Bill Gates praises HBO's Silicon Valley: "I identify most with Richard"

GatesNotes

The Microsoft co-founder admits he met with Silicon Valley's writers and producers before last season as they kicked around ideas, but he does genuinely love the show. In his blog GatesNotes, Gates writes, "if you really want to understand how Silicon Valley works today, you should watch the HBO series Silicon Valley ... The show is a parody, so it exaggerates things, but like all great parodies it captures a lot of truths. Most of the different personality types you see in the show feel very familiar to me. The programmers are smart, super-competitive even with their friends, and a bit clueless when it comes to social cues. Personally, I identify most with Richard, the founder of Pied Piper, who is a great programmer but has to learn some hard lessons about managing people." Gates also writes that "I have friends in Silicon Valley who refuse to watch the show because they think it’s just making fun of them. I always tell them: 'You really should watch it, because they don’t make any more fun of us than we deserve.'" Gates admits, though, that he has one quibble. "I do have one minor complaint," he writes. "Silicon Valley gives you the impression that small companies like Pied Piper are mostly capable while big companies like Hooli are mostly inept. Although I’m obviously biased, my experience is that small companies can be just as inept, and the big ones have the resources to invest in deep research and take a long-term point of view that smaller ones can’t afford. But I also understand why the show focuses so much on Pied Piper and makes Hooli look so goofy. It’s more fun to root for the underdog."