and to IBM CEO thru his mother.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/243311/former_ibm_ceo_john_o...

"it was Opel who met with Bill Gates, CEO of the then-small software firm Microsoft, to discuss the possibility of using Microsoft PC-DOS OS for IBM's about-to-be-released PC. Opel set up the meeting at the request of Gates' mother, Mary Maxwell Gates. The two had both served on the National United Way's executive committee."

Isn’t this a really bad comparison though? Most entrepreneurs own small (I mean small) businesses providing services and employment to a mostly local area. Bill Gates and his dad are not representative of most small business owners, and seem rather immaterial to a conversation about entrepreneur success.