
The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about - jvmiert
https://www.gatesnotes.com/About-Bill-Gates/Forbes-Philanthropy-Summit-honors-Paul-Allen
======
matchagaucho
My Dad spoke very highly of Paul. Bill and Paul were invited to BPA to program
a PDP-10 computer to manage power station operations [1].

My Dad, a DEC Technician, would come home and say _" There are a couple
teenagers from Seattle programming the BPA mainframes."_

He then built a Heathkit home computer and taught me BASIC because _" Paul and
Bill can do it. So can you."_

[1] [https://www.bpa.gov/news/newsroom/Pages/Legacy-computer-
syst...](https://www.bpa.gov/news/newsroom/Pages/Legacy-computer-system-
retires-after-keeping-the-lights-on-for-38-years.aspx)

------
ggambetta
> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were
> just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything.

I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer
Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of
all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker
([https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800)),
and I really enjoy making Italian goodies on my free time (mostly biscotti,
tiramisu, and limoncello). I'm also thinking of learning bookbinding /
restoration, and how to draw and paint.

I can't tell whether I'm "doing this right" \-- and by "this", I mean "life".
Sometimes I feel like I'm half-assing everything, and that I'd be better off
laser-focusing on a single thing. Some of my friends have, and they're further
along their careers (are they happier? I don't know). Sometimes I feel life is
too short to not do what I feel passionate about.

I'm 38 and I'm doing OK in life, but I feel like I haven't figured out what to
optimise for. I have this lingering feeling that I could, and should, be doing
better (for some vague definition of "better").

Sorry to bring a personal question to HN, but the article made me think about
my situation, I can't think of a better crowd to get their opinion than this
one.

~~~
remote_phone
The only question to answer is, “are you happy?” I’m almost 50, I don’t have a
high profile job, failed at getting into Google 5 times, but just bought my
wife a $20,000 grand piano for our anniversary without thinking about it. My
kids make me happy, my house mortgage is less than 1X my household earnings,
my work pays well and I have a great Work Life Balance.

We all die within 120 years, and if we are cremated, there will be no trace of
us left in this universe. Who cares about anything except our happiness and
our ability to make those around us happy during this short time we are alive?

~~~
drcross
Man, these earnest wealth brags are really annoying here. There's was no
reason to mention the piano, but you did.

~~~
permatech
He mentioned it because it shows that while he hasn’t been in the rat race
he’s done well enough to treat his family well. I’m happy for him, and
honestly 20k isn’t that much money in the big scheme of things so he probably
didn’t think of it as a brag

~~~
mlevental
>and honestly 20k isn’t that much money in the big scheme of things so he
probably didn’t think of it as a brag

lol are you bragging in the same exact way? 20k isn't much money in the big
scheme? 20k is median more than people in 136 countries have

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_pe...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult)

~~~
permatech
Most people here live in the first world...

------
samstave
Paul allen owned an island in the san juans - when i used to fly to my mothers
on Orcas we had to land first at paul allens airport...

There was a beauty and a freedom i used to feel from that experience:

There was no tower, nor staff; just a landing strip and we would fly in - do
our thing and then take off again.

It was awesome... and i loved it, because we talk about america being the
“land of the free” but we are really the “land of the regulated —special terms
apply such as 1) are you rich enough to be free”

But i really liked flying into that island in particular over Orcas due to how
libre it felt.

~~~
nosianu
As a private pilot flying in the US until the beginning of this millennium
(then I moved away) - there are many, many such airports all over the country,
that's nothing special. I landed at such airports even as a student pilot.
Half Moon Bay airport, to be exact (student home airports were San Carlos and
Palo Alto, so I was allowed to do that as a student, didn't even have to ask
the instructor after getting the general approval for local solo flights). You
even have "pilot-controlled lighting" to turn on runway lights if you arrive
at night at some airports.

Yes, such airports are a lot of fun. Some are nothing but a strip in the
middle of nowhere.

Each one has a frequency assigned and you announce yourself (or at least you
are supposed to) when you come in to check if anybody else is there already,
maybe even using the runway.

For reference: "Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations" \--
[https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/...](https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_90-66B.pdf)

I found a number, the vast majority of airports is in this category:

> _There 's a huge number of uncontrolled airports in the U.S. According to
> the FAA, there are 5,300 public-use airports. Out of that number, there are
> 500 that are controlled. [Mar 1, 2005 --
> [https://www.planeandpilotmag.com/article/uncontrolled-
> airpor...](https://www.planeandpilotmag.com/article/uncontrolled-
> airports/\]*)

~~~
JudgeWapner
What amazed me was learning that you can fly across country and never have to
talk to ATC. I'm not sure on the details, I'm sure it's VFR, no class Bravo
airspace, not sure about flight plan, but the fact that you can cruise around
up there without ever announcing yourself or communicating with anyone is
really surprising.

~~~
nosianu
Just to maybe help avoid confusion:

VFR and air space classes are orthogonal. You can fly through class B (e.g.
SFO, for me, learning in the Bay Area, when you transition north starting from
San Carlos you first have to talk to SFO tower and then get to pass north just
a bit west of the airport, right through class B) or any class. VFR/IFR means
something different [0]. A flight plan too is orthogonal, you can file a VFR
flight plan too. It is used for safety mostly, in case you go missing, for
example [1].

[0] [http://www.stephan-schwab.com/airtravel/vfr-ifr](http://www.stephan-
schwab.com/airtravel/vfr-ifr)

[1] [https://thinkaviation.net/how-to-file-a-vfr-flight-
plan/](https://thinkaviation.net/how-to-file-a-vfr-flight-plan/)

------
org3432
Didn’t realize Paul saved Cinerama.

> “Our net worth is ultimately defined not by dollars but rather by how well
> we serve others.”

Yep, exactly.

~~~
jdonaldson
Cinerama, MoPOP, Living Computer Museum. They're all love letters to geek
culture. If you're in Seattle they are absolutely worth a visit.

Old Microsoft guys tend not to be recognized as being "one of us"... maybe it
was Microsoft's culture, and the systematic undermining of open source
software and startups through the 90s, but Paul definitely was more like us
than we probably care to admit.

------
rjtobin
Didn’t know that Allen had a big part in funding KEXP, in addition to all the
well-known stuff (Seahawks etc). Crazy the impact one person can have on a
city, even if that person is insanely wealthy.

------
rjvehn
"not really a team player, for some reason didn't want to be screwed by stock
reappropriation when he was recovering from cancer."

------
Qworg
I'm moved by what Bill said about Paul - in many ways, he was still the geeky
guy on the teletype, ferociously well read, and driven not only to understand
the world, but also to protect it and share it with others. I miss him.

------
yo-scot-99
> Paul was always good at seeing the big picture.

This reminds me of a day at Asymetrix - a startup founded by Mr Allen. Somehow
we got a very early incarnation of Mosaic and I remember showing everyone how
to bounce over to each lab with just a click and what authoring in HTML meant.
Asymetrix's main product at the time was Toolbook, essentially a Hypercard
clone -- but this was obviously the future. Paul's reaction was muted but I
think he knew "This is happening without us!"

~~~
flensortow
I interviewed at Asymetrix at one point.

They had the very strange idea they were going to take on Microsoft and
Borland with their own C++ development system, which seemed to make no sense
to me given the other things they were doing.

------
Tharkun
Being driven by curiosity is a wonderful thing. I don't know how he managed to
keep it up his whole life, and I very much envy his ability to do so. In my
case, I find my ability to act on curiosity to be waning as I get older.
Commitments and general fatigue have started getting in the way.

Here's to hoping there are more Paul Allens out there.

------
melling
The Allen Institute is definitely doing great work:

[https://www.alleninstitute.org/](https://www.alleninstitute.org/)

~~~
rococode
AI2 (Allen Institute for AI) is, too! Over 200 papers published at major
conferences with several awards.

[https://allenai.org/papers/papers-
all.html](https://allenai.org/papers/papers-all.html)

------
jumbopapa
Really thoughtful speech from Gates. What an amazing life!

------
abecedarius
Allen wrote an autobiography, and it's pretty good. About up there with Woz's,
and I can't think of another Homebrew-era memoir as interesting.

------
nickgrosvenor
Gates has become a real class act as he’s gotten older

------
gct
Remember when Gates and Ballmer tried to screw Allen out of his shares because
his productivity had gone down due to cancer?

[https://www.cnet.com/news/paul-allen-gates-ballmer-tried-
to-...](https://www.cnet.com/news/paul-allen-gates-ballmer-tried-to-rip-me-
off/)

~~~
nostromo
Remember when Allen was a patent troll?

[https://www.wired.com/2010/08/paul-allen-patent-
lawsuit/](https://www.wired.com/2010/08/paul-allen-patent-lawsuit/)

Someone who became one of the world’s richest men for only a few years of work
deciding to shake down a huge chunk of the web in a cash grab really isn’t a
good look.

~~~
mevile
> Someone who became one of the world’s richest men for only a few years of
> work

The shorter time it took to make his wealth the better it looks because less
time means better efficiency.

It's not like you're entitled to wealth because of how long you've worked.
This is an idea that has lead few to financial success I imagine. Privileges
and salary based on time keeping a seat warm somewhere is a union/government
thing, not a common private business policy. In private business it's about
the value you create, and Paul Allen and the early Microsoft team ended up
creating quite a bit and did so relatively quickly.

~~~
rixed
To understand parent's comment you have to remember that not everyone believe
that wealth correlates with work, or that lottery winners are immensely
efficient. Some believe instead that wealth frequently comes from nothing but
luck. In this model, quick gain certainly suggest more luck.

Which model is more accurate? I guess the huge majority of the inhabitants
trapped in this planet do not need to think too long about it.

~~~
mevile
Comparing courageous entrepreneurs forgoing the safe route and staking out a
claim for themselves in their passion, finding success thereof to a winning
lottery ticket is not becoming and speaks of a mind filled with jealous spite
and ill manners.

------
twsted
I can’t see anything (iOS Safari).

------
dang
Url changed from [https://www.paulallen.com/bill-gates-the-side-of-paul-
allen-...](https://www.paulallen.com/bill-gates-the-side-of-paul-allen-i-wish-
more-people-knew-about/), which points to this.

------
sytelus
One thing I don’t understand is why both of these billionaires has named
virtually every philanthropically effort after themselves by themselves while
they were alive. It used to be the case that philanthropy was appreciated to
be anonymous, or at least not outright ego boosters. It’s not that these
billionaires would be forgotten if they didn’t insisted slapping their names
on everything they funded. They are as it is massively ingrained in annals of
humankind. If I was a billionaire and starting institute of cancer, for
example, I would name it after unsung heros of the field who did not had
billion dollars and sacrificed their entire lives without making buck only to
benefit people, like, Faber Institute after Sydney Faber.

~~~
dwighttk
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and
despair!”

~~~
dano
As we know the Rockefeller Foundation, three generations from now Allen may be
similarly known. Paraphrasing Horace Mann, Allen certainly created more than a
few small victories for mankind.

~~~
sytelus
Certainly we are thankful to him for cutting so many checks. However “funded”
is better description than “created”. Creating something requires far more
effort, time investment and expertise than giving someone sum of money.

