Tag: Mark Zuckerberg

Three Big Life Takeaways from Bill Gates

Posted on by robbie

You wouldn’t think one of the richest, most successful people in the world would have a lot of regrets. And you’re right. But, hindsight and age brings needed perspective to any life.
During an “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit, Microsoft founder Bill Gates offered some choice advice for the next generation of innovators to stay ahead of the curve and lead a fulfilling, balanced existence.

Machine learning is the next wave

Forget Big Data and the Internet of Things. The next revolutionary trend, according to Gates, is computers that learn.  When asked what he would focus on if he were currently a student and what the most significant technological breakthrough in coming years will be, Gates said:
“The ultimate is computers that learn. So called deep learning which started at Microsoft and is now being used by many researchers looks like a real advance that may finally learn.”

Cultivate a habit of philanthropy

Along with his wife, Gates has pledged to give more than half of his wealth to charity. The couple got a big head start with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he spends roughly two-thirds of his time doing everything from solving public health crises in Africa to reforming American education.
“Just creating an innovative company is a huge contribution to the world,” he wrote. “During my 20′s and 30′s that was all I focused on. Ideally people can start to mix in some philanthropy like Mark Zuckerberg has early in his career. I have enjoyed talking to some of the Valley entrepreneurs about this and I am impressed and how early they are thinking about giving back – much earlier than I did.”
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was the single largest donor in the United States last year at the age of 29, giving nearly a billion dollars. And while we can’t all be Gates or Zuckerberg, the web makes it easier than ever to give back to local or international causes.

Better Work/Life Balance

When asked how he’s changed over the past two decades, Gates acknowledged that age has taken off some of his edge:
“Twenty years ago I would stay in the office for days at a time and not think twice about it — so I had energy and naivete on my side. Now hopefully I am a bit more mellow but with a little extra wisdom.”
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Mark Zuckerberg and the Rise of the Young Tech Philanthropists

Posted on by robbie

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan were the top philanthropists in 2013, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of the 50 Most Generous Donors, giving just under $1 billion to their Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which will disperse the funds to other charitable organizations. While it should come as no surprise that the Facebook founder and his wife would donate such a large sum of money in just one year — after all, they’re known philanthropists — the fact that this duo tops the list at the young age of 29 reflects a possible change in the makeup of the country’s top charitable donors. More specifically, are we entering an age of young tech philanthropists?
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“In general, people who make their own money are most likely to give it away more than people who inherited it or earned it through investment-related activity,” Leslie Lenkowsky, professor of philanthropy and public works at Indiana University in Bloomington, told the Christian Science Monitor. “What’s playing out now is [that] the entrepreneurs of the 1990s are reaching a point in their lives where their businesses are in very good shape, and they’re looking toward other things in their lives and giving is an important part of it.” While the median age of donors on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s 2013 list was 72.5, as more young tech entrepreneurs begin to experience higher levels of success, it’s certainly possible that the age of large donors could decrease in the future. This is especially true given the success of innovative tech startups, which are often helmed by young adults.
Billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates — who were not included on this year’s list because their donations for the year were pledged in years prior — also are motivating people to give back. They’ve effectively challenged the world’s wealthiest individuals to give the majority of their money away through The Giving Pledge. While only a few of the world’s youngest billionaires — Zuckerberg included — have taken the pledge so far, 19 of the 50 donors on this list have signed it. Proof that a push from these well-known (and highly respected) philanthropists can influence giving. Overall, America’s biggest donors gave over $7.7 billion to nonprofits in 2013, mostly to colleges, foundations, and hospitals. If Gates and Buffett can influence a few more of these wealthy young adults to sign their pledge, just imagine what this list will look like 10 years from now. We’re guessing the median age might be a bit younger than 72.5.
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Meet the Undocumented Immigrants Who Created an App to Press for Immigration Reform

Posted on by robbie

Immigration reform advocacy group FWD.us has released a new app, Push4Reform, that will help people who care about changes in America’s immigration policy to connect with their representatives and make their voices heard. Entrepreneur and technology guru Joe Green founded FWD.us using his connections to Silicon Valley honchos–including his college buddy Mark Zuckerberg–to press for immigration reform, an issue Green has been passionate about since he was in high school.
In November, Green, Zuckerberg, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn and FWD.us sponsored a hackathon for undocumented immigrants whose parents brought them to the U.S. as children to come up with ideas about immigration reform. Push4Reform is one of the first results, the winner of the hackathon’s “best advocacy” prize.
Users of the app can enter their zip code, learn about the immigration positions of their senators and representatives—both how they’ve voted and public statements they’ve made about the issue—and find out how to contact them.
The three developers behind Push4Reform, Luis Aguilar, Justino Mora, and Kent Tam, have a personal stake in the outcome of immigration reform. Aguilar came to U.S. from Mexico when he was nine and taught himself computer programming, but was forced to drop out of community college because as an undocumented immigrant, he was required to pay high out-of-state tuition rates. Mora, who arrived in the US at age 11, is a student in computer science at UCLA, and Tam studied at UCLA. He’s been an undocumented immigrant since his family brought him here from Hong Kong when he was nine. According to Pando.com, Tam recently received a work permit that will allow him to apply to jobs with tech companies, and hopefully the Push4Reform app will make such a happy ending possible for other immigrants.
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