So Bill Gates is preparing to retire as CEO of Microsoft. Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen founded Microsoft on April 4, 1975, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to make and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, an early computer that was sold to hobbyists. Gates dropped out of Harvard University in his third year to focus on ...

Leaving the business world to start one’s own gig is a hot topic these days.  I read blog posts about it every day, and my friend Pam Slim just sold a new book about it.  Over lunch a few weeks ago, I asked my good friend Keith Alperin if he’d be willing to tell WCW readers how he launched his new business, Helium Foot Software, and what ...