Gates recounts his childhood in Seattle, describing his family, competitive temperament, difficulties fitting in and the people who shaped his early development. He writes about his parents, grandmother, teachers and friends, including Kent Evans and Paul Allen. At Lakeside School, access to a computer terminal gave Gates an unusual opportunity to learn programming, turning an intense intellectual interest into increasingly ambitious projects.

The memoir follows Gates through adolescence and Harvard, where his interest in mathematics and computing competed with conventional academic life. His partnership with Allen became increasingly focused on the emerging microcomputer industry, particularly after they encountered the Altair 8800. Gates describes developing software for the machine, leaving Harvard and establishing Microsoft with Allen. Rather than covering Microsoft’s later expansion or Gates’s subsequent philanthropy, the book concentrates on the relationships, experiences, habits and circumstances that shaped him before and during the company’s earliest years.