In a recent interview, Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve, detailed his surprising introduction to the tech industry. Initially aspiring to be a doctor, Newell’s trajectory changed during a visit to his brother at Microsoft, where an unexpected incident involving Steve Ballmer steered him toward a career in programming.

Newell Reflects: “When I was a kid I thought I was going to be a doctor, and programming was what I did when I should have been doing something else.”
(Translation: When I was a child, my plan was to enter medicine, and coding was merely a pastime.)

Newell’s early programming experiences occurred in a time when the industry was in its infancy, ultimately leading to his pivotal role in establishing the influential gaming platform, Steam. His path exemplifies the unexpected turns that can lead to groundbreaking achievements in technology.