Paul Allen

In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success — if you are willing to learn from it.

Paul Allen in 2011

Paul Gardner Allen (21 January 1953 – 15 October 2018) was an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft alongside Bill Gates.

Quotes

• I’m always interested in finding ways to innovate … . It’s a blend; it’s not a point focus.
  • The Seattle Times: "Passion for arts and science drives Paul Allen’s eclectic approach" (29 July 2007)
• There are relatively few ideas that you can do just by yourself.
  • Success: "Paul Allen is No Second Act" (27 January 2009)

• There’s going to be reversals. You have to be ready, to be philosophical about that.
  • Success: "Paul Allen is No Second Act" (27 January 2009)

• I simply wanted to advance the field of artificial intelligence so that computers could do what they do best (organize and analyze information) to help people do what they do best, those inspired leaps of intuition that fuel original ideas and breakthroughs.
  • The Washington Post: "Thought process: Building an artificial brain" (30 September 2015)

• I’m trying to transmit the visions of creativity and build institutions that are incredibly catalytic to their fields.
  • The New York Times: "Paul Allen’s Philanthropy Mirrors His Passions and Business Approach" (02 November 2015)
• It's very challenging to carve back market share.
  • The New York Times: "40 Busy Years Later, Paul Allen, a Microsoft Founder, Considers His Creation" (03 May 2015)
• Others might have found us eccentric, but I didn’t care. I had discovered my calling. I was a programmer.
  • Idea Man (2012)
• What we did was unprecedented, but what is less well understood is that we had no choice.
  • Idea Man (2012)
• My style was to absorb all the data I could to make the best-informed decision possible, sometimes to the point of over-analysis.
  • Idea Man (2012)

• Our great string of successes had married my vision to his unmatched aptitude for business.
  • Idea Man (2012)

• In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it.
  • Idea Man (2012)

Quotes about Allen

• He wanted to do a different brand of science, tackle bigger questions.
  • Allan Jones in the Washington Post: "Thought process: Building an artificial brain" (30 September 2015)
• At his core, he’s still very much an engineer.
  • Dr. Oren Etzioni in the New York Times: "40 Busy Years Later, Paul Allen, a Microsoft Founder, Considers His Creation" (03 May 2015)

External Links

• Paul Allen Official Site