Michael Dell reflects on his entrepreneurial journey

Time. And most of the students that I knew, they weren't really interested in computers at the time. That sounds like crazy right now, but this is back in 1983, 1984. There weren't very many people that had personal computers at the time. Okay, I'm hoping that I don't sound like a broken record, but I'm just thinking, Michael, like here you are, you are an 18 year old kid. I mean, you probably looked like a baby and you were going around hocking computers. So like, why would these architects or businessmen or lawyers have taken you seriously? Well, I guess they figured I knew what I was talking about. Nobody ever said, well, I'm not going to buy from you because you don't look the part or something. So I think the early adopters of computers were sufficiently technical and geeky that I was able to relate to them in a way that resonated and so I didn't have any problem. And how much money were you making at the time? I was doing about 50 to $80,000 a month in business when I was in my dorm room. That, I mean, that's just an insane amount of money. I mean, did you tell your parents that you were. That you were making this much money? No, no, I didn't. Now, you know, they eventually going back to late 83. You know, they became very upset with me and said, you have to stop this and focus on your studies. You got to get your priorities straight. You know, what are you doing with your life and all that stuff. And you know, I agreed to do that. You know, it was like going cold turkey or something. It just, it lasted about 10 days and I actually realized that this was more than a hobby or a nice way to make some extra cash on the side while I was going to school, but actually something I was very passionate about. So during those 10 days, I sort of mapped out, you know, the beginnings of how I was going to, you know, finish up my freshman year, but then launch this as a real official business. And, you know, I eventually made a deal with my parents that if it worked out, I would continue and if it didn't, I'd go back to school. I mean,