The old folktale of the tortoise and the hare has been told often, but can rarely apply to the real world. Conventionally, the richest and most dominating figure wins out against an individual who starts poor and tries to overcome his difficulties. This pattern has been broken on a few occasions in history, but more recently by two dominating figures of the modern era, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. As young men, both Steve and Bill had similar ambitions and the products created by their companies remain indicative of their respective ideals and goals.

             Bill Gates was the typical technology nerd of the 20th century, expressing ambitions in math and science beyond imaginable at the time. His intelligence came a monetary cost. He came from a wealthy family that sent him to private school and when his high school days were over, Gates was on his way to Harvard. But Gates wasn't happy at Harvard, where his talents were channeled into learning" and not creating." Thus, he dropped out of college and eventually founded Microsoft. For decades, Gates remained the face of Microsoft, being its leader and chief inventor. However, while he desired to create new technology, Gates decided to show ambitions mainly focused on rapid expansion and less on creativity and customer satisfaction - perhaps his biggest misstep in the long run.

             While Gates was the rich, prosperous child of favor, Steve Jobs was the complete opposite. Jobs was brought up as an adopted child by a poor family that was able to get together just enough money to send him to college. Though Jobs' family life differed from Gates', they both shared a passion for creation and invention at an early age. Jobs, similar to Gates, also dropped out of Reed College to pursue a business venture (Apple)," and became the face of the company. Jobs focused on the notion that, "The idea was everything". Jobs focused more on innovation and invention rather than expansion a decision that proved successful in the long run.