Being maniacal about something is very helpful.

I have to admit that business-type thoughts do sneak into my head: I hope our customers pay us, I hope this stuff is decent, I hope we get it done on time. The little additions and subtractions that one has to do. Take sales, take costs and try to get that big positive number at the bottom.

Microsoft has long hired based on IQ and "intellectual bandwidth."

If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.

There's nobody getting rich writing software that I know of.

In low-income countries, the main problems you have is infectious diseases.

Computers and games don't waste time - people do.