Microsoft star Doug Burgum seeks to run North Dakota

A decade ago, then-Microsoft executive Doug Burgum stood before a cheering crowd at a technology conference in Dallas and introduced his boss, company co-founder Bill Gates, by describing what makes entrepreneurs successful.

"Innovators are people who go against the grain" by taking risks and chasing dreams, said Burgum, who’d become a tech star in his own right after selling his North Dakota software company to Microsoft for more than $1 billion. "They’ve got the ability to think in a counterintuitive way."

Now Burgum is pursuing his most unlikely venture yet: becoming governor of North Dakota in his first shot at elected office and against his party’s wishes.

By James MacPherson and Tammy Webber

Full Story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/a-microsoft-star-seeks-to-run-north-dakota/2016/06/05/6c608f06-2b2b-11e6-b9d5-3c3063f8332c_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-technology%3Ahomepage%2Fcard