I'm sorry that we have to have a Washington presence. We thrived during our first 16 years without any of this. I never made a political visit to Washington and we had no people here. It wasn't on our radar screen. We were just making great software.

Summary

This quote, attributed to Bill Gates, expresses his regret at the necessity of establishing a presence in Washington, D.C. Gates reflects on the early years of Microsoft when they were solely focused on developing software and did not engage in political visits or maintain an office in the capital. Gates suggests that their success was a result of their focus on creating exceptional software rather than involving themselves in the politics of Washington. He implies that the introduction of a Washington presence may have detracted from their primary mission.

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