Turning down John Doerr

I like your comment on starting a new Microsoft at Microsoft, but I would rather think that you are restarting it… the way Microsoft was… they used to do everything and anything for their customers then, if what I have read about the early Microsoft is correct!

I like your comment on starting a new Microsoft at Microsoft, but I would rather think that you are restarting it… the way Microsoft was… they used to do everything and anything for their customers then, if what I have read about the early Microsoft is correct!

Robert, your ideas will sadly be wasted inside Redmond. Why be a cheerleader when you can take your ideas with you and be a leader elsewhere? I think that more than a few people inside MS have realized this and are moving on.

Robert, your ideas will sadly be wasted inside Redmond. Why be a cheerleader when you can take your ideas with you and be a leader elsewhere? I think that more than a few people inside MS have realized this and are moving on.

Judging by the salary you posted a while back, Robert, you really should have got in with the b5media crowd

Judging by the salary you posted a while back, Robert, you really should have got in with the b5media crowd

Neema: that is the question, isn’t it?

But, the kinds of things I want to do need big resources. There are only a few companies that can build a world-class search engine. There are only a few that can keep up with the doubling effect that is hitting user generated content. There are only a few that can do anything interesting in HDTV. There are only a few that can do an Xbox 360. There are only a few that can do a Media Center. Or a Tablet PC. Or an MSN Messenger (there are 180 million users there). Or a HotMail (200 million active users). Or a Virtual Earth (wait until you see the next version).

With a lot more fun to come!

Neema: that is the question, isn’t it?

But, the kinds of things I want to do need big resources. There are only a few companies that can build a world-class search engine. There are only a few that can keep up with the doubling effect that is hitting user generated content. There are only a few that can do anything interesting in HDTV. There are only a few that can do an Xbox 360. There are only a few that can do a Media Center. Or a Tablet PC. Or an MSN Messenger (there are 180 million users there). Or a HotMail (200 million active users). Or a Virtual Earth (wait until you see the next version).

With a lot more fun to come!

Awesome answer, Robert!

Awesome answer, Robert!

Start a new Microsoft? You and what army? Hahah. Arrogance of bloggers…30 years of history, heavy R&D, court battles and software/hardware achievements, and a newfound newbie 2 year vet Silicon Valleyish trash-blog-talker with a camera and annonying belly-laugh ain’t gonna rewrite history. Sorry.

And frankly John Doerr, should be frog-tied in handcuffs, as in any other era and that level of monumental fraud would be criminal. Instead he’s a hero.

The bubbles are back. World Tour 2005.

Start a new Microsoft? You and what army? Hahah. Arrogance of bloggers…30 years of history, heavy R&D, court battles and software/hardware achievements, and a newfound newbie 2 year vet Silicon Valleyish trash-blog-talker with a camera and annonying belly-laugh ain’t gonna rewrite history. Sorry.

And frankly John Doerr, should be frog-tied in handcuffs, as in any other era and that level of monumental fraud would be criminal. Instead he’s a hero.

The bubbles are back. World Tour 2005.

That’s a superb response! And there is one Microsoft, which does all this and more. There are a few who can do a ‘Windows’! I still find Windows 95 more usable than any Linux distro.

That’s a superb response! And there is one Microsoft, which does all this and more. There are a few who can do a ‘Windows’! I still find Windows 95 more usable than any Linux distro.

I would have been more tempted myself. Not that I don’t love working for Microsoft but the chance to do things my way would be quite an attraction.

I would have been more tempted myself. Not that I don’t love working for Microsoft but the chance to do things my way would be quite an attraction.

Virtual Earth - copy
Search engine - copy (poor one at that)
Messenger - copy
Xbox360 - copy, rev2 looks good right now
Hotmail - really? come on, you bought this one, give me a break!
Media Center - um, let’s make a harder to use and maintain TiVO, “Great idea”
Tablet PC - must be loved by Gates, time has not come (but will soon)

Your “comeback” just highlights the lack of NEW ideas inside MS and just responses to everyone else…

Nice try.

Virtual Earth - copy
Search engine - copy (poor one at that)
Messenger - copy
Xbox360 - copy, rev2 looks good right now
Hotmail - really? come on, you bought this one, give me a break!
Media Center - um, let’s make a harder to use and maintain TiVO, “Great idea”
Tablet PC - must be loved by Gates, time has not come (but will soon)

Your “comeback” just highlights the lack of NEW ideas inside MS and just responses to everyone else…

Nice try.

Virtual Earth: wait until you see next version. Oh, and who else has an app that lets you see where you’re located?

Search Engine: getting better and learning faster than others. 9% market share and rising.

Messenger: I’m sitting next to Yossi Vardi (he started ICQ). It might be a copy, but it sure is a better copy. I was one of the first ICQ users, but MSN is a lot nicer.

Xbox: does anyone else have a great online component?

Hotmail: 200 million people who’ve used it in the past 30 days. Does any other email service do that?

Media Center: I disagree with you. It’s pretty obvious you’ve used neither a Tivo nor a Media Center.

Tablet PC: agreed.

Virtual Earth: wait until you see next version. Oh, and who else has an app that lets you see where you’re located?

Search Engine: getting better and learning faster than others. 9% market share and rising.

Messenger: I’m sitting next to Yossi Vardi (he started ICQ). It might be a copy, but it sure is a better copy. I was one of the first ICQ users, but MSN is a lot nicer.

Xbox: does anyone else have a great online component?

Hotmail: 200 million people who’ve used it in the past 30 days. Does any other email service do that?

Media Center: I disagree with you. It’s pretty obvious you’ve used neither a Tivo nor a Media Center.

Tablet PC: agreed.

I still can’t figure out why the Tablet PC’s time hasn’t come yet. What’s the holdup, other than price (which shouldn’t be the holdup that it is). If Dell would get off their butts and finally make a Tablet PC, I’ll bet the market would go through the roof.

It’s a great piece of technology, and it should damn well be the standard for laptops by now.

Copy for the Xbox360?

Well…the first console was the FIRST to have a hard disk drive (sony copied the HDD later on). They were the FIRST with an integrated NIC card. Again, sony had to create an NIC/Data port for the PS2 to compete with the online that is Xbox Live.

So…while a console I guess can be seen as a copy…so can sony. BUT, Microsoft was innovative…so, you take the basic idea of a console and push it even further.

And to respond to Scoble. Sony has an online component. I didn’t say great. Watching threads on the forums, MANY MANY MANY times I would see people saying how they have played BOTH and XBL is by far better.

I still can’t figure out why the Tablet PC’s time hasn’t come yet. What’s the holdup, other than price (which shouldn’t be the holdup that it is). If Dell would get off their butts and finally make a Tablet PC, I’ll bet the market would go through the roof.

It’s a great piece of technology, and it should damn well be the standard for laptops by now.

Copy for the Xbox360?

Well…the first console was the FIRST to have a hard disk drive (sony copied the HDD later on). They were the FIRST with an integrated NIC card. Again, sony had to create an NIC/Data port for the PS2 to compete with the online that is Xbox Live.

So…while a console I guess can be seen as a copy…so can sony. BUT, Microsoft was innovative…so, you take the basic idea of a console and push it even further.

And to respond to Scoble. Sony has an online component. I didn’t say great. Watching threads on the forums, MANY MANY MANY times I would see people saying how they have played BOTH and XBL is by far better.

You could also argue that many of those steps were evolutionary from where the console was or were required by evolutionary decisions in other aspects of the console.

It really doesn’t matter - there seems to be a determination to compete in the console market at any cost and the xbox business plan appears to be well funded. It remains to be seen if shareholders get their money’s worth on that one.

From the list, I’d say Xbox and Tablet are the only items that require investment (in both cash, time, and patience) at the level that few could afford. The rest are vulnerable and/or doable by many.

You could also argue that many of those steps were evolutionary from where the console was or were required by evolutionary decisions in other aspects of the console.

It really doesn’t matter - there seems to be a determination to compete in the console market at any cost and the xbox business plan appears to be well funded. It remains to be seen if shareholders get their money’s worth on that one.

From the list, I’d say Xbox and Tablet are the only items that require investment (in both cash, time, and patience) at the level that few could afford. The rest are vulnerable and/or doable by many.

“Virtual Earth: wait until you see next version. Oh, and who else has an app that lets you see where you’re located?”

A privacy breach, anyone?

“Virtual Earth: wait until you see next version. Oh, and who else has an app that lets you see where you’re located?”

A privacy breach, anyone?

“Hotmail: 200 million people who’ve used it in the past 30 days. Does any other email service do that?”

Since MSNSpaces requires to login with a passport only to post a comment, you may want to consider how much of those numbers are affected by this. How many “native” Hotmail accounts?

And then how many native Hotmail accounts that are created only to provide a temporary email account (email address required on many registration forms)?

“Hotmail: 200 million people who’ve used it in the past 30 days. Does any other email service do that?”

Since MSNSpaces requires to login with a passport only to post a comment, you may want to consider how much of those numbers are affected by this. How many “native” Hotmail accounts?

And then how many native Hotmail accounts that are created only to provide a temporary email account (email address required on many registration forms)?

Scoble, only to tell why your numbers cannot be trusted, I’ll tell you a little story.

Know the codeproject.com devsite? A couple years ago, there were a hundred thousand registered members (free reg). As soon as they decided to force anyone to create an account only to be able to download the source code attached to articles, this number rocketed to a million in just six months.
See now, it’s over two million members.

How many regulars? A couple hundreds. Just take a look at the forums. A website analysis reveals everything. Just like Hotmail login analysis reveals how the Hotmail accounts are used.

Sorry, I wanted to point out that numbers are irrelevant. They are way too easy to make up.

Scoble, only to tell why your numbers cannot be trusted, I’ll tell you a little story.

Know the codeproject.com devsite? A couple years ago, there were a hundred thousand registered members (free reg). As soon as they decided to force anyone to create an account only to be able to download the source code attached to articles, this number rocketed to a million in just six months.
See now, it’s over two million members.

How many regulars? A couple hundreds. Just take a look at the forums. A website analysis reveals everything. Just like Hotmail login analysis reveals how the Hotmail accounts are used.

Sorry, I wanted to point out that numbers are irrelevant. They are way too easy to make up.

>>
I’m already starting a new Microsoft and I’m doing it at Microsoft.
>>

Nice — I want to believe you because it’d make the world a better place — and my jaded eyes are starting to see that big MS rudder turn — keep convincing me.

>>
I’m already starting a new Microsoft and I’m doing it at Microsoft.
>>

Nice — I want to believe you because it’d make the world a better place — and my jaded eyes are starting to see that big MS rudder turn — keep convincing me.

Whatever you’re doing at MSFT, the market doesn’t seem to appreciate it…

Scoble, why doesn’t MSFT spend more on R&D? According to financial figures I read, R&D spending is flat to down since 2002, even as revenue has grown healthily… Google’s R&D spending has increase 8x over 2 years…

Google’s revenues are growing much faster than MSFTs…perhaps because they get FAR more bang out of their research $$$?

Perhaps it isn’t all about just throwing Ph.D.’s at a problem?

Whatever you’re doing at MSFT, the market doesn’t seem to appreciate it…

Scoble, why doesn’t MSFT spend more on R&D? According to financial figures I read, R&D spending is flat to down since 2002, even as revenue has grown healthily… Google’s R&D spending has increase 8x over 2 years…

Google’s revenues are growing much faster than MSFTs…perhaps because they get FAR more bang out of their research $$$?

Perhaps it isn’t all about just throwing Ph.D.’s at a problem?

Adam,

MS spends a shitload of money on R&D. Spending isn’t the problem, management incompetence is the problem. MS could dump 90% of their pre-tax margin into “R&D”, and they’d end up with billions of dollars of ‘R”, and a completely useless attempt at “D”. The problem is, their only game plan is to play catch-up to Apple and Google, and even when they hire someone who knows what he’s doing, they take his work and completely botch it (the damage done to Cutler’s NT is only the best-known example.)

A couple of years ago, Apple used to waste money on blue-sky crap like Copland. The difference between Apple in 1996 and Apple in 2005, is that today, Apple knows what the hell they’re trying to do!

Adam,

MS spends a shitload of money on R&D. Spending isn’t the problem, management incompetence is the problem. MS could dump 90% of their pre-tax margin into “R&D”, and they’d end up with billions of dollars of ‘R”, and a completely useless attempt at “D”. The problem is, their only game plan is to play catch-up to Apple and Google, and even when they hire someone who knows what he’s doing, they take his work and completely botch it (the damage done to Cutler’s NT is only the best-known example.)

A couple of years ago, Apple used to waste money on blue-sky crap like Copland. The difference between Apple in 1996 and Apple in 2005, is that today, Apple knows what the hell they’re trying to do!

Excellent point, J. Random - so why, with all those brains in Redmond, why can’t they leapfrog ahead of the competition? Scoble keeps telling us about the bright future ahead and the pipeline - it won’t mean anything until they turn it into SALES…

I remember when I visited the campus during the boom - lots of confident developers telling me how all their projects were #1 or #2 in market share in their space…what happened? And how can they prevent it from happening again?

Excellent point, J. Random - so why, with all those brains in Redmond, why can’t they leapfrog ahead of the competition? Scoble keeps telling us about the bright future ahead and the pipeline - it won’t mean anything until they turn it into SALES…

I remember when I visited the campus during the boom - lots of confident developers telling me how all their projects were #1 or #2 in market share in their space…what happened? And how can they prevent it from happening again?

Silly answer. If you started the new MS, you might get an equity position more in line with Bill’s. Unless you making other people rich.

Silly answer. If you started the new MS, you might get an equity position more in line with Bill’s. Unless you making other people rich.

Good rebuttal Scobles !!

I think you stand apart becuase you say what you mean and mean what you say !!

Yeah stick with it and I bet you that you will the “new” msft !!

Yeah keep that bill that was autographed by steve b !!

Good rebuttal Scobles !!

I think you stand apart becuase you say what you mean and mean what you say !!

Yeah stick with it and I bet you that you will the “new” msft !!

Yeah keep that bill that was autographed by steve b !!

“How many regulars? A couple hundreds. Just take a look at the forums. A website analysis reveals everything. Just like Hotmail login analysis reveals how the Hotmail accounts are used.”

I keep a Hotmail account just to see if they ever catch up with the other free e-mail services:

Gmail: Almost 3 Gig; fast interface; good spam filtering; Free POP interface.

Yahoo: 1 Gig; slow, but new AJAX interface in development; good integration with other Yahoo services.

AIM: 2 Gig; good spam filtering; drag and drop AJAX interface NOW; Free IMAP interface; linked to growing list of free AOL services.

MSN: 250 Meg; slow; spam filtering doesn’t seem to work well (for me); promises, promises, promises.

“How many regulars? A couple hundreds. Just take a look at the forums. A website analysis reveals everything. Just like Hotmail login analysis reveals how the Hotmail accounts are used.”

I keep a Hotmail account just to see if they ever catch up with the other free e-mail services:

Gmail: Almost 3 Gig; fast interface; good spam filtering; Free POP interface.

Yahoo: 1 Gig; slow, but new AJAX interface in development; good integration with other Yahoo services.

AIM: 2 Gig; good spam filtering; drag and drop AJAX interface NOW; Free IMAP interface; linked to growing list of free AOL services.

MSN: 250 Meg; slow; spam filtering doesn’t seem to work well (for me); promises, promises, promises.

“I’m already starting a new Microsoft and I’m doing it at Microsoft.”

God damn is that a dumb thing to say. You’re not starting anything. You’re just babysitting Bill Gates’ baby. You know what, that’s an offensive thing to say, especially to all the people who took huge risks in starting out on their own and made something truly unique. I guess your god damn ego is blocking that out.

Long story short, the manservant doesn’t own the mansion, no matter how many rooms he has access to.

“I’m already starting a new Microsoft and I’m doing it at Microsoft.”

God damn is that a dumb thing to say. You’re not starting anything. You’re just babysitting Bill Gates’ baby. You know what, that’s an offensive thing to say, especially to all the people who took huge risks in starting out on their own and made something truly unique. I guess your god damn ego is blocking that out.

Long story short, the manservant doesn’t own the mansion, no matter how many rooms he has access to.