banks, at the time a record price for an American painting.[192] In 2016, he revealed that he was color-blind.[193] On May 10, 2022, Gates said that he tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms.[194] Gates has received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.[194]

Marriage and divorce

Gates and Melinda, 2009

Gates married Melinda French on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai on January 1, 1994.[195] They met in 1987 after Melinda began working at Microsoft.[196] At the time of their marriage, Gates was given permission by Melinda to spend limited time with his ex-girlfriend, businesswoman Ann Winblad.[197] Bill and Melinda have three children: Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe.[198] The family's residence is an earth-sheltered mansion in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. In 2009, property taxes on the mansion were reported to be US$1.063 million, on a total assessed value of US$147.5 million.[199] The 66,000-square-foot (6,100 m ²) estate has a 60-foot (18 m) swimming pool with an underwater music system, as well as a 2,500-square-foot (230 m ²) gym and a 1,000-square-foot (93 m ²) dining room.[200] On May 3, 2021, the Gateses announced they had decided to divorce after 27 years of marriage and 34 years as a couple.[201] They said they would keep working together on charitable efforts.[201][202] The Wall Street Journal reported that Melinda had been meeting with divorce attorneys since 2019, citing interviews that suggested Bill's ties with Jeffrey Epstein was at least one of her concerns.[203] The divorce was finalized on August 2, 2021.[204]

Public image

Gates meets with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, February 2017

Gates's public image has changed over the years. At first he was perceived as a brilliant but ruthless "robber baron", a "nerd-turned-tycoon".[205] Starting in 2000 with the foundation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and particularly after he stepped down as head of Microsoft, he turned his attention to philanthropy, spending more than $50 billion on causes like health, poverty, and education. His image morphed from "tyrannical technocrat to saintly savior" to a "huggable billionaire techno-philanthropist", celebrated on magazine covers and sought after for his opinions on major issues like global health and climate change.[205] Still another shift in public opinion came in 2021 with the announcement that he and Melinda were divorcing. Coverage of that proceeding brought out information about romantic pursuits of women who worked for him, a long-term extra-marital affair, and a friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.[206] This information and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in some deterioration of his public image, going from "a lovable nerd who was out to save the world" to "a tech supervillain who wants to protect profits over public health."[207]

Investigative journalist Tim Schwab has accused Gates of using his contributions to the media to shape their coverage of him in order to protect his public image.[92][208] In September 2022, Politico published an expose' critical of NGO leadership at the helm of the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic response, written in cooperation with the German newspaper Welt. Criticisms included the interconnectivity of the non-profits with Gates, as well as his personal lack of formal credentials in medicine.[209]

Gates and the projects of his foundation have been the subject of many conspiracy theories that proliferate on Facebook and elsewhere. He has been implausibly accused of attempting to depopulate the world, distributing harmful or unethical vaccines, and implanting people with privacy-violating microchips. These largely unfounded theories reached a new level of influence during the COVID-19 pandemic when, according to New York Times journalist Rory Smith, the uncertainties of pandemic life drove people to seek explanations from the Internet.[210][211] When asked about the theories, Gates has remarked that some people are tempted by the "simple explanation" that an evil person rather than biological factors are to blame, and that he does not know for what purpose anyone believes he would want to track them with microchips.[212][213]

Religious views

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gates said in regard to his faith: "The moral systems of religion, I think, are super important. We've raised our kids in a religious way; they've gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in. I've been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that's kind of a religious belief. I mean, it's at least a moral belief."[214] In the same 2014 interview he also said: "I agree with people like Richard Dawkins that mankind felt the need for creation myths. Before we really began to understand disease and the weather and things like that, we sought false explanations for them. Now science has filled in some of the realm - not all - that religion used to fill. But the mystery and the beauty of the world is overwhelmingly amazing, and there's no scientific explanation of how it came about. To say that it was generated by random numbers, that does seem, you know, sort of an uncharitable view [laughs]. I think it makes sense to believe in God, but exactly what decision in your life you make differently because of it, I don't know."[214]

Wealth

In 1999, his wealth briefly surpassed US$100 billion making him the first person ever to achieve the feat.[215][190] Since 2000, the nominal value of his Microsoft holdings declined due to the fall in Microsoft's stock price after the dot-com bubble burst and the multi-billion dollar donations he had made to his charitable foundations. In May 2006, Gates remarked that he wished that he were not the richest man in the world because he disliked the attention that it brought.[216] In March 2010, Gates was the second wealthiest person after Carlos Slim, but regained the top position in 2013, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.[217][218] Slim retook the position again in June 2014[219][220] (but then lost the top position back to Gates). Between 2009 and 2014, his wealth doubled from US$40 billion to US$82 billion.[221] In October 2017, Gates was surpassed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world.[16] On November 15, 2019, he once again became the richest person in the world after a 48% increase in Microsoft shares, surpassing Bezos.[222] Gates told the BBC, "I've paid more tax than any individual ever, and gladly so ... I've paid over $6 billion in taxes."[223] He is a proponent of higher taxes, particularly for the rich.[224]

By 2017, Gates had held the top spot on the list of The World's Billionaires in 18 out of the previous 23 years.[225] Gates has several investments outside Microsoft, which in 2006 paid him a salary of US$616,667 and US$350,000 bonus totalling US$966,667.[226] In 1989, he founded Corbis, a digital imaging company. In 2004, he became a board member of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company headed by long-time friend Warren Buffett.[227]

In 1987, Gates was listed as a billionaire in Forbes magazine's first ever America's richest issue and was the world's youngest self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1.25 billion.[14] Since 1987, Gates has been included in the Forbes The World's Billionaires list and was the wealthiest person from 1995 to 1996,[228] 1998 to 2007, 2009, and held the spot until 2018 before being overtaken by Jeff Bezos.[15] Gates was number one on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans from 1993 through to 2007, 2009, and 2014 through 2017.[229][230]

Antitrust litigation

Gates giving his deposition at Microsoft on August 27, 1998

During his tenure as CEO of Microsoft, Gates approved of many decisions that led to antitrust litigation over Microsoft's business practices. In the 1998 United States v. Microsoft case, Gates gave deposition testimony that several journalists characterized as evasive. He argued with examiner David Boies over the contextual meaning of words such as "compete", "concerned", and "we". Later in the year, when portions of the videotaped deposition were played back in court, the judge was seen laughing and shaking his head.[231] BusinessWeek reported:

Early rounds of his deposition show him offering obfuscatory answers and saying "I don't recall" so many times that even the presiding judge had to chuckle. Worse, many of the technology chief's denials and pleas of ignorance were directly refuted by prosecutors with snippets of e-mail that Gates both sent and received.[232]

Gates later said that he had simply resisted attempts by Boies to mischaracterize his words and actions. "Did I fence with Boies? ... I plead guilty ... rudeness to Boies in the first degree."[233] Despite Gates's denials, the judge ruled that Microsoft had committed monopolization, tying and blocking competition, each in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.[233]

Treatment of colleagues and employees

Gates had primary responsibility for Microsoft's product strategy from the company's founding in 1975 until 2006. He gained a reputation for being distant from others; an industry executive complained in 1981 that "Gates is notorious for not being reachable by phone and for not returning phone calls."[234] An Atari executive recalled that he showed Gates a game and defeated him 35 of 37 times. When they met again a month later, Gates "won or tied every game. He had studied the game until he solved it. That is a competitor".[235]

In the early 1980s, while business partner Paul Allen was undergoing treatments for cancer, Gates - according to Allen - conspired to reduce the latter's share in Microsoft by issuing himself stock options.[236][237][238] In his autobiography, Allen would later recall that Gates was "scheming to rip me off. It was mercenary opportunism plain and simple".[236] Gates says he remembers the episode differently.[237] Allen would also recall that Gates was prone to shouting episodes.[238]

Gates has often been accused of bullying Microsoft employees.[239] He met regularly with Microsoft's senior managers and program managers, and the managers described him as being verbally combative, berating them for perceived holes in their business strategies or proposals that placed the company's long-term interests at risk.[240][241] Gates saw competition in personal terms; when Borland's Turbo Pascal performed better than Microsoft's own tools, he yelled at programming director Greg Whitten "for half an hour" because, Gates believed, Borland's Philippe Kahn had surpassed Gates.[242] Gates interrupted presentations with such comments as "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard"[243] and "why don't you just give up your options and join the Peace Corps?"[244] The target of his outburst would then have to defend the proposal in detail until Gates was fully convinced.[243] Not all harsh language was criticism; a manager recalled that "You're full of shit. That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard" meant that Gates was amazed. "In the lore of Microsoft, if Bill says that to you, you're made".[245] When subordinates appeared to be procrastinating, he was known to remark sarcastically, "I'll do it over the weekend".[246][75][247]

Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

A 2019 New York Times article reported that Gates's relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein started in 2011, just a few years after Epstein was convicted for procuring a child for prostitution, and continued for some years, including a visit to Epstein's house with his wife in the fall of 2013, despite her declared discomfort.[248] Gates said in 2011 about Epstein: "His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me".[206]

The depth of the friendship between Gates and Epstein is unclear though Gates generally commented that "I met him. I didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him".[249] However, Gates visited Epstein "many times, despite [Epstein's] past".[248] It was reported that Epstein and Gates "discussed the Gates Foundation and philanthropy".[248] However, in an interview in 2019 Gates completely denied any connection between Epstein and the Gates Foundation or his philanthropy generally.[249] In August 2021, Gates said the reason he had meetings with Epstein was because Gates hoped Epstein could provide money for philanthropic work, though nothing came of the idea. Gates added, "It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there."[239]

It has also been reported that Epstein and Gates met with Nobel Committee chair Thorbjørn Jagland at his residence in Strasbourg, France in March 2013 to discuss the Nobel Prize.[250] Also in attendance were representatives of the International Peace Institute which has received millions in grants from the Gates Foundation, including a $2.5 million "community engagement" grant in October 2013.[251] In 2023, it was reported that Epstein threatened to expose an alleged affair Gates had with a Russian bridge player.[252]

Documentary films about Gates

Feature films

Video and film clips

Steve Jobs and Gates at D: All Things Digital in 2007

Radio

Gates was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on January 31, 2016, in which he talked about his relationships with his father and Steve Jobs, meeting Melinda Ann French, the start of Microsoft and some of his habits (for example reading The Economist "from cover to cover every week"). His choice of things to take on a desert island were, for music: " Blue Skies" by Willie Nelson; a book: The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker; and luxury item: a DVD Collection of Lectures from The Teaching Company.[297]

Television

Gates made a guest appearance as himself on the TV show The Big Bang Theory. The episode on which he appeared was appropriately titled " The Gates Excitation".[298] He also appeared in a cameo role in 2019 on the series finale of Silicon Valley.[299] Gates was parodied in The Simpsons episode " Das Bus".

In 2023, Gates was the interviewee in an episode of the Amol Rajan Interviews series on BBC Two,[300] and was the subject of an episode of the UK Channel 4 series The Billionaires Who Made Our World.[301]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington[3] as the only son of William H. Gates Sr. [b] (1925-2020) and his first wife, Mary Maxwell Gates (1929-1994).[23] His ancestry includes English, German, and Irish/ Scots-Irish.[24] His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors of First Interstate BancSystem and United Way of America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Salam semua! kali ni saya nak berkongsi cara untuk memulakan bisnes online. Saya selalu dapat soalan macam ni:

Salam. akak nak mula jual pavlova yang akak buat. macam mana ye caranya?
Macam mana ye nak promote produk kita melalui internet?
Suka tengok awak meniaga online. Boleh ajar saya tak?

Saya mula buat bisnes online ni pada tahun 2009. masa tu jual biskut raya, dan balang berhias. kemudian, saya tutup blog tu. sebab tak dapat sambutan. tak dapat pun customer secara online. semuanya offline, kawan-kawan dengan saudara mara sendiri je yang beli. hehe. kemudian saya jual brooch kartun, tahun 2010. pertengahan tahun baru saya mula ceburi dalam bidang masakan. bidang yang paling saya cintai! ok, ini dia cara dan tipsnya.

1. Produk. Tak kira meniaga online ke offline. mestilah kena ada produk. hehe. takkan la nak meniaga, tapi takde produk. kalau boleh, cari produk yang unik dan ramai orang suka. jangan jual produk yang dah ramai orang jual. sebagai contoh, tudung..tudung kan cepat keluar fesyen baru. janganlah tetiba baru nak jual fesyen yang outdate. kalau boleh, cuba juga grab peluang. sebagai cth, sekarang tengah femes durian crepe. walaupun dah ramai yang jual, tapi masih laku. jadi boleh cepat-cepat ambil kursus belajar cara buat yang betul dan jual.

2. Ambil gambar produk. yang ni penting, sila usaha untuk ambil gambar produk kita sendiri. sebagai contoh, teringin nak jual kek. tapi ambil gambar kek orang lain. Saya selalu kena. orang ambil gambar kek saya pastu claim dia buat, untuk dapatkan tempahan. Saya dulu mula2 nak meniaga, sanggup buat pelbagai produk untuk ambil gambar. memang akan keluar modal yang banyak, hanya untuk ambil gambar. tapi bila kita jujur, insyaAllah akan pulang modal. bila curi gambar orang, tu dah dikira tak jujur. ye tak?

3. Bina blog. ini penting, sebab kalau buat carian google. akan keluar website blog kita. sangat jarang keluar link facebook kat carian google. kalau tak pandai nak buat, boleh upah orang buat. sekarang dah ramai orang ambil servis buat blog. dan kalau boleh, keluarkan sikit duit untuk design blog yang cantik dan menarik. jangan buat blog yang suram dan serabut. boleh menyebabkan orang takde mood untuk scroll dan tengok produk-produk jualan kita. konsepnya sama macam kalau kita pegi kedai, kedai yang cantik comel menarik lagi buat kita rasa seronok nak membeli, dari masuk kedai yang catnya gelap dan barang bersepah-sepah serabut.

4. Buka akaun facebook. Kalau boleh buka dua-dua. Fanpage dan akaun personal khas untuk berniaga. dari pengalaman saya, akaun personal lagi cepat menarik perhatian daripada fanpage. mungkin personal facebook buat pelanggan rasa lagi dekat dan senang nak berbincang dengan kita. Seriously, facebook sangat penting untuk berniaga online. sekarang semua orang ada facebook. sekurang-kurangnya, pada permulaan, kawan-kawan terdekat tau tentang perniagaan kita. jadi diorang boleh promote kat orang lain.

PENTING! kena ada dua-dua akaun. blog dan facebook. blog untuk carian google, facebook untuk promosi pada orang-orang terdekat pada permulaan. juga sila letak facebook badge di blog. jadi pelanggan yang datang dengan carian google, boleh ke facebook anda.

5. Advertise. Yang ni paling penting dalam perniagaan online. sebab kita sendiri yang kena iklankan, orang tak datang sendiri. Lain dari kedai nyata, bila kita buka kedai. orang sekeliling atau yang melalui jalan depan kedai kita, akan tau yang kita ni kedai. tapi kalau online, kalau kita tak promote, memang orang tak akan tau. cara iklan yang free, selalu shout kat facebook dan masuk blog sesiapa saja, kemudian iklankan blog kita. free tapi time consuming. cara iklan yang efektif tapi berbayar, buat facebook advertise atau iklankan di blog-blog yang popular seperti sepet88, cik epal, fatin liyana, namee roslan dan lain-lain.

Ini sahaja tips dari saya. senang je kan nak mulakan perniagaan online. tapi yang paling penting, kena berani! kalau tak berani nak tak cepat-cepat grab peluang, susahhhh...bila perniagaan dah semakin maju dan sebati dalam diri, cepat-cepat daftarkan perniagaan ya! jadi peniaga yang sah. :)

Akhir kata, bagi warga Kelantan yang inginkan kek yang cantik dan sedap seperti di bawah ni?

silalah ke blog saya Atiqah Homemade Chocolate. menyediakan pelbagai jenis pencuci mulut, kek kahwin, doorgift dan servis candy buffet. Hanya di Kelantan!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Salam semua! kali ni saya nak berkongsi cara untuk memulakan bisnes online. Saya selalu dapat soalan macam ni: Salam. akak nak mula jual pavlova yang akak buat. macam mana ye caranya? Macam mana ye nak promote produk kita melalui internet? Suka tengok awak meniaga online. Boleh ajar saya tak?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 15 Characteristics of Effective Entrepreneurs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What makes an entrepreneur really tick? Here are some answers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Become an Entrepreneur -- Be a Successful Businessman Best Tips and Advice from John Lee

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
http://www.thebestyou.co/ in this video tutorial, John Lee discusses the top 3 tips he would give anyone ,who wants to become a successful entrepreneur. So what does it take to be a successful businessman?

# data[].attributes.body
Pengarah,Pelakon dan Penerbit

# data[].attributes.body
Pengasas Produk Kecantikan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Walimatulurus Hanis Zalikha & Hairul Azreen

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fashion Valet steals the spotlight as Malaysia's hottest Online Shopping Website with ready-to-wear garments, accessories and handbags, from chic classics to edgy statement pieces. Watch Fashion Valet Inspired to get to know the dedicated team, passionate and energetic individuals, and the driving force behind their success.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I'm 28. I am happily married with 2 children; Daniel and Mariam. With my husband, I currently run FashionValet, one of Asia's leading multi-label online sites carrying Asian designer labels, and The dUCk Group, a lifestyle brand of headscarves and stationery.

My education history is pretty interesting because I've had a taste of every different school; public school, boarding school, all-girls school, Islamic school, private school. I changed schools a lot because I used to get bored and had to fight my way with my parents to let me change schools. One agreement was if I could get no 1 in class, I could get out of boarding school, and I did! I also studied my A-Levels and SPM at the same time, flying back and forth between KL and the UK where my college was. It was crazy because my continuation at the college depended on my results (that was the deal if they allowed me to study both at the same time), but I managed to get all A's in all my formal examinations in school; UPSR, PMR, SPM and A-Levels. I loved my colourful education life, and I often write about it to my young readers to inspire them to not take education and exams lightly.

I started blogging back in uni, where I read law at London School of Economics, UK (LSE). Writing has always been a passion of mine and I've been blogging for almost 9 years now at Proudduck.com about everything under the sun; love, life, career, family, and now motherhood. Upon graduating with a law degree, I decided the legal life wasn't for me and I returned to Malaysia to work with my dad's company the Proven Group which is in property development. The entrepreneurial spirit in me made me restless and pretty soon, I decided I wanted to have a business of my own. My husband (then boyfriend) and I came up with the idea of having an online store, after we saw that I had a big following online through my blog, of fashion-savvy females. Thus, FashionValet was born in Nov 2010. We were the first multi-label online site in Malaysia at the time and we only had 10 brands. We now have over 400 brands and offices in Malaysia and Jakarta, Indonesia. We are in the midst of setting up in Singapore now.
In your own words what is FashionValet?
One of the largest fashion sites in SEA, FashionValet is the pioneer multi-label online site stocking over 400 fashion designers and brands from South East Asia. We started our first flagship retail store in Bangsar Village, KL and are in the midst of setting up in Singapore and Brunei as next locations.
How did you come up with the idea of FashionValet?
Both of us studied in the UK where online consumerism was a part of daily life - you could even buy your groceries with the click of a button! We enjoyed the convenience of shopping online and it soon took over the way we conventionally shopped. After graduating university and returning to Malaysia, we realised that e-commerce was non-existent at home back in 2010. After being frustrated at the lack of online shopping options available to Malaysians (and Fadza being frustrated driving me around and being stuck in traffic jam and crowded parking lots), we decided to fill the gap ourselves! We talked to local designers and realised they were having challenges in reaching out to the masses and developing a solid customer base. We created FashionValet to push Malaysia towards expanding its consumer habits, but also to promote local designers and their immense talent.
Could you walk us through the process of starting up FashionValet?
We started off in 2010 with only RM100K of our own savings and borrowings. After two years on the relatively new e-commerce scene, we participated and won MYEG Make The Pitch Season 2, a nationwide TV programme, in 2012. We were able to expand FashionValet with our winnings and the exposure from the show widened our audience. This year, we secured Series A investment funding from Elixir Capital in Silicon Valley, California earlier this year and became one of the only companies in Malaysia to get funding from the tech city.

Fadza and I had no background in e-commerce or fashion in which I did law and he did Aeronautical Engineering. Therefore, we had to do everything from scratch with the limited amount of capital we had. Meeting local brands every day and convincing them of this new idea was easy because they were excited about the new online shopping phenomenon, and with my blog following, we connected the 2 parties (designers and customers) together. Our challenge was more on the tech side; everything was outsourced in the beginning from website design to payment gateway to managing bugs etc. We learned a great deal and the learning curve was very steep.
Did you encounter any particular difficulties during startup?
It's hard to believe any startup not facing any challenges especially in their early days! We definitely had our fair share of highs and lows, from dealing with competitors to a small flood in our office. Starting your own company and creating a whole new "comfort zone" is terrifying, you're constantly thinking "will this work?" "is there another way we should be doing this?", but with the right determination, support and a little bit of luck, I believe we can take on any difficulties that come our way.

If I had to choose, I think our difficulty was the lack of capital. RM100K is what e-commerce stores spend on marketing per month! But for us, that was all we had to do everything. With RM 100K, a huge portion already went to office and warehouse renovation/rent, we had to purchase stock whereby a large chunk was consignment so that helped ease the load and the we put the rest into marketing which even that wasn't a lot. We didn't take salary for a few months until the company was stable.

We soon realized that we needed an injection of capital to grow faster. So we met with a lot of VCs and financial institutions. The conservative ones did not want to take the risk and did not understand the huge potential of e-commerce in South East Asia. So it wasn't easy. In the end, we found the perfect match in one VC.
What kind of feedback did you get for FashionValet so far?
Because we carry a lot of Asian designer labels, the general perception of FashionValet is "expensive". People see it as aspirational and our customers love to post ootd whenever they purchase from FashionValet and receive comments like "wow you bought from FV?". It might turn people off when they think our products are expensive or premium, but I see this as a good thing because we immediately found our niche. To compete in this very competitive industry, one must find a niche and we seem to have found ours; we are targeting the more premium customers.

Another positive feedback is that FashionValet is "friendly". The fact that I'm the face of FV and I am very active on social media, people sometimes leave comments with their order IDs for me to check on whatever issues they might have. I don't get annoyed at this because to me, customers are my kings. I will check personally and reply them, so they know that FV is approachable and we will cater to whatever queries they might have. And we also do it in a friend-to-friend manner and not the corporate template of answers. This is something I don't see with our competitors and I think this is one of the reasons people feel connected and loyal to FV.
Do you face a lot of competition in this industry?
Oh gosh definitely! Every industry will have competitors of course, but more so with ours because barrier to entry to start an online shopping website is non-existent. Anyone can do it! From stay-at-home moms to huge conglomerates, FV has stood its test of time and I take pride in this. We've been around for 5 years and growing our revenue more than double each year, despite the pains of competition. With competition, we were forced to innovate, to think, to re-strategize, to survive and I'd say my team is doing a pretty good job to stay on top. What we lack is capital which is easily attainable with investor funding. But what we are strong with is connections and relationships, customer service, and relevance in the fashion industry. And if I may, the best team with fresh ideas and commitment to work hard because they love what they do.

We've learned along the way and we've made some mistakes too. One mistake was to feel threatened by competition and thus try to do what they do, but better. Sometimes this is the wrong move because you forget your identity. One year, we signed on so many new brands because we were trying to win with our competitor because that was what they were doing. Any brand you see, sign them on. In the end, customers weren't happy with FV because some brands were just not representative of FV and we weren't happy because FV became somewhat "rojak" or "pasar" which for FashionValet, it means a broad mix of brands that are not cohesive. We had so many brands, but sales were dipping. In the end, we quickly realize this and went back to our roots to having a good curation of brands worthy to be stocked and promoted to our customers. We want brands which we ourselves would buy, wear, and be proud to wear. We went back to our identity, sales finally grew and our long-time customers came back.
Have you developed any industry insights that you could share?
We are fortunate to be a part of a very creative industry! Our Asian talents are just amazing and the industry is growing with these emerging talents that I'm so excited about. I meet regularly with designers to discuss their designs and ideas for collections, and I'm always in awe of what they're able to come up with. There is remarkable talent in Southeast Asia and we are proud to highlight them on FashionValet. In this industry, you should be able to have hard power and soft power. Hard power in the sense that designers, collaborators and the consumers know that you have a solid "resume", that you're able to get the job done and you have successes to prove your worth. It is easy to go up to someone and tell them you can simply put photos of their clothes online to sell, when in fact there's so much more that goes into it; buying, marketing, fulfilment, merchandising - it's these 'hard' powers that sell products. You also require 'soft' power - the ability to talk and connect with others, make them feel comfortable working with you, gain their trust and prove that their loyalty to your company was worth their efforts. I feel these 'softer' powers are sometimes overlooked in our industry and more people should realize the capability of soft skills.

The e-commerce industry is also still growing. I don't have the exact stats but we are not even close to the potential that Asia has in terms of online shopping. A lot of people are still learning to shop online or even getting attuned to online banking, so for us big players in the industry, natural growth is to our advantage. It's a good industry to be in but you also have to use your guts and not get into hype. We've had our fair share of surprises for e.g. Indonesia is a market everyone talks about. The population itself is so attractive for any business but in actual fact, the culture there is so different than Malaysia in terms of shopping habits. I've learned that each country has a different way of shopping and you really cannot replicate successes from different countries and think you'll do well in others. Localization is very important.
What is the future of the industry?
E-commerce is constantly expanding, the potential is enormous and I think smart investors know that, that's why I found out that FashionValet is worth so much more than I thought during our investment rounds. It opened my eyes to realize that I can take FV to greater heights and we're not even close yet to reaching our full potential, so it's not time to sit happy and relax. It's time to work, work and work.

We will remain relevant as long as customers still shop online and fashion designers still trust us to do a good job representing them. So we will do just that. I also realize the importance of technology; after all, we're a tech company first. So we have hired a big engineering team in our company to constantly improve shopping experience on the website, building our own system linking warehouse and operations together, building apps, linking online and offline channels together, so many wonderful things can happen with a lively tech team! Makes me wish I studied it!

To keep things exciting, we will always collaborate with fashion designers, partner with relevant third parties, host events and introduce campaigns to our customers. Just last month, we had an FV Instagram takeover campaign (in partnership with Malaysia Airlines) by celebrities going on holiday and wearing outfits from FashionValet, and we opened this afterwards to our customers in form of a contest. It was widely received and we got everyone excited including ourselves.
Were there anything that disappointed you initially?
That I did not know how to code. I never realized how important it is and how much that skill is needed for a company like FashionValet. When website is down temporarily or bugs unfortunately happen or we need to do a simple reset of something, I feel so hopeless because I had to depend on third party companies to fix our problems and these companies are often in different time zones than us. After all these frustrations, we finally invested in our own in-house tech team and I am so happy with how the team works now. I'm going to force my children to do 2 things; learn coding and learn Mandarin.
What do you think about being an entrepreneur in Asia?
There are many opportunities for entrepreneurs in Asia - the region is rich in resources, technology and talent. It is also developing, so potential is crazy huge. The connectivity of our business makes things easy and gives us many options! Just last month we hopped on a plane to China, went to a factory, chose material, watched a sample design being made in front of us and were able to place an order right away! This probably wouldn't have happened as easily if we lived on a different continent. However because of how large and vast the Asian market is, we are constantly faced with new competitors who are eager to win over consumers and water down the industry with products that are of lesser quality. Foreign companies are all looking to the East to set up shop, and this might be good as foreign investment but when they monopolize with their deep pockets, it also kills opportunities for Asian entrepreneurs already here.
What is your opinion on Asian entrepreneurship vs Western entrepreneurship?
Asian entrepreneurs I feel are still very big on culture and respect. But the cons of that are also that we are not as straight up as how I'd like it to be. When it's a "no", what you will hear instead is "that sounds really interesting" and not hear back anymore. We are still cautious of people's feelings which are good but for me personally, I'd rather be honest. A lot of the times, I give honest feedback which people might not like to hear, because I feel like I'm helping them more by speaking the truth.

Asian entrepreneurs are also generally more conservative in terms of investments. When we speak to VCs from Malaysia or neighboring countries, it's not as easy to convince them on the potential of e-commerce. But this is the exact opposite of Western VCs. They really believe in the future of e-commerce and tech as something huge and they want to get in it as early as possible.

Other than that, I don't deal a lot with Western entrepreneurs nor do I know much about their work culture, but from what I hear, Asian entrepreneurs work faster and feel a bigger need to prove ourselves.
What is your definition of success?
I don't define success because I don't feel the need to. Once you define it and you achieve it, then what happens? Complacency or self-pride happens, which is bad. I just do my thing and set new goals every time I've hit one, and not think too much about it.
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
It was when I was a child and accompanying my dad in his office during my school holidays. It's not so much about the money, but it's so exciting seeing him handle different departments and tackling problems and moving around all day. I get bored and restless very easily, so entrepreneurship is really for me because there's never a dull moment. Everything depends on you; from decisions you make to the mood you give off to your team in the morning, you are responsible for steering the ship. My husband and I both grew up in entrepreneurial families, so it's all we know!
In your opinion, what are the keys to entrepreneurial success?
For me, it's the need to always want to win and be no. 1. Once you have this drive, you'll want to see your business do well and you don't need any other motivation but yourself. Passion for something is very important, you will only really excel at something you love doing. Find that something you're passionate about.
Any parting words of wisdom for entrepreneurs out there from your personal experience?
I repeat this a lot, but it's very important to not look for praises but instead you look for your weaknesses to overcome them. Ask people what they hate about your business, that's the only way to strengthen your model. And don't ask your family or best friends because they will love you no matter what and you are always a hero to them. I love critics because they help me improve my business; I love competitors because they challenge my work. My dad never taught me to be comfortable in what I do. Even when I got 90% in an exam, he would ask me why not 100%? I used to get so annoyed with him, but now I think that is the best training I receive to always want to win and excel in my work.
Connect
Blog: http://www.proudduck.com/

Instagram: @vivyyusof 370K

Facebook: Vivy Yusof

FashionValet: http://www.fashionvalet.com/

Instagram: @fashionvaletcom 240K

Facebook: FashionValet

dUCk: http://duckscarves.com/

Instagram: @theduckgroup 112K

Facebook: dUCk scarves

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
The Asian Entrepreneur Authors & Contributors

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Vivy Sofinas Yusof, Co-Founder of FashionValet - Asian Entrepreneur

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I'm 28. I am happily married with 2 children; Daniel and Mariam. With my husband, I currently run FashionValet, one of Asia's leading multi-label online sites carrying Asian designer labels, and The dUCk Group, a lifestyle brand of headscarves and stationery. My education history is pretty interesting because I've had a taste of every different ...