Last week we photographed Bill Gates talking about philanthropy and a host of other subjects at the AirBnB headquarters in San Francisco. He spoke to Sequoia’s Michael Moritz and it was an interesting exchange to hear one of the world’s foremost philanthropists and tech luminaries speak. It was neat to see that Gates is a very down-to-earth guy, and still a nerd at heart.
As the event photographer, we’re working, but also are able to pick up some ideas and thoughts and we got some good perspective from hearing him speak.
When asked about his legacy from an audience member, Gates replied: “It would be nice to achieve some big goals, but you don’t need to be remembered for doing that. Just enjoy doing it.” A great point, that you have to focus on things that you are passionate about to be successful. It’s funny because this is how it works with your own career, as well as with whatever philanthropic efforts you make – follow your passions.
“Picking something that you care about, in terms of learning, your time, your voice. It is this incredibly fulfilling thing,” Gates continued. “I was shocked about the progress that was possible to make with disease, a few interventions can make a big difference.” This was in relation to malaria research he and his wife Melinda have been doing for years.
When asked how he started, it was surprising to hear that he “was pretty naive about philanthropy when I started – I thought all the good causes were already picked.” But then he went on to explain that you should start local and see what kind of impact you can make in your own backyard and see what resonates with you. From there you can grow outward and expand but it’s important to start local and small first. This is something we’ve been doing with our Social Photography program. We’ve tried to keep it local, and while we haven’t been able to grow it as much as we’d like, it’s still a priority for us as a company. Hearing Gates speak and knowing the impact he’s been able to make was inspiring and has given us some additional impetus to push the Social Photography program forward.
