For most of us, life follows a very specific script: study hard, get into college, grind LeetCode, perform in interviews, and get a job. The system is established, and honestly, only a few people ever pivot from this.

So, I was wondering why Bill Gates studied "coding" when it wasnt even considered a thing.

We need to go back to the past... to the time when Bill Gates was just 13 years old.

The Terminal Days

At that time, computers were massive, expensive, and rare. Nobody used them except for big things like space flight or research. But the school Gates attended did something rare—they bought computer time. It wasn't a laptop; it was a Teletype terminal (basically a keyboard + printer) connected to a mainframe miles away.

There was no screen. You typed commands, and the printer printed the results.

While other kids were playing sports, Gates was spending all his time trying out commands for fun. He used his allotted time carefully, and even found bugs in the system to exploit it for more computer time. Eventually, he was caught. But instead of banning him, the company hired him to find more bugs. By age 15, he was already debugging systems inside out.

The Harvard Days

After high school, he joined Harvard. His parents wanted him to study law, so he chose that major, but his heart was in the computer lab. While his fellow students were just starting to learn programming, Gates was already a pro, spending his nights reading manuals and implementing software.

Bill Gates studying
Bill Gates

The Altair Moment

Two years into college, everything changed. He saw the Altair 8800 on the cover of Popular Electronics (January 1975). It was the first "personal computer."

But the Altair had a major problem. It was basically a metal box.

  • No Screen
  • No Keyboard
  • No Mouse
  • No Storage (at first)

It was just rows of switches and blinking lights. To program it, you had to flip switches in binary code. One wrong flip and the system crashed. It was unusable for normal people.

Making the Box Speak

Gates and his friend Paul Allen realized that for this machine to be useful, it needed a language. They built Altair BASIC. It was an interpreter that let users type human-readable commands instead of flipping switches.

This was the moment computing crossed from "only for institutions" to "for individuals." Gates caught that moment early.

The Genius Business Move

Then, the pivotal moment happened. When IBM decided to enter the PC market in 1980, they needed an Operating System. They went to Microsoft.

Instead of selling the OS to IBM outright, Gates did something genius. He licensed MS-DOS to them. He kept the rights. This meant that while IBM made the hardware, Microsoft owned the soul of the machine. Every time a PC was sold, Microsoft got paid.

Later, they built a graphical layer on top of DOS called Windows, and by the 90s, they controlled the interface of almost every computer on earth.

The Full Circle

Gates became the richest man in the world, not just because he could code, but because he understood where control was moving next.

He went from a kid debugging mainframes to a "warlord" of the software industry, and finally, he stepped back to focus on philanthropy—solving big problems like disease and climate change.

It’s a complete cycle. It’s about getting there early, building the platform, and holding on long enough to matter.

The Future Was Not Clear

Before Altair. Before Microsoft. Before anyone cared about software.

Bill Gates entered Harvard with one thing on his mind. Computers. Not money. Not empire. Just the machines and the logic behind them.

At that time Gates did not know he would build something huge. He did not have a plan to start a massive company. He did not see personal computing taking over the world. He did not know coding would make him wealthy or powerful.

Computers still lived inside labs and corporations. For most people they were invisible. The future had not announced itself yet.

What He Did Believe

Even before Altair arrived Gates carried a few quiet beliefs.

Software Mattered

Most people treated software as secondary. A tool. Something that came bundled with hardware. Something that did not matter much.

Gates saw it differently. He believed the instructions were the heart of the machine. Code was the real power. The hardware was just a container.

Coding Was Undervalued

Great programmers were rare. Their impact was enormous. Their pay and status were small.

Gates noticed this imbalance early. He did not have a business model yet. He simply saw that something important was being priced incorrectly.

Skill Created Optionality

Gates did not think this will make me rich.

He thought if something important happens in computing I want to be ready.

Coding was not a lottery ticket. It was leverage. It kept doors open in an uncertain future.

The Altair Changed Everything

Then Altair appeared. Rows of switches. Blinking lights. Binary input. One wrong move and the system crashed.

It was unusable for normal people. But it proved personal computing was real.

And suddenly software was no longer optional.

Making the Machine Speak

Gates and Paul Allen built Altair BASIC. They gave the machine a language humans could use.

They did not invent the personal computer. They made it accessible. That was the shift.

The Empire Was Not Planned

Microsoft did not begin as a vision of dominance.

It began with readiness. Skill meeting timing.

Years later when IBM entered the PC market Gates made the decisive move. He licensed the operating system instead of selling it outright. He kept control of the software layer.

Hardware came and went. Software stayed.

The Real Lesson

Gates did not chase money early.

He chased mastery. He chased access. He chased leverage.

When the world finally turned toward personal computing he was already in position.

The lesson is not learn to code to get rich.

The lesson is build rare skills before the world agrees they matter.

What I take from Gates’ story is simple.

You do not need to know the exact shape of the future. You only need a direction you believe in.

For Gates it was computers and software. He did not know what the opportunity would be. He just knew that computing mattered.

Pick a Direction Not a Destination

You do not need a perfect plan. You do not need certainty.

You need conviction about where the world is going.

For me that direction is clear. AI and robotics. I do not know the exact company or product yet. But I believe deeply that intelligence plus machines will solve most of the problems humanity faces.

Prepare Before the Door Opens

The key lesson is not to wait for the Altair moment.

The key is to be ready when it appears.

That means learning how to build AI models. Making real projects. Training systems that work. Understanding hardware. Touching robotics. Frying a few chips. Learning manufacturing. Learning how things break.

Most of this work will feel pointless at first. There will be no applause. No market. No validation.

That is exactly how you know you are early.

Readiness Beats Prediction

Gates did not predict the Altair. He recognized it.

Recognition only comes if you have done the work in advance.

When a new opportunity unlocks you do not scramble. You move.

What looks like luck from the outside is usually preparation that started years earlier.

The Real Game

You do not chase trends. You build depth.

You do not rush outcomes. You stack skills.

You do not wait for permission. You prepare quietly.

When the door finally opens you are already inside.

Note: I co-wrote this with Chatgpt and Gemini 3 Pro.