Bill Gates

right the pie was not growing right so why was the pie not growing we talked a lot about that there's a lot of reasons you could argue why it wasn't but the culture is an effect of that there's a big one i've been thinking on which is how to go about placing your bets for the future as a company and i think in the 2000s microsoft was viciously trying to fight against the tide

right the pie was not growing right so why was the pie not growing we talked a lot about that there's a lot of reasons you could argue why it wasn't but the culture is an effect of that there's a big one i've been thinking on which is how to go about placing your bets for the future as a company and i think in the 2000s microsoft was viciously trying to fight against the tide

There was open source. There was the web. There's all these things people wanted to do. Ultimately, over time, you cannot fight what people want to do as a company. You can put up all these barriers. You can steer them back into your ecosystem. But ironically, the playbook that Satya is now running is a return to a classic Microsoft one, Embrace and Extend. Yes.

There was open source. There was the web. There's all these things people wanted to do. Ultimately, over time, you cannot fight what people want to do as a company. You can put up all these barriers. You can steer them back into your ecosystem. But ironically, the playbook that Satya is now running is a return to a classic Microsoft one, Embrace and Extend. Yes.

Rather than fight what users are doing, I want to use open source software or whatever. I want to make web apps. I want to host a web app. You just figure out what people want. You embrace it. And then you figure out what product you can build with a business model that extends that existing user behavior.

Rather than fight what users are doing, I want to use open source software or whatever. I want to make web apps. I want to host a web app. You just figure out what people want. You embrace it. And then you figure out what product you can build with a business model that extends that existing user behavior.

But it does require you to be clever and outcompete a lot of other people to invent that new business model that, you know, is created on top of new user behavior.

But it does require you to be clever and outcompete a lot of other people to invent that new business model that, you know, is created on top of new user behavior.

Yep.

Yep.

Yep. And the trick is figuring out how to make money when you lean into what people want. Because ultimately, like, if you just reduce it all to economics, what people want is free value. But you can't actually build a business on giving away free value. Yes. You know, I can give you a dollar for 90 cents, but ultimately, I'm just going to go out of business.

Yep. And the trick is figuring out how to make money when you lean into what people want. Because ultimately, like, if you just reduce it all to economics, what people want is free value. But you can't actually build a business on giving away free value. Yes. You know, I can give you a dollar for 90 cents, but ultimately, I'm just going to go out of business.

And so I need to figure out some way that you're happy from value creation and willing to pay me more than it cost me to.

And so I need to figure out some way that you're happy from value creation and willing to pay me more than it cost me to.

Yes. There's this other one of what was going on given that the ideas were good. And this is going to sound harsh, but timing, implementation, and taste at Microsoft from call it Windows 98 on were just terrible. Or maybe put another way, they had the right ideas, but late timing and bad execution. Strategically correct, but tactically misguided.

Yes. There's this other one of what was going on given that the ideas were good. And this is going to sound harsh, but timing, implementation, and taste at Microsoft from call it Windows 98 on were just terrible. Or maybe put another way, they had the right ideas, but late timing and bad execution. Strategically correct, but tactically misguided.

I mean, Bill was super right that touch computing was going to be a thing. He referred to this idea of a natural user interface very often. Bill was super right that interactive TV was going to be a thing. I mean, think about how I watch Netflix. I will watch Netflix tonight after we record on my Apple TV upstairs.

I mean, Bill was super right that touch computing was going to be a thing. He referred to this idea of a natural user interface very often. Bill was super right that interactive TV was going to be a thing. I mean, think about how I watch Netflix. I will watch Netflix tonight after we record on my Apple TV upstairs.

Bill was right on mobile that that was going to be a huge part of the computing landscape. And yet, all of these started at Microsoft five to 20 years before the tech was actually ready, and they would often bet on the wrong standard or paradigm. I mean, touch computing ended up being capacitive, not resistive with a stylus.

Bill was right on mobile that that was going to be a huge part of the computing landscape. And yet, all of these started at Microsoft five to 20 years before the tech was actually ready, and they would often bet on the wrong standard or paradigm. I mean, touch computing ended up being capacitive, not resistive with a stylus.