I recommend reading "Idea Man" [1] by Paul Allen, Microsoft's cofounder, to understand the deep and early involvement he and Bill Gates had with computers.

I also recommend Hard Drive (1992) [2] for a deeper look into the business side of Bill Gates.

Regardless of any negative opinions about him, I believe Bill Gates was/is in a league of his own.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea_Man

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

Microsoft success cannot be explained by the old story with IBM. Obviously Bill Gates has/had amazing skills, was lucky to born in a rich family, to be in the IBM deal, etc. All condiments that does not explain the Microsoft success until today. I think Microsoft has a record of unsuccessful projects while being successful as a business, as you say they don't use their own UI offerings and had zilliones but look at their balance sheet...

If it were by the original IBM tale, Xerox and others dead companies were thriving. I recommend to read "Idea Man", Paul Allen (Microsoft cofounder) autobiography. You will realize there was an incredible Bill Gates before the IBM deal. Also check the non-official chronicles of Bill Gates in "Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire" [2] (1993).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea_Man

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

The author missed the Fred Wilson's MBA Mondays Archive [1] which personally was a great resource in the quest for my "business success" (whatever it means). There is a more organized and illustrated edition here [2]. BTW, I always return to some articles such as "Commission Plans" for Sales [3].

Regarding books: - Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew Grove (Intel) [4]. It is always in my "pocket". It is real experience with pain points from a top CEO, not an academic exercise.

- Other books that are not focused on business but are more "epistemological". For example, "How Life Imitates Chess" by Garry Kasparov [5]. I don't know who created this title for the book though. Many autobiographies, in general, or good business biographies such as "Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire" [6].

[1] https://avc.com/category/mba-mondays/

[2] https://mba-mondays-illustrated.com/

[3] https://avc.com/2010/08/commission-plans/

[4] https://www.amazon.com/Only-Paranoid-Survive-Exploit-Challen...

[5] https://www.amazon.com/How-Life-Imitates-Chess-Boardroom/dp/...

[6] https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

the atmosphere is so intense at Microsoft that stressed-out programmers have been known to ease the tension of their eighty-hour workweeks by exploding homemade bombs

https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

It's out of print now, but "Hard Drive" by James Wallace and Jim Erickson tells it: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

"Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire" (1992)

https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41611.Hard_Drive

Mostly re-read the parts of the book that talk about the 80s (the creation of the PC, DOS, Windows, the PC clones, Microsoft and Intel outsmarting IBM, Microsoft bullying the rest of the industry, etc.).