Opinions may vary, but there is little doubt that Bill Gates has built, and continues to build, a very successful company. I find his secrets and his business strategies to be interesting and helpful:

1. Think and do. The bottom line is results. Thinking is a means to an end – and that end is action. You must take action to get results.
2. Only hire very, very smart people. The biggest problem with mediocre people is that they take up space that could be occupied by brilliant people.
3. Know your business better than anyone else.
4. Create the industry standard.
5. Get to the point. Bill Gates gave up watching television, not because he disliked it, but because it was not a worthy allocation of his time. He also will not waste time on what he considers unworthy projects and will let it be known early in the process.
6. Work long, work hard, and work smart. Microsoft’s corporate culture reflects this value by demanding that deadlines are met, performance is high, and tangible results achieved.
7. When you can’t originate, elevate, then sell, sell, sell. Gates prefers to look for existing discoveries that can be refined and successfully marketed.
8. Future-think. In order to beat the competition, you always have to be thinking several moves in advance. The only companies that will succeed will be those that obsolete their own products before somebody else does.

Guest Blogger: Jerry Joyce