Bill Gates

Well, hell, look at you and me, right? I totally agree.

Well, hell, look at you and me, right? I totally agree.

Bill alone, at least in this era, was totally at risk of getting too excited about theoretical technologies like WinFS. That's the perfect illustration of this. And, you know, Steve needs a great technology partner, and... one who kind of has the extreme loyalty of the thousands of brilliant engineers at the company, so they'll sort of align and follow the vision.

Bill alone, at least in this era, was totally at risk of getting too excited about theoretical technologies like WinFS. That's the perfect illustration of this. And, you know, Steve needs a great technology partner, and... one who kind of has the extreme loyalty of the thousands of brilliant engineers at the company, so they'll sort of align and follow the vision.

And Steve also needed someone willing to change their mind in the face of new data. Bill was... constantly processing new information and as new things came in he would say i don't care how in motion things are if you're right which is rare usually bill's right but if you're right and you're arguing something to me like screw it we got to change everything new data new thing

And Steve also needed someone willing to change their mind in the face of new data. Bill was... constantly processing new information and as new things came in he would say i don't care how in motion things are if you're right which is rare usually bill's right but if you're right and you're arguing something to me like screw it we got to change everything new data new thing

The internet tidal wave. And Steve was much more like, we have to align an entire aircraft carrier in the company and then all the aircraft carriers outside the company. So we are going to make a decision and then we are going to implement and execute. And I think together there was some magic where there was just the right amount of stick-to-itiveness versus adaptability.

The internet tidal wave. And Steve was much more like, we have to align an entire aircraft carrier in the company and then all the aircraft carriers outside the company. So we are going to make a decision and then we are going to implement and execute. And I think together there was some magic where there was just the right amount of stick-to-itiveness versus adaptability.

My next one is being extremely partner-focused is a gift and a curse. Microsoft is an extremely partner-oriented company. There are far more profits who have accrued to Microsoft's independent software vendors, resellers, retail partners, than just to Microsoft itself. But it basically makes it impossible to reset. I mean, Apple, when Jobs came back, hit a full reset.

My next one is being extremely partner-focused is a gift and a curse. Microsoft is an extremely partner-oriented company. There are far more profits who have accrued to Microsoft's independent software vendors, resellers, retail partners, than just to Microsoft itself. But it basically makes it impossible to reset. I mean, Apple, when Jobs came back, hit a full reset.

All new developer tools, all new products, all new software, all new platforms. But when you have all these externalities depending on you, you actually can't really hit a reset button to adapt for a new era. You have a whole ecosystem to preserve. And I think this is the more nuanced view of the idea that, well, if you miss one wave, then you're actually well-suited for the next wave.

All new developer tools, all new products, all new software, all new platforms. But when you have all these externalities depending on you, you actually can't really hit a reset button to adapt for a new era. You have a whole ecosystem to preserve. And I think this is the more nuanced view of the idea that, well, if you miss one wave, then you're actually well-suited for the next wave.

People often say the only reason Apple was able to win in mobile is because they totally lost in desktop or whatever. And I think really what the answer is, is the more externalities you have depending on you, the more difficult it is to reset. And usually a next generation... The more switching costs you have. Right. A next generation technology requires you to hit a big reset button.

People often say the only reason Apple was able to win in mobile is because they totally lost in desktop or whatever. And I think really what the answer is, is the more externalities you have depending on you, the more difficult it is to reset. And usually a next generation... The more switching costs you have. Right. A next generation technology requires you to hit a big reset button.

That's all I had for my playbook. Great.

That's all I had for my playbook. Great.

Let's do that now. Listeners, we've been trying out this new way of ending episodes. How do we land the plane? What is the one takeaway that is really sitting with me after having done all this research, talked through it with David, hardened our thinking by bouncing ideas off of each other? What is the thing that you can't get out of your mind?

Let's do that now. Listeners, we've been trying out this new way of ending episodes. How do we land the plane? What is the one takeaway that is really sitting with me after having done all this research, talked through it with David, hardened our thinking by bouncing ideas off of each other? What is the thing that you can't get out of your mind?

Yeah, irrelevant, failing, can't do consumer. The counterfactual is Amazon. If they had a consistent message that they went forward with, such as, we're a company who invents and wanders. Amazon has failed at so many things. So many things. Publicly, huge bets that have totally failed, and yet... Huge consumer failures.

Yeah, irrelevant, failing, can't do consumer. The counterfactual is Amazon. If they had a consistent message that they went forward with, such as, we're a company who invents and wanders. Amazon has failed at so many things. So many things. Publicly, huge bets that have totally failed, and yet... Huge consumer failures.