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Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

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Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#41

Post by majormajor »

tpmx wrote: post #36
pc86 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These nonsense comments smack of a personal agenda that is more concerned with hating him because he has money than anything to do with this article , which is the point of discussion here. Gates' Reddit AMA response and how much money he has is irrelevant in the context of an article about Nadella's leadership of a Microsoft nearly two decades after his departure.

What about these comments of mine are nonsense, in your optionion? Please clarify in detail. I'm not hating at Bill Gates for having money. I'm hating at him because he abused the market and set us back. We would have been so much further by now in terms of software development if it hadn't been for him.

People hating Bill Gates have always been a minority. I was a Mac user on the late 90s internet, and "Windows rules!" was the theme of the day. The less technically savvy had even less reason to hate him.

The people who think he set things back horribly are not a majority of the general public in any age group.

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#42

Post by mc32 »

vezycash wrote: post #18
duaoebg wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ballmer is a buffoon. Even if we are to accept that MS was caged. I remember being at a launch party during an internship. Suddenly half the people ran out of the massive tent. I thought it must have been a fire, I ran out too, grabbed someone and asked why the mass exodus. Their reply was that Ballmer just went on stage. With that response I figured I have to see this. I went back in and recorded it. I was not disap…

Well that "buffoon" trippled Microsoft's earnings and doubled profits. But let these new growth areas slide because of the antitrust suit. If the market judged Microsoft by its earnings, it's stock would have been up. The internet, mobile was the blockchain and AI of the era.

I can’t judge whether he was a good CEO or not, but, goodness, that dude lived the company. He was an exuberant uninhibited promoter. More than Evangelizer. The guy didn’t care what people said behind his back when he got all sweaty, nope, he was there to promote the company. A great cheerleader for the team.

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#43

Post by dlp211 »

dwoozle wrote: post #35
jarjoura wrote: post #11

I'm not so sure the problem with Microsoft was its toxic culture. So many of the key points in that article you could say ring true of Apple. Steve Jobs relished in the fact that people feared him. He literally built an entire company of yes men, right down to the chefs in the kitchen. It meant, when his strategy was right, the company did well. However, when it was wrong, it also hurt the whole company. Tim Cook is…

The Jobs model works when you have a Jobs, or Gates, or Musk, someone whose inherent talent is so strong that the organization can look to him for all decisions. But the strategy for running a company in the long term cannot assume such a pope. If you have Michael Jordan on your basketball team your strategy can be “give him the ball” — if you are just five ordinary guys you will need a philosophy.

That was distinctly not the philosophy of the Chicago Bulls and Phil Jackson.

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#44

Post by bcrosby95 »

Baeocystin wrote: post #31
username90 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point, I have never once felt "Wow, a new Microsoft product, can't wait to buy it!". Instead it is usually more like "Oh shit, a new Mirosoft product, I hope I wont be forced to buy it to stay compatible".

I've felt this about Microsoft hardware, for what it's worth. I really like their mice, keyboards, and the Surface line.

Yeah, the Surface line was the first time since the original iPhone that I was actually excited about a piece of hardware.

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#45

Post by tpmx »

majormajor wrote: post #41
tpmx wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about these comments of mine are nonsense, in your optionion? Please clarify in detail. I'm not hating at Bill Gates for having money. I'm hating at him because he abused the market and set us back. We would have been so much further by now in terms of software development if it hadn't been for him.

People hating Bill Gates have always been a minority. I was a Mac user on the late 90s internet, and "Windows rules!" was the theme of the day. The less technically savvy had even less reason to hate him. The people who think he set things back horribly are not a majority of the general public in any age group.

I think Bill has finally won; through the sheer power of money and time/patience. Even people on HN love him now. :(

The power of focused PR is amazing.

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#46

Post by dbancajas »

duaoebg wrote: post #15
vezycash wrote: post #10

>The Microsoft of the 2000s, under Steve Ballmer, was almost exactly the opposite (of gates). >Bruised and battered by the consent decree handed down by the DoJ for the very same ambition that brought it to dominance, Ballmer’s Microsoft was sales-forward and CAUTIOUS. >It was... nervously clutching its pearls at the approach of Google in its rearview mirror People bash Steve Ballmer for missing Search, Social Networ…

Ballmer is a buffoon. Even if we are to accept that MS was caged. I remember being at a launch party during an internship. Suddenly half the people ran out of the massive tent. I thought it must have been a fire, I ran out too, grabbed someone and asked why the mass exodus. Their reply was that Ballmer just went on stage. With that response I figured I have to see this. I went back in and recorded it. I was not disap…

> ong the voices Microsoft needs to hear the most. Apparently, Microsoft has dipped only a single toe in the river that flows to the future."

reply

what did he perform? can you expound more?

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#47

Post by dang »

tpmx wrote: post #21

So.. I just posted something here and it was immediately (like within 30 seconds) flagged and buried. https://imgur.com/a/pBRO4nD What does this say about about Microsoft people on HN? You may be sorta new employees, but the company you signed up for is not new. Microsoft set back the development of computing quite a bit during the 80s/90s/00s, before it became less relevant. You guys should study the behavior of Ger…

That comment was correctly flagged because it broke the site guidelines, as does this one, in several ways.

Would you please read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and follow the rules when posting here? We ban accounts that break them repeatedly.

As for "Microsoft people on HN", that is a red herring. The OP is currently in the #2 position and hardly flattering to MS. Ditto for many comments in the thread. When you review the site guidelines, please note the one asking users not to post insinuations of astroturfing without evidence.

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#48

Post by muststopmyths »

I worked at Microsoft during the Gates/Ballmer era and my recollection is that the culture was toxic and definitely needed to change. But AFAIK this was a common thing about companies even in SV at the time. I knew contemporaries at companies like Cisco and SGI who complained about exactly the same sort of behavior (Know-it-all assholes who would berate anyone they thought was inferior, self above company, etc.).

Interesting read anyway.

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#49

Post by dang »

tpmx wrote: post #45
majormajor wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People hating Bill Gates have always been a minority. I was a Mac user on the late 90s internet, and "Windows rules!" was the theme of the day. The less technically savvy had even less reason to hate him. The people who think he set things back horribly are not a majority of the general public in any age group.

I think Bill has finally won; through the sheer power of money and time/patience. Even people on HN love him now. :( The power of focused PR is amazing.

Please stop.

Re: Reflections on My Career at Microsoft

#50

Post by BubRoss »

kylec wrote: post #7
cbanek wrote: post #4

As a woman who worked at MSFT through the Ballmer era, I have to agree with this whole article. It really nailed it. Especially this part near the end where I never felt it would get better: "But my former female colleagues who reviewed this document in advance of its publication are unconvinced. None of them report feeling emboldened by the new Microsoft. They continue to withhold reports of discriminatory managemen…

According to Satya Nadella, the system is "long term efficient", so it'll all work itself out eventually https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/10/10/microsoft-ceo...

Anyone can sell the future.
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