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Idea Man: A Memoir by the Cofounder of Microsoft Kindle Edition

by Paul Allen (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 540 ratings
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By his early thirties, Paul Allen was a world-famous billionaire-and that was just the beginning.

In 2007 and 2008, Time named Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft, one of the hundred most influential people in the world. Since he made his fortune, his impact has been felt in science, technology, business, medicine, sports, music, and philanthropy. His passion, curiosity, and intellectual rigor-combined with the resources to launch and support new initiatives-have literally changed the world.

In 2009 Allen discovered that he had lymphoma, lending urgency to his desire to share his story for the first time. In this classic memoir, Allen explains how he has solved problems, what he's learned from his many endeavors-both the triumphs and the failures-and his compelling vision for the future. He reflects candidly on an extraordinary life.

The book also features previously untold stories about everything from the true origins of Microsoft to Allen's role in the dawn of private space travel (with SpaceShipOne) and in discoveries at the frontiers of brain science. With honesty, humor, and insight, Allen tells the story of a life of ideas made real.
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  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
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    Portfolio
  5. Publication date
    April 19, 2011
  6. File size
    7188 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Allen was the billionaire technologist and philanthropist who cofounded Microsoft with Bill Gates. He was the chairman of Vulcan Inc. and founder of the Allen Institute for Brain Science. He owned the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers, and was co-owner of the Seattle Sounders pro soccer team. He passed away in October 2018.

Visit www.paulallen.com

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004CLYKM2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Portfolio (April 19, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 19, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 7188 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 540 ratings

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Paul Allen

Paul Allen

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
540 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Edster
5.0 out of 5 stars Quick read and insightful
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2011
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I enjoyed reading this book. You get to see the curiosity, the searching, the dreamer, and the risk taker that he is. We all know parts of the Microsoft story but to hear his take on it is interesting. You see some similarities between Paul Allen and Steve Wozniak of Apple both being tech guys that want to be know for their ideas and solving problems. Both end up on the outs with the company they help found but wealthy enough not to complain or work again. They invest their millions into some things that are successful and some passion projects that loose money. With Steve it was music festivals and with Paul it was professional sports teams where they took some losses but had fun. I found this book interesting because the more I read it I found Paul interesting. If he thinks something can be done or believes in someone else, then he'll chase it or fund it, or help with it, and help it become a success. Here's a guy that's been involved in so many things over the years that pushed what was possible. He picked great projects to get involved in. Even now, he writes about current trends and where he thinks things are going, you know he's still mulling over what else is possible. I think he's still itching a little to accomplish something else in the next 10 years, and if so, we could see a second edition on this book years from now with added chapters...

Very, very cool book and worth reading...
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Cooljonnorris
4.0 out of 5 stars very interesting and pleasant read
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2011
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A strange coincidence set the stage for my interest in this book, but more about that later.

I always approach autobiographies with trepidation - many are either boring, shallow attempts at whitewashing, or obnoxious rants. Fortunately, this autobiography is not among those.

As an Amiga fan turned Linux fan, I have some serious issues with Microsoft and its behavior. However, as I know a little bit about Allen and had been considerably impressed by a brief news clip of him playing Hendrix riffs, I was willing to suspend my prejudice and see what he had to say about himself. (Anyone who loves Hendrix that much deserves a serious hearing, IMHO.)

The book begins with some facts and stories about Allen's childhood and his meeting Bill Gates at a private school in the Seattle area. Intermixed with stories of his personal introduction to technology and computer programming, Allen also treats us to some history of the personal computer revolution and the march of technology in the last four decades. Being roughly the same age as Allen, his stories about the development of technology and music resonate very strongly with me, and lend that much more of an air of honesty to the book, at least for me.

He takes us through the ups and downs of his friendship and partnership with Gates, the ups and downs of Microsoft and his post-Microsoft business ventures, and his very personal battles with cancer and the loss of his father. He is not excessively detailed, nor overly shallow in his narrative, but manages a good balance between the two. Since this is an autobiography, to delve more deeply into social, political or technological issues would not be appropriate. Again, the book found me putting aside my own history and issues in those areas and simply relating to the author as a person. The book is well crafted to allow the reader to do just that.

While the sports related sections did not appeal to me (not interested in team sports - although when working in the cable TV industry, I did have occasion to manually insert commercials in many Trailblazer home games on the local cable system - thereby watching quite a few of them), the sections on programming and the "original" hacker mentality again resonated deeply with me, as did the section on the Spaceship One adventure. I remember most of the things he delineates in the history of personal computers and the electronic explosion of the 70s and 80s. (I still have my original subscription copy of the magazine where the Altair kit computer was introduced, for example.) His take on most of that closely matches my own memories and sense of what was really happening.

Contrary to the "spin" on his statements about Gates in the book which I heard in the recent 60 Minutes interview, I found Allen's attitude about Gates as expressed in the book to be mostly positive, with a few remarks simply noting here and there where Gates' behavior as a friend was overwhelmed by his manic, overly aggressive, overly competitive business style. Again, this is a biography, not a business book, so analysis of this behavior in detail simply isn't warranted. He simply does not paint Gates as a greedy backstabber, regardless of the spin some people might attempt to put on his quite clear description of Gates' "management style." This is no "bitter billionaire" tell-all smear book. Sorry if you were hoping for that. (Of course, a little controversy always helps book sales....)

Despite an overall sense of honesty in the book (Allen is fairly blunt about his blunders and plain bad luck in business), I still get a feeling of something missing "between the lines." While no one ever "tells all," neither does this feel like an attempt to whitewash an evil life. It does, however, leave me with a feeling a sense of a more shallow look at Allen's feelings and deep internal life than I would have hoped for. This may just be a failing of my own, and digesting what I read over a longer period (I am writing this right after finishing the book in two sittings) may provide more insight than I have now.

The coincidence I mentioned earlier was the sudden and odd interest I experienced a few weeks ago after stumbling across Allen's yacht, Octopus, in a search on a totally unrelated topic. For some unexplainable reason, I became entranced by the boat, searching for all the pictures and information I could find about it on the net. While I have seen a few mega-yachts on various TV shows about them, I am hardly an aficionado of that arena. And yet, I find the boat beautiful and extremely well-designed, in both an aesthetic and functional sense, at least within the limitations of the pictures I have found. This was before I saw the 60 Minutes spot and became aware of the book.

While I draw no conclusions from this and the many other (too numerous to mention here) coincidental resonances between our lives (we did grow up in the Northwest with similar interests, in the same time frame, after all), I always try to pay attention to such things. Otherwise, I would probably not have been attracted to the book.

There is also a section of photos from various periods of Allen's life, which always make an autobiography more interesting.

The book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of personal computers, technology, and related fields, or anyone interested in people of great influence in society. It will also appeal to those who simply want Allen's side of the story. Among other great contributions Allen has made, musicians and Jimi Hendrix fans everywhere owe him a debt of gratitude for his work with Jimi's family and the Experience Music Project.

Recommended.
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Richard of Connecticut
5.0 out of 5 stars READ IT but Read it for the RIGHT REASONS - FIVE STARS !!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2011
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Paul Allen is one of the original founders of Microsoft and is probably the idea man behind the company which is why the title of this autobiography precisely matches the person behind it. You read a book like this to understand how man interacts with technology, and how much of success is luck versus controlled passion. You also read it to realize that a person like Allen is not that much different from the rest of us? He simply came through the funnel. The funnel is a term I never understood until one day I was walking through Harvard Yard and a Ph.D. friend of mine in biotechnology said to me, everybody talks about Bill Gates and Microsoft. There were 200 guys working on operating systems, he's simply the one that came through the funnel.

The more I thought about it, the more I realize my friend was right. The whole world knows Bill Gates, but Gates needed Paul Allen to get the job done, just as Steve Jobs needed Stephen Wozniak, and Michael Eisner at Disney needed Frank Wells. Nobody ever really does it alone, and whether you get it done is to some extent a matter of pure luck. After reading this book, I found I loved it. It was refreshingly honest. Allen needed to get this book out of him, out of his soul.

There were some things that he found needed to be said, and he sure said them. He goes after Gates in the book. He lets the reader know that Gates hurt him personally. Allen found Gates talking behind his back with Steve Ballmer current CEO of Microsoft about cutting back on the percentage of the company that Paul Allen owned. Gates and Ballmer were not aware that Allen could hear them discussing it.

Allen would survive Microsoft which had made him wealthy beyond all reason only to deal with life threatening illnesses which probably brought him wisdom that one could not find any other way. It is the first half of the book that I found absolutely compelling. This was the creation of the extraordinary software company that he and Gates co-founded. The risks they took were described in detail. Gates walking out of Harvard College to pursue the dream which Allen created, while Gates narrowed the dream down to something both manageable, and achievable. You could read the first half of this book in one seating because it is fast moving, compelling, and really interesting, especially if you are into technology.

It is also clear that there are things that Allen simply does not want to talk about or explore. He is a deft writer and for a first book, surprisingly well written. You will not be disappointed with the style. Perhaps he is so intellectual that the core of the man does not shine through this book, or perhaps Mr. Allen simply does not want to open himself up, which is okay, because in the end, it is his narrative.

I liked the second half of the book as well. I simply did not like it as much as the first half. Others may differ, and should. You are looking at 22 chapters spread over 331 pages. My favorite chapters were:

3) Lakeside

8) Partners

11) Borrowed Time

20) Searching

CONCLUSION:

Paul Allen's autobiography allows us to witness the inception and creation of one of the world's truly important companies from idea to billion dollar colossus. Yes you can change the world if you want to, and if your idea is big enough to do it. The evolution of this idea man who is still growing is a fascinating journey for any one of us to spend a few hours exploring, and I hope that you will take the time to do it, and thank you for reading this review.

Richard Stoyeck
9 people found this helpful
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Abi
5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024
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Great!
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ANIRUDH KATTI
5.0 out of 5 stars TURNING DREAMS TO REALITY
Reviewed in India on March 14, 2021
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Idea of Idea Man Manifested into Reality.
A True Inspiration to adopt pragmatic tranformation and to mention the global impact of Software Establisment.
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crocodile200
5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting book based on a very interesting subject
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2020
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An interesting book based on a very interesting subject. Paul Allen comes across as a good person with a need to explore technical innovation and a diverse array of interests / Contributions of society. The start of the book focuses on his early life, formation of Microsoft and Friendship with Bill Gates. How a shared obsessive hobby turned into a world shaping company. It also provides a snapshot of the advert of personal computer technology and the environment that it flourished in (The best bit). There is some insight into his symbiotic and shifting friendship with Bill Gates. The ultimate impression I got on that was how much they seemed to be a positive influence on each other. About two thirds of the book covers Allen’s time in Microsoft with the rest being devoted to hobbies and other business / philanthropic interests. I enjoyed the chapter on Jimi Hendrix and the creation of the EMP museum / AI and Neuroscience.
One point stood out to me during the Covid lockdown as I write. He writes about the construction of the Paul G Allen school for Global Animal Health with an important part of the school’s mission to build up Africa’s capabilities in responding to animal based diseases. Now that’s vision. Anyway it’s things like that make this book a very worthwhile read.
Incidentally Bill Gates did a TED talk about how unprepared the world is for an animal based decease a few years ago.
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Antonio Toniolo
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro straordinario. Un esempio e un sogno per tutti.
Reviewed in Italy on November 15, 2019
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Vita di Paul Allen raccontata da lui stesso.
Cinque stelle per il tema e l'impegno. Ma dovrebbero essere 4. Paul allen è idea man, ma non è uno scrittore. Quindi il racconto è a tratti prolisso, qualche volta confuso, altre volte noioso. Alla fine però il messaggio vi resta. Ed è un ottimo messaggio: impegnatevi e riuscirete.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An unsurpassed ideas man
Reviewed in Australia on April 24, 2018
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A thoroughly fascinating book about a visionary man who's contribution to world technology in the past and the forseeable future is way above us mere mortals. I loved visiting The Flying Heritage museum in Seattle and seeing alll the historic aircraft.
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Jirvin Loh
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book that worth to spend time on it!
Reviewed in Canada on September 14, 2016
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In this book, Paul offer a different aspect and angle for telling the story which surrounded the early days of Microsoft, also his relationship with Bill. A great book that worth to spend time on it.

The first few chapters of this book largely surrounded the early days of Microsoft, having read the book “The Road Ahead” by Bill Gates years ago, I’d say in this book, Paul offer a different aspect and angle to telling the story which surrounded the early days of Microsoft, also his relationship with Bill, without Paul, BASIC could not have been possible, without Bill, it [BASIC] could have been developed towards a wrong machine that isn’t hit the right timing, both indeed a perfect combination in the early days of Microsoft which I would like to term it as [Tech Geek + Tech Guru].

It is all begin from the snow day in December 1974, Altair 8800 featured on magazine purchased from the Harvard square…

A great book that worth to spend time on it.
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Jirvin Loh
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book that worth to spend time on it!
Reviewed in Canada on September 14, 2016
In this book, Paul offer a different aspect and angle for telling the story which surrounded the early days of Microsoft, also his relationship with Bill. A great book that worth to spend time on it.

The first few chapters of this book largely surrounded the early days of Microsoft, having read the book “The Road Ahead” by Bill Gates years ago, I’d say in this book, Paul offer a different aspect and angle to telling the story which surrounded the early days of Microsoft, also his relationship with Bill, without Paul, BASIC could not have been possible, without Bill, it [BASIC] could have been developed towards a wrong machine that isn’t hit the right timing, both indeed a perfect combination in the early days of Microsoft which I would like to term it as [Tech Geek + Tech Guru].

It is all begin from the snow day in December 1974, Altair 8800 featured on magazine purchased from the Harvard square…

A great book that worth to spend time on it.
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