It was called Traf-O-Data, a startup in the 1970s that developed a computer system to count traffic. If it hadn’t been for our Traf-O-Data venture … you could argue that Microsoft might not ...

There are no Traf-O-Data millionaires living it up in Seattle, but Allen saw this failed venture as foundational to what would come a few years later.

Traf-O-Data was a business partnership between Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Paul Gilbert that existed in the 1970s. The objective was to read the raw data from roadway traffic counters and create ...

“If it hadn’t been for our Traf-O-Data venture … you could definitely argue that Microsoft might not have happened … The lesson here is that there are few true dead-ends in technology and ...

Traf-O-Data was a good idea with a flawed business model. It hadn't occurred to us to do any market research, and we had no idea how hard it would be to get capital commitments from municipalities.

The two men had worked together before, as members of the Lakeside Programming group in the early 70s and as co-founders of a road traffic analysis company called Traf-O-Data.

Fresh out of high school, Gates, along with Paul Allen and another accomplice by the name of Paul Gilbert, developed the Traf-o-Data … Continued We may earn a commission when you buy through ...