There were many influences on me while growing up. In the late Seventies and early Eighties when I was growing up in Hyderabad, it was a bit more laid-back, and that gave you time to think about things differently without perhaps being caught up in the narrow approach to one's journey through life.

To me, Microsoft is about empowerment... we are the original democratizing force, putting a PC in every home and every desk.

When I think about my career, my successes are built on learning from failures.

Every opportunity I got, I took it as a learning experience.

During the cold war, it was easy for the Pentagon to justify its budget, as the Soviets essentially sized our forces for us. We simply counted up their stuff and either bought more of the same or upgraded our technology.

Globalization was a deep trend pushed by technology and right ideas, as much as anything else.

The key to making things affordable is design and technology improvements, as well as scale.

The big reason why we don't have space colonies and regular trips to the moon is that flying into outer space is just plain 'hard.' The business of safely transporting people off the Earth is a costly affair that requires a lot of technology.