Dell CEO Michael Dell to young techies: Your parents aren’t always right, but … | – Times of India

The Dell Technologies founder and CEO, Dell has a message for young techies: parents’ advice isn’t always right – but it isn’t always wrong either.
Dell, worth $115 billion, recently shared how he followed his passion for computers despite his parents pushing him toward medical school, a decision that ultimately led to building an $88 billion revenue company.
“Well, yeah, your parents aren’t always right, but they’re not always wrong either,” Dell said on the “In Good Company” podcast, adding that people’s “mileage may vary on the parents.”
The 59-year-old tech leader encouraged young people to take bold risks and forge their own paths. “Experiment, take risks, fail, find difficult problems, do something valuable, don’t be afraid, and, you know, be bold,” he advised.
Dell emphasized that success isn’t just about grinding away at work. “I learned a long time ago that there’s a diminishing return to the number of hours worked in any given day,” he said, stressing the importance of finding the right balance between “working and playing and relaxing.”
The tech mogul highlighted workplace culture as crucial for sustained success. “If you can’t laugh, joke around, play tricks on people, you’re doing it wrong, right?” Dell said. “You have to be able to laugh at yourself.”
Despite his massive success, Dell maintains a disciplined lifestyle, going to bed by 9 p.m. and rising around 4 or 5 a.m. for exercise. “You won’t find me at the nightcap,” he said. “I’ll be asleep.”
Interestingly, one piece of parental advice did stick: Dell’s mother’s mantra to “play nice but win” became so influential it turned into his company’s guiding philosophy and the title of his 2021 book.