Most of tech's critical dealmaking is not done face to face.

Both Gates and Zuck had substantial backing from their parents from the start.

Bill Gates was given a huge gift horse via nepotism, in the IBM DOS contract.

Zuck isn't a bad looking fellow.

The nepotism point intrigued me, as I didn't remember that from the accounts I'd read. Sure enough: https://forwardthinking.pcmag.com/archive/the-rise-of-dos-ho...

"According to Fire in the Valley, he also reportedly told Gates that when IBM CEO John Opel heard Microsoft would get the contract, he said "Oh is that Mary Gates' boy's company?" since Opel and Bill Gates' mother served together on the national board of the United Way."

The way it's worded makes it sound like they already had the deal aside from any nepotism, but perhaps the CEO's approval sealed it / ensured terms were kept fair.

Gates also went to a school that had remote access to a large mainframe, back when this was almost unheard of. A lot of pre-Microsoft work was done on that mainframe.

Zuck is an awful looking fellow. He barely looks human.